Nazir 60b (ס:) — the Talmud in English

And if he is certainly a nazirite

pure,

and

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

the first burnt offering

was

obligatory, whereas this one—

which he brings at the fourth shaving—

is a free-will offering;

and likewise the second and the third.

And if he was certainly impure

with corpse impurity

and

also

certainly a confirmed leper

was,

the first burnt offering

and likewise the second and the third

are free-will offerings, whereas this one

the fourth,

is obligatory, and this—

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

is the remainder of his offering.

Here the Gemara presents additional laws concerning corpse impurity 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

with corpse impurity, but in

a case of uncertainty, and certainly a confirmed leper—

this is his law:

He may eat sacrificial meat after eight days,

that is, on the eighth day. How so?

On the first day of his naziriteship he brings birds and shaves, and counts the seven “days of his counting,” which begin on the day of his first shaving. He shaves on the seventh day and brings his offerings for leprosy on the eighth; thus, he may eat sacrificial meat on that day.

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 of his being 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 counts 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.

Yet he is still not permitted to violate the prohibitions of naziriteship, because perhaps he was also impure with corpse impurity in addition to his leprosy, and the days of his counting do not count toward his naziriteship of impurity. Thus, his naziriteship of impurity follows his impurity due to leprosy, and he does not emerge from it—in order to begin his “naziriteship of purity”— -

except 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,” whose thirty-first day is the sixty-eighth day. On that day 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 case of uncertainty as to whether he was a confirmed leper, and certainly impure

with corpse impurity

with certainty—

this is his law:

He

may eat sacrificial meat 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 is merely impure with corpse impurity, in which case all the laws of naziriteship apply to him and he is forbidden to shave. Therefore, he waits until the third and seventh days, is sprinkled and immerses, and performs a shaving on the seventh day, as required of a nazirite impure through contact with the dead. This shaving counts for him as the shaving for corpse impurity if he is not a leper, and as his first shaving for leprosy if he is a confirmed leper. On the day after his shaving, he brings the bird sin offering of a nazirite who is impure, because of the uncertainty.

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 merely impure with corpse impurity, and he must now count his 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 merely impure through contact with the dead. In that case, his naziriteship of purity begins after he brings 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 then 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 meat.

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 his doubtful status as a leper through the offerings brought on the day after his second shaving, but only on the thirty-eighth day, it follows that 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. It follows that his naziriteship of purity begins on the forty-fifth day, and its thirty-first day is the seventy-fifth day. On that day he brings the offering for his naziriteship of purity, shaves, and becomes permitted to violate all the prohibitions of naziriteship.

c. One who was at the beginning of his naziriteship

certainly impure

with corpse impurity,

and certainly a confirmed leper—

this is his law: He

may eat sacrificial meat after eight days,

that is, on the eighth day, as 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, namely, the forty-fifth day. On that day he brings his offerings and shaves, and becomes permitted to violate all the prohibitions of naziriteship.

His students asked Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

A pure nazirite

who completed counting the days of his naziriteship and became obligated in a “shaving of purity,”

and

became

a leper

who is obligated to shave:

Can he perform one shaving

alone

and have it count for both purposes?

He said to them,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

He does not perform

one shaving for both of them.

They said to him,

his students:

Why!?

He said to them,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai said to his students: Because

if

the two shavings served one purpose—

that

this

were in order

to grow

the hair for another shaving required by a mitzva,

and

this

one

were also in order

to grow

the hair for another shaving required by a mitzva—

and this [or: “or this is merely”]

were merely

to remove

the hair from his head,

and

this

one

were also merely

to remove

hair in general—then indeed:

You are correct:

one shaving would count for both purposes.

But

now, since the

na

zir

shaves only in order

to remove

hair—for after the “shaving of purity” he no longer grows hair in order to shave it again—

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

indeed, you have properly demonstrated to us that the nazirite’s shaving

does not count for him

as the shaving of naziriteship

for

the first shaving of

the days of his being a confirmed leper, which is a shaving performed in order to grow hair—

This passage continues the explanation.

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 for removing hair!?

And he said to them:

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

If this

the nazirite’s shaving, were

before the sprinkling of the blood, and

this

one—

the second shaving of the leper—were

before

the sprinkling of the blood,

then indeed

you are correct:

one shaving would count for both purposes.

But that is not the case.

Rather, now:

the second shaving of the

leper

is

before the sprinkling of the blood

of his offerings,

whereas

the shaving of the pure

nazirite

is

after the sprinkling of the blood

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

And

indeed,

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

as you have demonstrated to us.

But

nevertheless,

let

one shaving

count for the days of his leprosy and

for the shaving of

his impurity

as a nazirite who became impure through contact with the dead!?

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai said to them,

to his students:

If this—

the leper’s shaving—were

before immersion

it is [immersion],

and

also

this—

the shaving for impurity—were

before immersion, then:

indeed,

you are correct:

one shaving would count for both purposes. But that is not the case:

Rather,

a

nazirite

impure

through contact with the dead shaves

after immersion,

whereas

a leper shaves before immersion. Therefore, one shaving cannot count for both this and that.

Another version:

This is how his students asked him:

They said to him

his students:

You spoke well in saying that it will not count for his days of counting

and for his naziriteship,

as you distinguished.

And

however,

it will count for his days of confirmed leprosy and his impurity, for

behold,

this—

the shaving for his days as a confirmed leper—

is to grow

it comes,

and

even

this—

the shaving for his impurity—

is to grow,

and since they are equivalent, the shaving will count for both this and that?!

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

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

this is to grow and that is to remove.

And if an impure nazirite is a confirmed leper

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

this is before immersion in water and that is after immersion in water.