Nazir 49b (מט:) — the Talmud in English

And we explain:

“for every”

excludes [to teach]

those who are distant.

That is: If the verse had said, “He shall not approach every soul,” I would know that the High Priest does not become impure for those who are distant.

The verse adds and says

“dead,”

excluding [to teach]

those who are

close.

And the verse says

“souls”

in the plural, in order to

exclude [to teach] with regard to the measure of

“a quarter-log of blood that emerged from two corpses, which”

also

imparts impurity through a tent

just as a quarter-log of blood from one corpse imparts impurity.

As it is stated:

“He shall not approach every soul of the dead,”

as was explained above, on page 38a.

a. We learned in tractate Oholot [chapter 2]:

“These impart impurity through a tent:

A corpse, an olive-bulk of a corpse,

and an olive-bulk of netzel [this will be explained in the Gemara], and a full ladleful of dust from a corpse [this will be explained in the Gemara],

the bones of the spine and the skull

[when they are intact, even though there is no flesh upon them].

A limb [entire] from a corpse, and a limb [entire] from a living person upon which there is the requisite amount of flesh.

A quarter-kav of bones [originating] from the majority of the structure or from the majority of the number [of bones constituting the majority of the structure or the majority of the number of bones of a corpse

]. And the majority of the structure and the majority of the number of the [intact] bones of a corpse, even though they do not contain a quarter-kav

—

they are impure. How much is the majority of the number?—One hundred twenty-five [bones

. A quarter-log of blood.”

“These impart impurity through contact and carrying, but do not impart impurity through a tent—

A bone [from a corpse] the size of a barley-grain.

The land of the nations, and a beit hapras [a field that was plowed where there was a grave

]. A limb from a corpse and a limb from a living person upon which there is not the requisite amount of flesh.

The spine and the skull that are incomplete.”

b. There are forms of impurity from a corpse such that, if a nazirite becomes impure through them, he brings an impurity offering, shaves [in the language of the Mishna: “shaves”], and invalidates the preceding days.

There are also forms of impurity from a corpse and other forms of impurity for which he does not shave and does not invalidate the preceding days; rather, the days during which he is impure with that impurity do not count for him as days of naziriteship.

Our Mishna explains the forms of impurity for which the nazirite shaves, while the following Mishna, below on page 54a [which is the conclusion of our Mishna], explains the forms of impurity for which the nazirite does not shave.

b. All the forms of impurity mentioned in our Mishna impart impurity through contact and carrying and impart impurity through a tent, except for “a bone the size of a barley-grain,” which imparts only impurity through contact and carrying and does not impart impurity through a tent.

c. Of the measures mentioned in our Mishna with regard to the nazirite’s shaving, some are measures of the impurity itself, and consequently he does not shave for less than that amount. Others—for example, half a kav of bones and half a log of blood—are measures relevant only to shaving, even though the measure of impurity is less than that.

For all those forms of impurity in which the measure applies only to shaving, if he becomes impure with the amount that imparts impurity, he is included among the forms of impurity for which he does not shave.

c. Regarding the reason that there is one measure for shaving and another measure for impurity, the opinion of the Tosafot is that the measure for shaving is a halakha given to Moses at Sinai, and it is included among that which they said [Sukka 6b]: “Measures are a halakha given to Moses at Sinai.”

Mishna:

For these forms of impurity the nazirite shaves,

that is, he performs an “impurity shaving,” which includes offerings and shaving:

For a corpse,

one that is intact, as will be explained in the Gemara.

And for [or for, and so throughout the Mishna]

an olive-bulk

of flesh

from a corpse.

And for an olive-bulk

of netzel

from a corpse; what “netzel” is will be explained in the Gemara

. And for a full ladleful

[a ladleful]

of dust from

the corpse.

The Gemara will explain what dust from a corpse is and how much constitutes a full ladleful.

And for the spine,

and for the skull

of a corpse, when their bones are intact.

And for a limb from a corpse.

And for [or for]

a limb from a living person upon which there is—

each of these individually—

the requisite amount of flesh.

That is, there is flesh upon it such that, had the limb been attached to a living person, it could have healed, even if it does not contain an olive-bulk of flesh.

And for half a kav of bones

that were broken, with that half-kav containing a small amount of each and every bone that constitutes the majority of the number of the corpse’s bones or the majority of the corpse’s structure. But with less than half a kav, although it imparts impurity through a tent even when it contains only a quarter-kav of bones, nevertheless he does not shave for less than half a kav when he became impure through it in a tent, because this is the halakha given to Moses at Sinai.

And for half a log of blood

from a corpse.

But with less than this measure, although it imparts impurity both through contact and carrying and through a tent at a quarter-log, nevertheless shaving applies only for half a log of blood, because this is the halakha given to Moses at Sinai.

And for their contact,

and for their carrying, and for being in their tent.

That is: In all these cases in which we learned that the nazirite shaves, whether he became impure through them by contact and carrying or whether he became impure through them by being in a tent.

And

if

for a bone the size of a barley-grain

the nazirite shaves,

for contact with it and for carrying it

alone, whereas it does not impart impurity at all through a tent.

For

all these forms of impurity

that

we learned here,

the nazirite—

shaves [brings an offering and shaves].

And he is sprinkled on the third and seventh days

with the water of the para aduma.

And he invalidates

the

preceding

days that he had already counted.

And he does not begin counting

naziriteship

until he becomes pure.

The Gemara will explain to which purification the Mishna refers.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: For these forms of impurity the nazirite shaves—for a corpse and for an olive-bulk from a corpse:

The Sages taught:

After the passing of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda said to his students:

Let the students of Rabbi Meir not enter here, because they are contentious

[they provoke others]

and they do not come to study Torah, but rather to defeat me

[to distress me]

with halakhot.

Nevertheless,

Sumakhos forced his way in—

who was among the students of Rabbi Meir—

and entered.

Sumakhos said to them,

to Rabbi Yehuda’s students, who would recite our Mishna in his name: “For these forms of impurity the nazirite shaves—for an olive-bulk from a corpse,” and they did not recite: “For a corpse”

:

“This is how Rabbi Meir taught me: ‘For these forms of impurity the nazirite shaves: for a corpse and for an olive-bulk from a corpse.’”

Rabbi Yehuda became angry and said to them,

his students:

Did I

not say so:

“Let the students of Rabbi Meir not enter here, because they are contentious”!?

For if

for an olive-bulk

of flesh

from a corpse

he

shaves,

then

for the entire corpse

he

certainly

shaves; so why did the tanna need to teach: “For a corpse”!?