Nazir 54b — the Talmud in English

And it does not contradict the earlier ones

that he already counted.

And begins

the nazir

and counts immediately —

on the seventh day, after he became pure and even before the sun had set — the days that remain for him to count from the days of his naziriteship, but those days do not count for him toward the count.

And a sacrifice of

impurity

he does not have.

In truth they said, that is: a halakha given to Moses at Sinai:

that is: this is a halakha given to Moses at Sinai:

The days of the man with a flux and of the woman with a flux

of a male nazir and a female nazir —

and

likewise

the days of his confinement as a leper

[before the koen declared him definitely impure, who was a nazir] —

these count for him.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “But the overhanging branches and the projecting stones”:

And the Gemara brings what we learned [see Oholot 8:2], to explain what overhanging branches and projecting stones are:

And these are the overhanging branches: a tree that screens

[that is screened]

over the ground

and it is known that beneath one of the branches there is an olive-bulk of a corpse; and if a person entered beneath the tree, he is impure by rabbinic decree.

And the projecting stones:

stones

that extend

[that project, and this is the meaning of “projecting,” from the expression “he let the hair of his head grow wild”]

from the wall

of the cemetery into the public domain; and sometimes women bury their miscarried infants there. It is known that indeed one of the stones forms an overhang over a miscarried infant, but it is not known which one it is; and if a person walked in the public domain beneath one of the stones, he is impure by rabbinic decree.

We learned in the Mishna:

“And the land of the nations”:

The Sages issued two decrees — one later than the other — concerning the land of the nations

At first the Sages decreed impurity only upon one who touched or carried its soil, and afterward they added a decree even concerning the airspace of the land of the nations; and concerning this second decree, which they issued concerning its airspace,

it was raised as a question

before the members of the academy:

Whether

they issued a decree concerning the land of the nations because of its airspace

[the airspace of the land of the nations]

upon it,

that is: whether everyone who enters the airspace of the land of the nations is impure and it is unnecessary for him to form an overhang over the ground, because the reason for the impurity is so that people should not leave the Land of Israel for outside the Land, and therefore anyone who enters its airspace is impure.

Or perhaps because of the soil

[the clods of earth in the land of the nations]

they issued a decree upon it,

that is: a person does not become impure with the impurity of the land of the nations — when he did not touch or carry its soil — unless he formed an overhang over the ground of the land of the nations, because the reason for the impurity is the corpses in the land of the nations, and therefore he is impure only when he forms an overhang over them without a barrier, as with other corpse impurity.

Come and hear

from our Mishna: “

But the overhanging branches, and so forth, and the land of the nations, and so forth; concerning these the nazir does not shave

and he is sprinkled on the third and on the seventh”

with water of purification.

And if you say “

because of its airspace

they issued a decree upon it,” and one who enters its airspace without forming an overhang over the corpse is also impure, if so

why do I need the sprinkling!?

That is: since it is rabbinic impurity, certainly there is no reason to be stringent concerning this impurity, to require him to receive sprinkling on the third and seventh days —

and you cannot say either: because of those who err, who will say: This impurity is Torah-level corpse impurity, and will come to be lenient even with Torah-level corpse impurity; therefore let us be stringent with him, requiring him to receive sprinkling on the third and seventh days. This too is not so, if you conclude that “because of its airspace they issued a decree upon it,” because since he becomes impure even when he does not form an overhang or touch anything, everyone will know that this is not Torah-level corpse impurity but merely rabbinic impurity, and there is again no need to require him to receive sprinkling on the third and seventh days, whether when he touched its soil or when he entered its airspace.

Rather, is it not

necessarily that

because of the soil

they issued a decree upon it, and he is impure only when he forms an overhang over the ground; and people will come to err, thinking that it is Torah-level corpse impurity, and will come to be lenient even with Torah-level impurities of a corpse, not requiring them to receive sprinkling on the third and seventh days. Therefore they were stringent, requiring sprinkling on the third and seventh days.

And we reject this:

No,

you cannot prove from our Mishna that “because of the soil they issued a decree upon it”;

I could always say to you “

because of its airspace

they issued a decree upon it,”

and when it teaches

in our Mishna, “and he is sprinkled on the third and on the seventh,” this does not apply to the impurity of the land of the nations — although it is taught in our Mishna among the other impurities — but

to the others,

to the other impurities mentioned in our Mishna.

And the Gemara proves this rejection:

It is also logically evident

that we did not teach “and he is sprinkled on the third and on the seventh” concerning all the impurities taught in our Mishna, but only concerning some of them:

As it teaches

in our Mishna, among the other impurities through which the nazir becomes impure: “

And vessels” —

of wood — “

that touch a corpse” —

and is it that

these vessels are fit for sprinkling

for one who touched them, that is: is a person who touches wooden vessels that touched a corpse required to receive sprinkling on the third and seventh days!?

Rather,

necessarily

infer from this

that we did not teach “and he is sprinkled on the third and on the seventh” concerning vessels that touch a corpse, but only

concerning the others,

and if so, we can also exclude the one who enters the land of the nations from that which we taught, “and he is sprinkled on the third and on the seventh.”