Nazir 6a (ו.) — the Talmud in English

But according to bar Padda

that the count of the nazirite term ended on the fifty-ninth day

there is a difficulty

with this Mishna: Why does he not shave on the sixtieth day, which is the thirtieth day of the count of the second nazirite term

? as explained by Tosafot in s.v. “And according to Rav Mattana, there is a difficulty with the latter clause” and in s.v. “And the second one.” And we answer:

bar Padda could have said to you

that

the latter clause supports

me:

As we learned in the latter clause:

“And if he shaved for the first one on the thirtieth day, he shaves for the second one”—

initially—

“on the sixtieth day,”

it is thus clear that, after the fact, he may shave for the first one on the thirtieth day; and this is the view of bar Padda.

Rather,

since it is certain that

the latter clause supports him,

it is necessarily the case that the

first clause—

which says that he may shave for the second one only on the thirty-first day—

is treated as though he had said: “complete days,”

meaning: It is a rabbinic decree, lest he say: “thirty complete days.”

And according to Rav Mattana, there is a difficulty with the latter clause,

as it is clear from it that if he shaved for the first one on the thirtieth day, he has fulfilled his obligation

? Rav Mattana could have said to you:

The latter clause:

“The thirtieth day counts for both,”

meaning: At the beginning of the thirtieth day of the first nazirite term, we apply the principle that part of the day is like the whole day; therefore, if he shaved on that day, he has fulfilled his obligation. The end of that very same day also counts as the beginning of the count of the second nazirite term. Therefore, when he shaved on the thirtieth day, the time for shaving for the second nazirite term is, even initially, on the sixtieth day, which is the thirty-first day of the second nazirite term.

The Gemara is astonished by Rav Mattana’s answer:

What is it?

That is: What does the tanna teach us by saying, “And if he shaved for the first one on the thirtieth day, he shaves for the second one on the sixtieth day”? Does he teach that

part of the day is like the whole day,

as explained

?

But he already said

this

once

in the first clause: If he shaved on the thirtieth day, he has fulfilled his obligation because part of the day is like the whole day. Why, then, did the tanna need to teach this again in the latter clause

?

Lest you say: This applies

only when part of the thirtieth day counts for him as a day of naziriteship

with regard to one nazirite term,

so that he may shave after part of the day—

but

that the thirtieth day should count

for two nazirite terms—

its beginning to complete the first nazirite term, and its end as the beginning of the second nazirite term—

does not apply.

Therefore,

it teaches us

that in the case of two nazirite terms as well, the thirtieth day counts.

The Gemara raises another difficulty against bar Padda from the following, as

we learned

in that Mishna: “

And if he shaved for the first one on the thirtieth day, he shaves for the second one on the sixtieth day; and

if he shaved on the fifty-ninth day—he has fulfilled his obligation,

for the thirtieth day

of the first nazirite term

counts for him in the count”

of the second nazirite term.

Granted, according to Rav Mattana, this is understandable,

for the tanna needed to provide a reason for his ruling that shaving on the fifty-ninth day is effective: It is because the thirtieth day of the first nazirite term counts for him in the count of the second nazirite term, meaning that it counts for both.

But according to bar Padda, why do I need

the tanna to provide a reason that shaving on the fifty-ninth day is valid, namely, that the thirtieth day counts for him in the count

?

He said

that bar Padda’s ordinary nazirite term is

thirty

days

less one,

and the shaving is on the thirtieth day. Since he shaved on the thirtieth day of the first nazirite term, it is obvious that the count of the second nazirite term begins after the shaving—and its thirtieth day is therefore the fifty-ninth day—as in the case of one who accepts naziriteship in the middle of the day, for whom part of the first day counts as the whole day. Yet nowhere do we find that the tanna says: “The first day counts for him in the count

”!

bar Padda could have said to you:

I too rely on this [namely, this is how I learned that naziriteship lasts only twenty-nine days], for since the tanna considers this thirtieth day to be the first day of the count of the second nazirite term, it certainly does not count as the last day of the second nazirite term. It is not reasonable that the tanna would be so lenient as to consider it to count for both

.

The Gemara raises another difficulty against bar Padda from the following, as

we learned

in that Mishna:

One who said, “

I am a nazirite,” and

and

became impure on the thirtieth day

before bringing his offerings,

invalidates the entire count.

Granted, according to Rav Mattana, this is understandable,

for he invalidates the entire count because on the thirtieth day, before he had brought his offerings, he was still within the period of his naziriteship.

But according to bar Padda,

who holds that his naziriteship had already been completed on the twenty-ninth day,

there is a difficulty

with this Mishna: Why should one who became impure on the thirtieth day, which is after his naziriteship, invalidate the entire count