Nazir 60b — the Talmud in English

And if he is certainly a nazirite

and pure,

he

that is, he was neither a leper nor impure at all, then

the first burnt-offering

was

obligatory, and this one—

which he brings at the fourth shaving—

is a voluntary offering;

and likewise the second and third offerings.

And if he was impure

from contact with a corpse

and

also

was certainly a confirmed leper

[that is how it was],

the first burnt-offering

[and likewise the second and third]

is a voluntary offering, and this one—

the fourth—

is obligatory, and this—

the sin-offering and peace-offering that he brings now—

is the remainder of his offering.

Here the Gemara presents additional laws concerning impurity imparted by a corpse and leprosy in the context of naziriteship. They are taught in the Tosefta, Nazir, chapter 6, halakha 2, with somewhat different wording:

a. One who was at the beginning of his naziriteship

certainly impure

from contact with a corpse in a

doubtful case, and certainly a confirmed leper,

has the following law:

He may eat sacrificial food after eight days,

that is, on the eighth day. How so?

On the first day of his naziriteship, he brings the birds required for a leper and shaves. He then counts the seven “days of his counting,” which begin on the day of his first shaving, and shaves on the seventh day. On the eighth day, he brings his offerings for leprosy, and he may then eat sacrificial food.

And he may drink wine and become impure through contact with the dead after sixty-seven days,

that is, on the sixty-eighth day. How so?

Since he is a leper, and the days of his counting and the days during which he is a confirmed leper do not count toward his naziriteship of purity, he must wait from the eighth day [on which he brought his offerings for leprosy] until he can begin counting his naziriteship of purity. His naziriteship of purity is completed on the thirty-eighth day, which is the thirty-first day of his naziriteship, and he then shaves.

He is still not permitted to violate the prohibitions of naziriteship, because perhaps he was also impure through contact with a corpse, in addition to his leprosy. The days of his counting do not count toward his naziriteship of impurity, so that his naziriteship of impurity follows his impurity due to leprosy. He does not emerge from it—in order to begin his “naziriteship of purity”—

but through the shaving that he performed on the thirty-eighth day, after which he brings his offering for impurity. On that same day, he begins his “naziriteship of purity.” Its thirty-first day is the sixty-eighth day, on which he brings his offerings and shaves, and he is permitted to violate all the prohibitions of naziriteship.

b. One who was at the beginning of his naziriteship

a doubtful confirmed leper and certainly impure

from contact with a corpse

,

has the following law:

He

may eat sacrificial food after thirty-seven days,

that is, on the thirty-eighth day. How so?

He does not perform the first shaving for his doubtful leprosy immediately, because perhaps he is not a confirmed leper but merely impure through contact with a corpse. In that case, all the laws of naziriteship apply to him and he is forbidden to shave. Therefore, he waits until the third and seventh days, when he is sprinkled and immerses, and he performs the shaving on the seventh day, as required of a nazirite impure through contact with a corpse. This shaving counts for him as the shaving required for corpse impurity if he is not a leper, and as the first shaving for his leprosy if he is a confirmed leper. The next day, he brings the bird sin-offering of a nazirite who is impure, because of the doubt.

He cannot perform the second shaving required because of his doubtful leprosy until he counts a naziriteship of purity, because perhaps he is not a leper but is impure through contact with a corpse, and he must now count a naziriteship of purity.

He cannot begin counting his naziriteship of purity until the eighth day, because perhaps he is not a confirmed leper but is impure through contact with a corpse. In that case, his naziriteship of purity began after he brought the sin-offering on the eighth day. Consequently, his naziriteship of purity ends on the thirty-seventh day, which is the thirtieth day of his naziriteship, and he shaves. This shaving counts for him because of his doubtful leprosy, and on the following day, the thirty-eighth day, he brings his offering for leprosy and may eat sacrificial food.

And he may drink wine and become impure through contact with the dead after seventy-four days,

that is, on the seventy-fifth day. How so?

Since he does not emerge from the doubt concerning his leprosy through the offerings brought on the day after his second shaving, but only on the thirty-eighth day, he begins counting his naziriteship of impurity only on that day. His naziriteship of impurity lasts seven days; on the seventh day he shaves, and on the following day he brings his offering for impurity. Consequently, his naziriteship of purity begins on the forty-fifth day. Its thirty-first day is the seventy-fifth day, on which he brings the offering for his naziriteship of purity and shaves, and he is permitted to violate all the prohibitions of naziriteship.

c. One who was at the beginning of his naziriteship

certainly impure

through contact with a corpse

and certainly a confirmed leper,

has the following law: He

may eat sacrificial food after eight days,

that is, on the eighth day, as was explained above with regard to one who is certainly a confirmed leper.

And he may drink wine and become impure through contact with the dead after forty-four days,

that is, on the forty-fifth day. How so?

On the eighth day, he begins counting his naziriteship of impurity. On the fourteenth day, he shaves, and on the fifteenth day, he brings his offerings for impurity. On that day, he begins his “naziriteship of purity,” which ends on the thirty-first day, that is, the forty-fifth day. On that day, he brings his offerings and shaves, and he becomes permitted to violate all the prohibitions of naziriteship.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai’s students asked him:

A pure nazirite

who had finished counting the days of his naziriteship and was obligated to perform the “shaving of purity,”

and

became

a leper

who is obligated to shave:

Can he perform one shaving

and have it count

for both purposes?

He said to them,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai:

He does not shave

one shaving for both of them.

They said to him,

his students:

Why!?

He said to them,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said to his students:

If

the two shavings served one purpose—

that

this

were performed in order

to grow

the hair for another shaving required by a mitzva,

and

also

this

were performed in order

to grow

the hair for another shaving required by a mitzva—

and this [or: this] were only

were merely

to remove

the hair from his head,

and

also

this

were only

to remove

hair in general, then indeed:

You are saying well:

one shaving would count for both purposes.

But

now

that the

nazirite

shaves only in order

to remove

hair, since after the “shaving of purity” he no longer grows hair in order to shave it,

and

if the

leper

performs his first shaving in order

to grow

hair for his second shaving, it is therefore proper that one shaving should not count for both purposes.

His students were perplexed:

And

you have indeed explained well to us that

it should not count for him

the nazirite’s shaving

for

the first shaving of

the days during which he is a confirmed leper, since that shaving is performed in order to grow hair—

которое является бритьём для отращивания волос —

and why

should

not

count

the nazirite’s shaving

during the days of his counting!?

That is, why should the nazirite’s shaving not count as the second shaving during the days of his counting? After all, both this shaving and that one are merely intended to remove hair!?

And he said to them:

The shaving of purity does not count even for the shaving during the days of his counting, because:

If this

the nazirite’s shaving

were before the sprinkling of the blood, and

also

this—

the leper’s second shaving—

were before

the sprinkling of the blood,

then indeed

you are saying well:

one shaving would count for both purposes.

But this is not so.

Rather, now:

the second shaving of a

leper

takes place

before the sprinkling of the blood

of his offerings,

while if the shaving of a

the shaving of the pure

pure nazirite

takes place

after the sprinkling of the blood

of his offerings, one shaving therefore cannot count for both purposes. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai’s students continued and asked him:

And

indeed,

it should not count for him for the days of his leprosy and his naziriteship,

as you have explained to us.

And

however,

can

one shaving

count for the days of his leprosy and

for the shaving of

his impurity

as a nazirite impure through contact with a corpse!?

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said

to his students:

If this—

the leper’s shaving—

were before immersion

[that is, before ritual immersion],

and also

also

this—

the shaving for impurity—

were before immersion,

then:

Indeed,

you are saying well:

one shaving would count for both purposes. But this is not so:

Rather, a

nazirite

impure

through contact with a corpse shaves

after immersion,

while a

leper shaves before immersion, and therefore one shaving cannot count for both purposes.

Alternatively:

Lishna achrina: Thus his students asked him:

They said to him

his students:

You have said well that it should not count for him for the days of his counting

and for his naziriteship,

as you distinguished.

And

however

it should count for him for the days of his confirmed status and his impurity, for

indeed

this—

the shaving of the days of his confirmed status—

is for growing

it comes,

and

also

this—

the shaving of his impurity—

is for growing,

and since they are equal, the shaving should count for this and for that!?

He said to them: If he is a pure nazirite and he is a confirmed leper

one shaving does not count for both this and that, because

this is for growing and that is for removing.

And if he is an impure nazirite and he is a confirmed leper

one shaving does not count for both this and that, because

this is before immersion and that is after immersion.