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Nazir, 46

46b

QUESTION: The Gemara cites a Machlokes between Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel regarding a bald Nazir. Beis Shamai says that a bald Nazir does not have to pass a Ta'ar (razor) over his head, and Beis Hillel says that he does have to pass a Ta'ar over his head. The Gemara's initial understanding of Beis Hillel's opinion (and the conclusion of the Gemara according to some Girsa'os) is that Beis Hillel holds that the bald Nazir is required to take a razor and pass it over his bald scalp (see Chart, where we explained the various stages of the Gemara and the two versions, according to the various Girsa'os, as Tosfos explains (46a), and we summarized the entire Sugya based on the Arzei ha'Levanon's explanation and Girsa in Tosfos).

According to Beis Hillel, what point is there for a bald Nazir to pass a Ta'ar over his head if it is not cutting any hair? What does passing a razor over his head do that passing any other object does not do? What sort of Gilu'ach is there if there is nothing to cut?

ANSWERS:

(a) According to the first version in the Gemara, and according to the first explanation of Tosfos of the second version, it seems that there is a purpose to passing the razor over the head of the bald Nazir. When the verse says that "all the days of his Nezirus a razor shall not pass over his head" (Bamidbar 6:5), and then it says, "... until the completion of the days of his Nezirus," it implies that on the day of the completion of his Nezirus, he *should* pass a razor over his head. (See the Gemara earlier, beginning of 40a, which interprets the verse in such a manner.) According to Beis Hillel, the verse is teaching that there is an obligation for a Nazir to pass a razor over his head at the completion of his Nezirus, aside from the actual obligation of shaving. That is, besides the Mitzvah of shaving his hair on the day of completion of the Nezirus, there is also a Mitzvah to pass a razor over his head.

This seems to be the intention of Beis Hillel according to Tosfos who writes that according to Beis Hillel, the Nazir does fulfill the Mitzvah of Gilu'ach to some extent by passing the razor over his head. Tosfos compares this to the case of a Nazir who does not have palms, who performs Tenufah of his Shalmei Nazir and the Lachmei Nazir with his arms instead of his palms.

(b) According to the second explanation that Tosfos gives for the second version in the Gemara, it seems that passing a Ta'ar over the head is *not* a Gilu'ach at all. Tosfos says there that according to Beis Hillel who holds that a bald Nazir must pass a razor over his head, the act of Gilu'ach is not Me'akev, and not only may he drink wine, but he may bring the Korban as well.

We see from Tosfos that passing a razor over his head is not considered a Gilu'ach. Why, then, does Beis Hillel say that he should pass a razor over his head? One answer is that it is a Halachah d'Oraisa, based on the inference from the verse mentioned above, that a Nazir must pass a razor over his head at the conclusion of his Nezirus. However, it does not satisfy the requirement of Gilu'ach which the Torah adds in addition to the requirement of passing a razor over his head at the conclusion of the Nezirus. The Torah requires that he do a separate Mitzvah of shaving his hair, which, if he is bald, he is unable to do. Therefore, it is evident that Gilu'ach is not Me'akev the Korban.

A second answer is that the requirement to pass a razor over his head, according to Beis Hillel, is mid'Rabanan. The Rabanan enacted that a bald Nazir must pass a razor over his head so that people not mistakenly think that a Nazir is allowed to bring his Korban without shaving.

QUESTION: The Mishnah says that if a Nazir performed his Gilu'ach with a certain Korban and that Korban was found to be Pasul, his Gilu'ach is also Pasul. In addition, the rest of the Korbanos Nazir that he brings after that first Korban do not count as his Korbanos Nazir.

TOSFOS explains that the reason the rest of his Korbanos do not count for him is because his Gilu'ach that he performed before bringing those Korbanos was Pasul. The reason it was Pasul is because the Gilu'ach can only be performed after bringing at least one of the Korbanos. Once it turns out that his Gilu'ach was Pasul, he has to wait another seven or thirty days (according to either Rebbi Eliezer or the Rabanan, 16a) to give time for his hair to grow back before he is fit to be Megale'ach again and bring his Korbanos.

The words of Tosfos are difficult to understand.

According to the Rabanan who hold that Tiglachas is not Me'akev the Nazir from drinking wine, even if the Nazir is not Megale'ach at all, his Nezirus ends after he brings the Korbanos! In the previous Sugya we learned that according to the Rabanan a bald Nazir does not need to be Megale'ach. Why, then, should the Nazir's Korbanos be Pasul just because now he has no hair to shave (since he shaved it all off with a Gilu'ach Pasul)?

This question can be answered by saying that even though Tiglachas is not Me'akev, nevertheless the Nazir must at least have hair that is *fit* to be Megale'ach at the time that he is able to bring his Korbanos (see Insights to 39a). Now that his head is shaved, he cannot do Tiglachas. Even though a bald Nazir does not need to have hair in order to complete his Nezirus, nevertheless a Nazir who is able to grow hair must have hair that is fit for Tiglachas in order for him to be able to bring his Korbanos. It is for this reason that a Nazir must observe an additional thirty days of Nezirus if someone shaves his head on the last day of his Nezirus.

However, it should suffice merely to have hair that is fit for Gilu'ach at the time of the completion of the Nezirus. If his hair is cut at that point, it should not require him to wait until his hair grows back. Even though the Gemara earlier (39b) says that he does have to wait seven days (according to Rebbi Eliezer) or thirty days (according to the Rabanan), nevertheless Tosfos himself writes that the requirement of waiting days of Gidul Se'ar (growing hair) -- when his hair was cut after the completion of his Nezirus but before his Tiglachas -- is only *mid'Rabanan* (see Insights to 39a). Consequently, mid'Oraisa he may bring his Korbanos immediately after his invalid Gilu'ach, without having to wait seven or thirty days. Why, then, should the Korbanos that he brings after the Gilu'ach be Pasul mid'Oraisa? And if they are Pasul only mid'Rabanan, then how can he bring another Chatas afterwards? It will be Chulin b'Azarah! (KEREN ORAH, BIRKAS ROSH)

ANSWER: It could be that since the Nazir intended to fulfill the Mitzvah d'Rabanan of bringing Korbanos with Tiglachas that applies to a Nazir whose hair was cut after "Melos" (the conclusion of his Nezirus), therefore his Korbanos that he offered, thinking that he had fulfilled the Mitzvah, will not be valid, in order for him to be able to fulfill the Mitzvah d'Rabanan of Tiglachas with Korbanos later when his hair grows back. We consider it as if he brought his Korbanos on condition that they serve as his Korbanos Nazir only if he is fulfilling the Mitzvah in the proper way.

Alternatively, since he brings his Korbanos according to the will of the Rab anan ("a'Da'ata d'Rabanan"), the Rabanan are able to make his Korbanos invalid if they require him to wait an extra seven or thirty days, by putting into his action the intention that the Korban should not be his Korban Nezirus, like Tosfos writes in Sukah (3a, DH d'Amar) regarding a person who sits in a Sukah which is Pasul mid'Rabanan.