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Nazir, 16

1) THE DAYS A NAZIR LOSES WHEN HE BECOMES TAMEI ON THE LAST DAY OF HIS NEZIRUS

SUMMARY: The Mishnah cites the Machlokes between Rebbi Eliezer and the Chachamim regarding a Nazir who becomes Tamei at the end of his Nezirus (which the Gemara discusses earlier on 6a). The Mishnah says that if a person accepts Nezirus (for an unspecified period) and he becomes Tamei on day 30, according to the Chachamim he loses all 30 days and must observe them again after he becomes Tahor. According to Rebbi Eliezer, becoming Tamei on day 30 does not cause him to lose any days; he merely has to wait until he becomes Tahor and then he may bring his Korbanos. In the next case of the Mishnah, if the person accepts Nezirus for 100 days and he becomes Tamei on day 100, the Chachamim say that he loses the entire Nezirus, since he has not yet completed his Nezirus by the time he becomes Tamei. Rebbi Eliezer says that he must repeat only 30 days of his Nezirus. The Gemara explains that Rebbi Eliezer learns this from a verse that teaches that if a person becomes Tamei on the last day of his Nezirus, he does not lose the entire Nezirus, but only 30 days.

The Mishnah then says that if he becomes Tamei on day 101 (the day on which he is supposed to bring his Korbanos), according to the Chachamim he loses 30 days, and according to Rebbi Eliezer he loses nothing; he merely waits seven days until he becomes Tahor and then he brings his Korbanos (see Chart #1). The Gemara discusses the reasoning for the opinions of Rebbi Eliezer and the Chachamim earlier (6a) and discusses it only briefly here. We will review and clarify the main points of the Sugya, based on the following questions that we must ask on the Mishnah:

Why is it that if a Nazir becomes Tamei on day 30 he loses the entire Nezirus, according to the Chachamim who argue with Rebbi Eliezer? The Halachah is that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo," and therefore the beginning of day 30 is already the completion of the Nezirus! The end of day 30 is *after* the Nezirus and he is already able to bring his Korbanos! Why, then, should he lose the entire 30 days? This question is asked according to the view of Rav Masna, who says that Nezirus is 30 days and "Miktzas ha'Yom" is "k'Kulo."

The same question may be asked according to Bar Pada, who argues with Rav Masna and says that "Miktzas ha'Yom" is *not* "k'Kulo," and that Nezirus is only 29 days. If Stam Nezirus is only 29 days, then if he becomes Tamei on day 30, it is *after* his Nezirus and he should not lose the Nezirus!

This question certainly applies to what the Mishnah says in the last case -- if a person accepts a 100-day Nezirus and becomes Tamei on day 101, the Chachamim say that he loses 30 days of his Nezirus. Why should he lose anything at all? He only accepted a 100-day Nezirus, which he observed in full! He is merely waiting to bring his Korbanos on day 101, and when he becomes Tamei at that point, he is not becoming Tamei during the observance of his Nezirus and he should not lose any days of his Nezirus! In fact, the Rishonim point out that if he becomes Tamei on day 102 (before bringing his Korbanos), everyone agrees that he does not lose any days, because his Nezirus is completed. Why, then, when he becomes Tamei on day 101, should he lose anything, and if for some reason the Tum'ah is "Soser" his Nezirus, why should he lose 30 days?

ANSWERS:

(a) TOSFOS and the ROSH explain that the reason a Nazir loses his Nezirus according to the Chachamim if he becomes Tamei on day 30 of a Stam Nezirus differs according to Rav Masna and according to Bar Pada. According to Rav Masna, who says that Stam Nezirus is 30 days, the reason he loses his Nezirus is because he has not yet finished his Nezirus when he becomes Tamei. Why, though, has he not finished his Nezirus, if Rav Masna holds that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" and thus the Nezirus should be over at the very beginning of day 30? They answer that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" is said only when the Nazir actually ends his Nezirus on that day by bringing his Korbanos of Nezirus Taharah. If he does an action to end his Nezirus, then he is able to make "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" take effect. But "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" does not work automatically if he does nothing to end the Nezirus. In the case of the Mishnah, he did nothing to end the Nezirus. Rather, he became Tamei before the end of the day, and therefore he is not able to bring his Korbanos of Nezirus Taharah. Since he did not actively end the Nezirus, we do not apply "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo," and it is as if he became Tamei in the middle of his Nezirus. Therefore, the Chachamim maintain that he loses the entire Nezirus. Rebbi Eliezer, who says that he does not lose the Nezirus, holds, like we mentioned in the question, that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" applies even if the Nazir did nothing to end the Nezirus. This is according to Rav Masna who says that Stam Nezirus is 30 days.

According to Bar Pada, who says that Stam Nezirus is 29 days, the Gemara concludes that the reason he is loses 30 days is a Gezeirah d'Rabanan, as the Gemara says earlier (5b). This Gezeirah, that the Nazir loses all of his Nezirus if he becomes Tamei on day 30, was made because of a case where the Nazir explicitly accepted upon himself to observe Nezirus for 30 days (in which case he must observe 30 *complete* days). People are accustomed to observing Nezirus for 30 days since they cannot bring the Korbanos until day 30, and thus they think that Stam Nezirus is 30 days; when one says that he will observe Nezirus for 30 days, then, according to Bar Pada, he must observe 30 complete days of Nezirus and bring the Korbanos on day 31 (since Bar Pada does not hold of "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo"). The Rabanan therefore decreed that in every case of a Stam Nezirus, the Nazir should bring the Korbanos on day 31 and count day 30 as part of his Nezirus because people confuse it with a Nazir who accepted explicitly to observe 30 days of Nezirus.

This explains why the Chachamim say that he loses the entire Nezirus when he becomes Tamei on day 30 of a Stam Nezirus. What about the case where he becomes Tamei on day 101 of a 100-day Nezirus? Tosfos explains that according to both Rav Masna and Bar Pada, becoming Tamei on day 101 is a Gezeirah d'Rabanan. The Rabanan decreed that if he becomes Tamei on day 101 of a 100-day Nezirus, the Nazir should lose 30 days because it might be confused with day 30 of a Stam Nezirus, in which case -- if he becomes Tamei on day 30 -- he loses 30 days. According to Rav Masna, the Nazir who becomes Tamei on day 30 loses his 30 days mid'Oraisa, and thus it is fitting to make a Gezeirah for one who becomes Tamei on day 101. According to Bar Pada, who holds that losing days of Nezirus when one becomes Tamei on day 30 is only mid'Rabanan, it must be that it is all one Gezeirah -- that when a Nazir becomes Tamei on day 30 or on day 101, he loses 30 days, and we do not view it as a Gezeirah l'Gezeirah.

What, though, does day 101 have to do with day 30 that the Rabanan should need to make a Gezeirah on one because of the other? Why will people confuse the two days?

The answer, according to Bar Pada, is simple. Both days (101 and 30) are the days following a full Nezirus period; they are the days on which a Korban is brought. According to Bar Pada, day 29 of a Stam Nezirus is really the last day, and day 30 is the day that follows it. Similarly, day 101 (of a 100-day Nezirus) is the day that follows day 100 upon which the Korbanos may be brought. The Gezeirah d'Rabanan says that whenever a Nazir becomes Tamei on a day on which the Korbanos could be brought, he loses 30 days. People will therefore remember to be Soser 30 days if they became Tamei on day 30 of a Stam Nezirus, whether or not the person accepted upon himself explicitly to observe 30 days, or just to observe a Stam Nezirus.

According to Rav Masna, the reason he loses 30 days if he becomes Tamei on day 30 is because we do not say "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" and it is considered the middle of the Nezirus. How is that going to be confused with day 101 of a 100-day Nezirus, which is entirely *after* the Nezirus is finished? On day 100, the Nezirus is finished, and day 101 is only the day for bringing the Korbanos! What does day 101 have in common with day 30, which *is* part of the actual Nezirus (since a Stam Nezirus is 30 days). How will day 30 be confused with day 101 according to Rav Masna?

The answer is that people do not realize that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" does not apply when the Nazir becomes Tamei before bringing his Korbanos. People think that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" applies automatically, like Rebbi Eliezer holds. Therefore, they think that day 30 is observed as Nezirus simply because the Nazir has not yet brought his Korbanos. They compare it to day 101 of a 100-day Nezirus. That is why the Rabanan made a Gezeirah that the Nazir loses 30 days when he becomes Tamei on day 101, so that it should not get confused with day 30, according to Rav Masna.

(b) The RAMBAM (Perush ha'Mishnayos) takes an entirely different approach to this Mishnah. The Rambam explains that if a Nazir becomes Tamei on day 30, then according to the way that Rav Masna learns, "Miktzas ha'Yom" is "k'Kulo" according to *everyone*; both Rebbi Eliezer and the Chachamim agree that "Miktzas ha'Yom" is "k'Kulo" and that once the day has begun, his Nezirus is completed. Why, then, do the Chachamim say that he loses 30 days if he becomes Tamei? The Rambam answers that it is because the Chachamim hold that whenever a Nazir becomes Tamei on the day on which he brings his Korbanos, he loses 30 days. The Rambam appears to learn that this is a Halachah mid'Oraisa, that if a Nazir becomes Tamei on the day that he is supposed to bring his Korbanos because he has just completed his Nezirus, he loses 30 days (according to the Chachamim). Rebbi Eliezer says that he is not Soser any of the Nezirus, but he simply counts seven days until he becomes Tahor.

The Rambam says that the Chachamim are simply following their own view in the case of a Nazir who became Tamei on day 101. Day 101 of a 100-day Nezirus is -- like day 30 of a Stam Nezirus -- the day that a Nazir is supposed to bring his Korbanos. Therefore, the Chachamim hold that he loses 30 days, because they hold that a Nazir who becomes Tamei on the day that he is supposed to bring his Korbanos loses the entire Nezirus. Rebbi Eliezer, too, is following his own view and holds that he does not lose any of the Nezirus.

This explanation fits very well with the words of the Gemara in our Sugya (top of 16b), where the Gemara explains that Rebbi Eliezer's reasoning (for his view that if one becomes Tamei on day 30 he only needs to wait seven days) is because Rebbi Eliezer holds that becoming Tamei on the day of "Achar Melos" is only Soser seven days. According to the way Tosfos learns, the Gemara is skirting the main issue. The point about which Rebbi Eliezer and the Chachamim argue in the case of a Nazir who becomes Tamei on day 30, according to Rav Masna, is not whether "Achar Melos" is Soser seven days; *everyone* agrees that after the Nezirus is over, he loses only seven days! The question, rather, is whether this day, day 30, is considered "Achar Melos" because we apply "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" on day 30, or is it "Toch Melos" (still during the Nezirus), because we do not apply "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" when he becomes Tamei.

According to the Rambam, though, the Gemara is clear. The Gemara says that according to Rebbi Eliezer "Achar Melos" is Soser seven days, implying that according to the Chachamim, "Achar Melos" is always Soser *30* days.

However, the Rambam's explanation does not fit into the Gemara earlier (beginning of 6b) which brings a proof from our Mishnah to Rav Masna's view. It seems that the Rambam must have had a different Girsa in that Gemara which fit with his explanation of the Mishnah here.

According to the Rambam, what is the Chachamim's source that on the day of bringing Korbanos, the Nazir is Soser 30 days? The answer is that apparently, the Chachamim agree with Rebbi Eliezer's Derashah of "Ten Lo Toras Melos" that the Gemara mentions (6b), which teaches that if a Nazir becomes Tamei on "Yom Melos" (the last day of his Nezirus), he is Soser 30 days. Apparently, according to the Rambam, the Chachamim agree with this Derashah. However, instead of saying that it applies to a Nazir who becomes Tamei on "Yom Melos," on the last day of his Nezirus, they only apply this Derashah to a Nazir who becomes Tamei "Achar Melos," on the day of bringing Korbanos for his Nezirus -- that is when the Torah says that he is Soser his Nezirus for 30 days.

16b