Talmud Nazir (E)

UNDERTAKE TO POLL A NAZIRITE,’ AND SHOULD HIS COMPANION, HEARING THIS,
SAY: ‘I TOO, AND I UNDERTAKE TO POLL A NAZIRITE, THEN, IF THEY ARE CLEVER,
THEY WILL POLL EACH OTHER; OTHERWISE THEY MUST POLL OTHER NAZIRITES.
Now this [suggestion]
12
 is all very well as regards the latter, since the former had become [a nazirite]
first,
13
 but as to the former, was the latter a nazirite [when he made his vow]?
14
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(1) Any woman may therefore be a relative, of a forbidden degree of kinship, of his betrothed wife.
(2) A pair of doves of which it has not yet been determined which is to be the sin-offering and which the burnt-offering.
(3) v. Kin. 1, 2.
(4) The pair is then to be determined in the usual way; Kin. II, I.
(5) Since it is not known which is the survivor.
(6) We assume that a random pair does not contain the missing dove, as we are guided by the majority.
(7) [And could not be offered except on behalf of the owner who originally determined it.]
(8) Where the objects are stationary (
guce
), a majority is not considered decisive, but any minority is as potent as the
majority (cf. Sanh. [Sonc. ed.] p. 531. n. 4) and so there is an even chance that any woman is a near kinswoman of his
betrothed wife.
(9) I.e., to betroth before the deputy returns.
(10) Here, to betroth an unmarried woman.
(11) Hence the deputy could not possibly have betrothed the other sister.
(12) Viz., that they should poll each other.
(13) Lit., ‘since the former was in his presence’; and so his vow to poll a nazirite can be understood as applying to the
former.
(14) How then can his vow apply to the latter, if we accept Raba's contention that a man can appoint an agent only for
something which is possible at the time.
Talmud - Mas. Nazir 12b
Talmud - Mas. Nazir 12b
Talmud - Mas. Nazir 12b
It follows therefore that he must have meant: ‘If I should find one who is a nazirite, I shall poll him’;
and so here too, perhaps he means: ‘If you find one who is divorced, [you can] betroth her on my
behalf’? — We may put [our maxim] thus. A person can appoint a deputy only for a commission that
he himself can execute at the moment, but he cannot appoint him for a commission that he himself
cannot execute at the moment [but can only do later].
 
    But is that so? Come and hear: If a man says to his agent,
1
 ‘You are to declare void any vows that
my wife makes from the present moment until the time I return from such-and-such a place,’ and he
does so,it might be imagined that they become void, but Scripture says: Her husband may let it stand,
or her husband may make it void.
2
 This is the opinion of R. Josiah. R. Jonathan said: In all
circumstances do we find that a man's representative is equivalent to himself.
3
 Now, [R. Josiah's]
reason derives from the statement of the Divine Law, Her husband may let it stand, or her husband
may make it void, and but for this, the agent would be able to declare them void, whereas where [the
husband] himself is concerned, it has been taught: Should a man say to his wife, ‘All the vows that
you may make from the present moment until I return from such-and-such a place are to stand,’ this
is of no effect. [Should he say,] ‘They are to be void,’ R. Eliezer declares them void, but the Sages
say that they are not void.
4
 Now assuming that R. Josiah agrees with the Rabbis that he himself
could not make them void, [we nevertheless find that] had not the Divine Law said, Her husband
may let it stand or her husband may make it void, the agent could have declared them void?
5
 — It is
possible that he agrees with R. Eliezer that [the husband] can make them void [in advance]. If that is
so, why does he trouble to appoint a deputy? Why does he not declare them void himself? — He
fears that [at the moment of departure]
6
 he might forget, or be angry, or be too busy.
 
    MISHNAH. [SHOULD A MAN SAY,] ‘I UNDERTAKE THE POLLING OF HALF A
NAZIRITE,’
7
 AND HIS COMPANION, HEARING THIS, SAY ‘I, TOO; I UNDERTAKE THE

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POLLING OF HALF A NAZIRITE,’ THEN, ACCORDING TO R. MEIR, EACH MUST POLL A
NAZIRITE COMPLETELY, BUT THE SAGES SAY: EACH POLLS HALF A NAZIRITE.
 
    GEMARA. Raba said: All agree that if he Says, ‘I undertake half the sacrifices
7
 of a nazirite,’ he
is obliged to bring only half the sacrifices;
8
 if he says ‘I undertake the sacrifices of half a nazirite,’
he must bring a complete set of sacrifices, since partial naziriteship is impossible.
9
 Where they differ
is when the phraseology of the Mishnah [is used].
10
 R. Meir considers that as soon as he says ‘I
undertake [to poll]’ he becomes liable to the complete sacrifice of naziriteship, and when he
[afterwards] specifies half a naziriteship, it is no longer within his power [to limit his obligation].
11
The Rabbis, on the other hand, look upon it as a vow accompanied by its own modification.
12
 
    MISHNAH. [SHOULD A MAN SAY,] ‘
11
 UNDERTAKE TO BECOME A NAZIRITE WHEN I
SHALL HAVE A SON,’ AND A SON BE BORN TO HIM, HE BECOMES A NAZIRITE. IF THE
CHILD BORN BE A DAUGHTER, OR SEXLESS, OR AN HERMAPHRODITE, HE DOES NOT
BECOME A NAZIRITE. SHOULD HE SAY, WHEN I SHALL HAVE A CHILD,’ THEN EVEN
IF IT BE A DAUGHTER, OR SEXLESS, OR AN HERMAPHRODITE, HE BECOMES A
NAZIRITE.
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(1) A person left by a man in charge of his household while he is away.
(2) Num. XXX, 14.
(3) Ned. 72b.
(4) Ned. 72a.
(5) Which seems to show that a man can appoint an agent for something which cannot be done at once but can be done
later.
(6) Until then, he wishes to retain his option of declaring his wife's vows void or not, at his pleasure.
(7) I.e.,to bring half the sacrifices accompanying the polling of a nazirite.
(8) Because there is no ambiguity.
(9) The phrase ‘half a nazirite’ is meaningless and must therefore be replaced by ‘a nazirite’, since it is presumed that he
intended to undertake a real obligation.
(10)  Here the actual obligation, which is to provide sacrifices, is not mentioned explicitly but must be inferred. The
position of the word ‘half’ is no longer decisive, since no other position yields more sense. Accordingly, its significance
must be determined.
(11) Limitation is now only possible on application to a Sage, and so he must bring a complete sacrifice.
(12) And therefore only the modified vow comes into operation and it is sufficient for him to bring half the sacrifices. V.
supra p. 28, n. 7.
Talmud - Mas. Nazir 13a
Talmud - Mas. Nazir 13a
Talmud - Mas. Nazir 13a
    SHOULD HIS WIFE MISCARRY, HE DOES NOT BECOME A NAZIRITE. R. SIMEON
SAID: [IN THIS CASE] HE MUST SAY, IF IT WAS A VIABLE CHILD, I AM A NAZIRITE
OBLIGATORILY; OTHERWISE I UNDERTAKE A NAZIRITESHIP VOLUNTARILY.’
1
SHOULD [HIS WIFE] LATER BEAR A CHILD,
2
 HE THEN BECOMES A NAZIRITE. R.
SIMEON SAID: HE SHOULD SAY, ‘IF THE FIRST WAS A VIABLE CHILD, THE FIRST
[NAZIRITESHIP] WAS OBLIGATORY, AND THE PRESENT ONE WILL BE VOLUNTARY,
OTHERWISE, THE FIRST ONE WILL HAVE BEEN VOLUNTARY, AND THE PRESENT ONE
IS OBLIGATORY.
 
    GEMARA. For what purpose are we told this?
3
 — Because of the subsequent clause, viz.: — IF
IT BE A DAUGHTER, OR SEXLESS, OR AN HERMAPHRODITE, HE DOES NOT BECOME A
NAZIRITE. But is not this obvious? — It might be thought that his meaning was ‘If I beget a child’
4
and so we are told that this is not so SHOULD HE SAY ‘WHEN I SHALL HAVE A CHILD’ etc.:
But is not this obvious? — It might be thought that he only meant the child that is reckoned amongst

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