Nazir 54b (נד:) — the Talmud in English

And it does not contradict the earlier statements

that he already enumerated.

And the nazirite begins

the nazirite

and immediately begins counting—

on the seventh day, after he has become pure, and even before sunset— the days that remain for him to count from the days of his naziriteship. However, those days do not count toward his total.

And a sacrifice

for impurity

he does not have.

In truth they said,

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

The days of a man or woman with a flux

of a male or female nazirite—

and

likewise

the days of his or her confinement as a metzora [

before the koen had declared the person impure] who was a nazirite—

these count for him.

Gemara:

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

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

And these are the sakhakhot: A tree that extends its canopy

overhead

over the ground,

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

And the projecting stones:

stones

that protrude [

this is the meaning of the term “projecting,” from the expression “he lets the hair of his head grow wild”]

from the wall

of the cemetery into the public domain. Sometimes women bury their miscarried fetuses there, and it is known that one of the stones indeed forms an awning over a fetus, but it is not known which stone it is. If a person passed through 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. Later, they added a decree of impurity even upon the airspace of the land of the nations. With regard to this second decree, by which they decreed impurity upon its airspace,

the students of the yeshiva raised a dilemma:

:

Did they decree upon

the land of the nations because of its air

the airspace of the land of the nations

and impose a decree upon it,

that is: Is everyone who enters the airspace of the land of the nations impure, and is it unnecessary for him to form an awning over the ground, because the reason for the impurity is to prevent people from leaving Eretz Yisrael for outside the Land, and therefore anyone who enters its airspace is impure?

Or perhaps it was because of the soil

the clods of earth in the land of the nations

that they imposed a decree upon it,

that is: A person does not become impure with the impurity of the land of the nations—when he has not touched or carried its soil—unless he forms an awning over the ground of the land of the nations, because the reason for the impurity is the corpses buried in the land of the nations, and therefore he is impure only when he forms an awning over them without an interposition, as with other corpse impurity.

Come and hear

from our Mishna: “

But the sakhakhot, and so forth, and the land of the nations, and so forth: concerning these, the nazirite does not shave

and he is sprinkled on the third and seventh days”

with the water of the ashes of the red heifer.

And if you say: “

because of its air

they decreed upon it,” and one who enters its airspace without forming an awning over a corpse is also impure, then

why do we need sprinkling!?

That is: Since this is only rabbinic impurity, there is certainly no reason to be stringent with regard to this impurity and require him to undergo sprinkling on the third and seventh days—

And you cannot say that the reason is concern for those who might err and say that this impurity is Torah-level corpse impurity, and might consequently be lenient even with regard to Torah-level corpse impurity; therefore, we should be stringent with him and require sprinkling on the third and seventh days. This too is not so if you conclude that “because of its air they decreed upon it,” for since he becomes impure even when he does not form an awning over anything and does not touch anything, everyone will know that this is not Torah-level corpse impurity, but merely rabbinic impurity. Consequently, there is no reason to require sprinkling on the third and seventh days, whether he touched its soil or entered its airspace.

Rather, is it not

necessarily that

because of the soil

they decreed upon it, and he is impure only when he forms an awning over the ground? People might err and think that this is Torah-level corpse impurity, and might consequently be lenient even with regard to Torah-level corpse impurities by not requiring sprinkling on the third and seventh days. Therefore, the Sages were stringent and required sprinkling on the third and seventh days.

And we reject this proof:

No,

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

I can always tell you that “

because of its air

they decreed upon it,”

and when it teaches in our Mishna, “and he is sprinkled on the third and seventh days,” this does not refer to the impurity of the land of the nations—even though it is taught in our Mishna among the other impurities—but

rather

to the other cases,

the other impurities mentioned in our Mishna.

And the Gemara proves that this rejection is correct:

This too is reasonably so,

that we did not teach “and he is sprinkled on the third and seventh days” with regard to all the impurities mentioned in our Mishna, but only with regard to some of them:

As it teaches

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

And vessels”—

of wood—

that touch a corpse”—

And

are these vessels subject to sprinkling

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

Rather,

necessarily

infer from here

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

with regard to the other cases,

and if so, we can likewise exclude one who enters the land of the nations from the scope of what we taught, “and he is sprinkled on the third and seventh days.”