Nazir 39a (לט.) — the Talmud in English

And we raise an objection:

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he cited it as a refutation,

Rav Pappa himself challenged Abaye from what they said: “He receives lashes

five.”

And since it was not taught “

five” —

why did he cite it as a refutation [What challenge did he initially raise, since “five” was not taught in the beraita]!?

He said,

he explained,

Rav Pappa:

In fact, “five” was not taught in the beraita.

Rather,

I thought that Abaye did not have this as a received tradition

[that one receives lashes even for the prohibition of “anything made from the grapevine”].

Therefore, I invented it on my own and added to the wording of the beraita that it says “five.”

And

I challenged him so that, if this teaching was indeed his own and was not a tradition transmitted to him by his teacher,

he would retract it,

that is, Abaye would withdraw his position because of this challenge and would not force the beraita to be interpreted in accordance with his view.

But I did not know that he had it as a received tradition

[I did not know that this teaching was accepted by him as a tradition],

and he did not retract

[he did not withdraw his position].

That is: I tested Abaye in order to determine whether he had this as a received tradition, and from his forced explanation of the beraita I realized that the teaching was indeed accepted by him as a tradition.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says

and so on.

And these are the zaggim: the ḥartzanim are the outer parts, and the zaggim are the inner parts; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Yosei says: So that you will not err, it is like the bell of an animal: the outer part is the bell, and the inner part is the clapper.

Rav Yosef said: According to whom do we translate

[according to whose view do we translate] the verse “from the ḥartzan to the zag” —

from the partzanim,

the inner seeds,

and to the atzurim

the outer peels, since squeezing is called atzur in Aramaic, and squeezing applies only to the outer peels, which contain some moisture, and not to the seeds —

in accordance with Rabbi Yosei

in our Mishna, as he interprets the verse “from the ḥartzan to the zag.”

Mishna:

A. The duration of

unspecified naziriteship

—one who accepted unspecified naziriteship upon himself and did not specify the number of days of naziriteship that he was accepting upon himself must observe naziriteship for

thirty days.

B. A nazirite who accepted unspecified naziriteship upon himself —

If

the nazirite shaved

most of his head,

or bandits shaved him,

he

interrupts

his naziriteship and continues observing naziriteship until he has hair of

thirty days

the measure of unspecified naziriteship, so that he can fulfill the mitzva of shaving with hair that has grown for thirty days. That is, he must wait until he completes thirty days of naziriteship from the time he was shaved, since he must fulfill the mitzva of shaving, and the shaving is effective only when he has hair that has grown for thirty days of naziriteship, the measure of unspecified naziriteship. B.

A nazirite who shaved, whether with scissors

[shears],

or with a razor, or who plucked

[pulled out]

even any amount,

even a single hair,

is liable

for lashes because he violated what the Torah says: “A razor shall not pass over his head.”

Provided that he shaves in a manner resembling a razor—that is, shaving the hair down to its roots.

Gemara:

They raised a dilemma

the scholars in the beit-midrash were uncertain:

The manner in which

this strand of hair

[of the hair] grows—is it

from below Rabbi,

Rabbi, or from above Rabbi?

Does the hair grow from its base, so that what was adjacent to the scalp moves farther and farther away as the hair grows? Or does the height of the hair increase, while the section of hair adjacent to the scalp remains in its place?

And we explain:

What practical difference does it make?

For a nazirite whom bandits shaved

most of his head,

and left on him

on each and every hair

enough to bend its tip to its root,

which is the amount of hair that grows in seven days and has the status of significant hair—

Does such a shaving interrupt thirty days?

If you say that the hair grows

that the hair

from below Rabbi

[if the hair grows from its base], then

his naziriteship has, behold, removed it,

meaning that the hair he had when he accepted naziriteship, which was adjacent to his head, was shaved; what remains is not that same hair, but rather grew afterward. Therefore, he interrupts his naziriteship until he has hair of naziriteship that has grown for thirty days.

But if you say that it grows from above Rabbi

[if the hair grows by increasing in length], then

what he consecrated remains in place,

meaning that the hair he had when he accepted naziriteship is still standing in its place and was not shaved. Therefore, he interrupts nothing.

Come and hear that the hair grows by increasing in length:

that the hair grows from its height:

From this louse egg

[lice eggs], which are formed primarily at the roots of the hair,

which remains

even when the hair grows

at its root

[they remain at the root of the hair as they did initially]—

and if it enters your mind that it grows from below Rabbi,

then

at the top of the strand

it should have to remain

[if you say that the hair grows from its base, the louse egg attached to the hair should rise to the top of the hair].

And we reject this:

In fact, it grows from below Rabbi

[the hair grows from its base],

but because it is alive, it descends and moves along

[the growth of the hair pulls it from the place where it was formed, but because of the life within it, it descends and returns to the place of the hair’s root], in order to sustain itself from the sweat and moisture of human skin.

Come and hear that the hair grows from its base: From what we in fact observe,

that the hair grows from its bottom, as we in fact observe:

a dead louse egg

which remains

at the top of the strand

[when it has no life, it remains at the top of the hair], because it is drawn along with the hair to which it is attached as the hair continues to grow —

And

if it enters your mind that it grows from above Rabbi,

then

at the root of the strand it should have to remain

[it should have remained at the root of the hair], which is where it was formed.

And we reject this:

There too, because it has no strength, it folds and slides downward

[since it has no strength, as it is dead, it slips downward]. That is: Since the hair bends downward, the louse egg slips from the place to which it was attached and descends to the top of the hair.

Come and hear that the hair grows from its base:

that the hair grows from its bottom:

From the forelock of gentiles,

who leave their forelocks for the sake of idolatry,

which, after they grow it, becomes loose from below

[after they braid their hair, the braid becomes loose near the head as the hair grows], indicating that the hair grows from its base.

And we reject this: The loosening is not due to the growth of the hair, but rather

because the hair is crimped by the weight lying upon it, it becomes loose

[because of the layer of forelock hair lying upon it, it becomes crimped and gradually loosens], that is: The weight of the hair is what loosens the braid below.

Come and hear that the hair grows from its base:

that the hair grows from its bottom:

From maskarta

[a type of red dye]

whose wool becomes loose below

[the wool is loose below].

Maskarta is a type of red dye with which the hair of animals is dyed. Where the dye is on the upper part of the hair, the wool becomes tighter at the animal’s body, and afterward the wool becomes loose near its root — -

Furthermore,

there is another proof that the hair grows from its bottom, as

when they dye the elders’ beards [

when they dye the elders’ hair black so that they will appear to be young men],