Nazir 13b (יג:) — the Talmud in English

There still remains a question: if

the first said

: “

I am hereby a nazirite when so-and-so will have a

son”—who is not present—and

the other

heard and said

: “

And I” \-

what is the halakha?

Do we say

: Since he took his vow

not in the presence

of the one destined to become the father, he is no longer embarrassed to refer to the birth of that man’s own son, and

he was referring to himself

—that he would be a nazirite when he himself would have a son?

Or perhaps

, even when he says this not in the presence of the child’s father,

this is what

the second said to the first:

“I love

him as you do

”—I love that so-and-so as you love him—and I too long for that so-and-so to have a son, and I vow to be a nazirite if that so-and-so is indeed blessed with a son.

And we conclude:

Let it remain a question

—that is, this question is unresolved.

Mishna:

One who says: a.

“I am hereby a nazirite,

b.

and

I will be

a nazirite

also

when I have a son.”

And

he began counting his own

naziriteship—the one he accepted without connection to having a son—and

afterward he had a son

, he

completes

first

the

naziriteship

of his own

, since he accepted it first, and brings all the offerings and shaves.

And afterward he counts

the second naziriteship,

that of his son.

And if he said: a.

“I am hereby a nazirite

when

I have a son,

b.

and a nazirite

now”—

he began counting his own, and afterward

—before completing the count of his own naziriteship—

he had a son

, he

sets aside

the naziriteship

of his own

in the middle,

and counts that of his son

, because since it was accepted before his own, he must count it immediately upon the birth of the son,

and afterward completes his own.

Gemara:

Rava raised the following question:

a. If

a person said

: “

I am hereby a nazirite

—an unspecified naziriteship, which is thirty days—

after twenty days, and from now for one hundred days,”

what

is the halakha? Does the conduct of the one-hundred-day naziriteship begin immediately and then cease after twenty days because of the second naziriteship that he accepted first, or does the one-hundred-day naziriteship take effect only after he observes the second naziriteship? Should we say:

Since these one hundred days will not be completed during these twenty days

—since the one-hundred-day naziriteship will not end during these twenty days before the beginning of the second naziriteship, and he will therefore have to interrupt his naziriteship at that point and observe the second naziriteship that he explicitly accepted for after twenty days—then one might say—

that

the one-hundred-day naziriteship does not take effect

from now, since presumably this man does not intend to interrupt his naziriteship and resume completing it after observing the second naziriteship; rather, his intention is that the first twenty days should be free of naziriteship.

Or perhaps:

Since he has

a measure of

hair growth

—that is, enough for the shorter of the naziriteships, and more—

at the end

, after observing the unspecified naziriteship, since he accepted upon himself one hundred days and eighty days will remain for him to complete—

Therefore,

the one-hundred-day naziriteship takes effect

from now, and he interrupts it after twenty days and observes the second naziriteship; after completing it, he returns and completes the one-hundred-day naziriteship.

The Gemara raises an objection to Rava:

While Rava is uncertain about a one-hundred-day naziriteship, for which thirty days remain to be completed after the second naziriteship—

he should have raised the question

for Rava in a case where the person initially accepted

a short naziriteship

—that is, an unspecified naziriteship of thirty days—and an additional naziriteship after twenty days. For although thirty days of naziriteship would not remain when he returned to complete the first one, it is nevertheless possible to consider whether he intended to interrupt it with the second naziriteship.

And we answer:

He raised the question about one case on the basis of another

—that is, Rava is indeed uncertain even concerning a short naziriteship, and his question concerning the longer naziriteship is posed in the form of “if you should say” based on the straightforward formulation of the question concerning the short naziriteship—