2,897. A Nazir Who Drinks Wine or Shaves

Hilchos Nezirus 5:21

If a ritually-clean nazir renders himself ritually unclean, he is also liable to lashes for delaying the fulfillment of a vow (Deut. 23:22) because he delayed fulfilling his nazirite vow when he was clean and then he rendered himself unclean, thereby delaying it. The same is true if one made a nazirite vow while in a cemetery. We therefore see that a nazir who renders himself unclean is liable to four sets of lashes – one for becoming unclean, a second for violating his oath, a third for delaying his ability to fulfill it, and a fourth for approaching a corpse if his approaching and being rendered unclean occurred simultaneously, as was discussed in halacha 5:18.

Hilchos Nezirus 6:1

If a nazir drinks wine or eats a product of the grapevine, even if he did so on multiple days, he doesn’t nullify even one day of his nezirus period. The same is true if he shaved the lesser part of his head, either accidentally or on purpose. However, if the greater part of his head was shaved with a razor or with something that is considered razor-like so that the hairs can no longer be bent tip to base, then 30 days of his nezirus are nullified. This is true regardless of whether he was shaved intentionally or unintentionally; it’s even true if brigands shave his head against his will. The nazir must wait until he again has a growth of hair, after which he resumes his nezirus.