NAZIR 38 (9 Adar 5783) - Dedicated l'Iluy Nishmas Sarah bas Zishe Ehrmann, by her grandson Zev Rosenbaum (of Yerushalayim), in honor of her Yahrzeit.

[38a - 33 lines; 38b - 28 lines]

1)[line 3]îëåìïMI'KULAN- from all the prohibitions of Nazir (i.e. from eating or drinking all derivatives of grapes, from shaving the hair of one's head, and from becoming Tamei by touching or being in the same room as a corpse) [by saying, "Hareini Nazir," or a similar utterance]

2)[line 9]åð÷éè øá ëäðà áéãéäV'NAKIT RAV KAHANA B'YADEI- and Rav Kahana used the following mnemonic device (lit. held in his hand) to remember them

3a)[line 10]ñåî÷úàSUMAKTA- red ones, i.e. pertaining to wine and blood

b)[line 10]çéååøúàCHIVARTA- white ones, i.e. pertaining to water and oil

4)[line 11]ðæéø åòåùä ôñç ùäåøå áî÷ãù åîúåNAZIR V'OSEH PESACH SHE'HORU BA'MIKDASH VA'MESU- (lit. a Nazir and a person who was bringing a Korban Pesach that taught a Halachah in the Beis ha'Mikdash and died;) this phrase is a mnemonic device to remember the five Revi'iyos that apply to red liquids, as the Gemara explains below (see the following five entries)

5)[line 12]ðæéø, øáéòéú ééï ìðæéøNAZIR, REVI'IS YAYIN L'NAZIR- a Nazir who drinks a Revi'is of wine receives lashes (for red or white wine; this is in the list of red Revi'iyos simply because most wine is red)

6)[line 12]òåùä ôñçOSEH PESACH- the four cups of wine that a person drinks when making a Pesach Seder must contain between all of them a Revi'is; i.e. each cup must contain at least one quarter of a Revi'is of undiluted wine so that when it is properly diluted with water by a ratio of three parts water to one part undiluted wine there will be a Revi'is in each cup. (If, however, the wine is not diluted, there must be a Revi'is of wine in each cup.)

7)[line 14]ùäåøåSHE'HORU (ISUR HORA'AH L'SHETUY YAYIN)

(a)It is forbidden to decide Halachic questions while one is under the influence of wine or anything intoxicating. The verses state, "Yayin v'Shechar Al Tesht Atah u'Vanecha Itach b'Vo'achem El Ohel Mo'ed v'Lo Samusu... ul'Horos Es Bnei Yisrael..." - "Do not drink wine or any other intoxicant, you (Aharon) and your descendants, when you come to the Ohel Mo'ed, and do not die [on account of it]... And to render Halachic decisions..." (Vayikra 10:9, 11). This applies if one drank a Revi'is of undiluted wine or more than a Revi'is of diluted wine.

(b)One only transgresses the Lav against rendering Halachic decisions and receives Malkus if he drank at one time a Revi'is of undiluted wine that is at least forty days old. Even if one drank date honey or milk and his mind became confused, it is forbidden to render Halachic decisions. However, this does not apply to Halachos that are explicit in the Torah, e.g. that it is forbidden to eat blood or that a Sheretz is Tamei (SEFER HA'CHINUCH #152).

8)[line15]áî÷ãùBA'MIKDASH (ISUR KENISAH LA'MIKDASH L'SHETUY YAYIN)

(a)It is forbidden to enter the Beis ha'Mikdash while one is under the influence of wine or anything intoxicating. The verse states, "Yayin v'Shechar Al Tesht Atah u'Vanecha Itach b'Vo'achem El Ohel Mo'ed v'Lo Samusu..." - "Do not drink wine or any other intoxicant, you (Aharon) and your descendants, when you come to the Ohel Mo'ed, and do not die [on account of it]..." (Vayikra 10:9). This applies if one drank a Revi'is of undiluted wine or more than a Revi'is of diluted wine.

(b)If a Kohen entered the Beis ha'Mikdash beyond the point where the Mizbe'ach begins during the time of the Avodah and performs Avodah while under the influence of wine, he is Chayav Misah b'Yedei Shamayim. The Avodah that he performs is Pasul (disqualified). If he was under the influence of other intoxicants he has transgressed a Lav and receives Malkus. The Avodah that he does is Kosher. If he enters but does not perform any Avodah, whether under the influence of wine or other intoxicants, according to the RAMBAM (Hilchos Bi'as ha'Mikdash 1:15) he receives Malkus, while according to the RAMBAN (Sefer ha'Mitzvos Lo Sa'aseh 73) and other Rishonim this is only prohibited mid'Rabanan.

(c)It is forbidden for anyone (even a non-Kohen) to enter the Ezras Yisrael or beyond while intoxicated even though for doing so he does not transgress a Lav (SEFER HA'CHINUCH #152).

9)[line 16]åîúåVA'MESU (REVI'IS DAM)

(a)The blood that comes out of a dead body is Metamei b'Ohel if a Revi'is (approximately 75, 86 or 150 cc, depending upon the differing Halachic opinions) of it is in one location.

(b)Rebbi Akiva rules that a Revi'is of blood is also Metamei if it came out of two different people. However, the Rabanan (Sanhedrin 4a) rule that the Revi'is of blood must come out of one person for it to be Metamei b'Ohel (see Insights). The Halachah follows the opinion of the Rabanan.

10)[line 19]çìú ðæéø åîöåøò ùðôñìå áùáúCHALAS NAZIR U'METZORA SHE'NIFSELU B'SHABBOS- (lit. the Chalah of a Nazir and Metzora that became Pasul on Shabbos;) this phrase is a mnemonic device to remember the five Revi'iyos that apply to white liquids, as the Gemara explains below (see the following six entries)

11a)[line 20]çìú, øáéòéú ùîï ìçìäCHALAS, REVI'IS SHEMEN L'CHALAH- according to the Mefaresh and the RAMBAM (Hilchos Ma'aseh ha'Korbanos 13:3), this refers to one Matzah of the Chavitei Kohen Gadol. According to the TOSFOS, this refers to the Chalos of the Korban Todah (that were also Matzah - see below, entry #11c)

b)[line 20]çìú, øáéòéú ùîï ìçìäCHALAS, REVI'IS SHEMEN L'CHALAH (CHAVITEI KOHEN GADOL)

The Kohen Gadol offers a Minchah every day that consists of 1/10 of an Eifah of wheat flour made into twelve wafers or rolls. They were fried in olive oil in a flat pan after being boiled and baked. Half of the rolls were offered in the morning and half towards evening. They were completely burned on the Mizbe'ach (Vayikra 6:12-15). The Chavitin had to be brought from the money of the Kohen Gadol, but he did not actually have to offer them on the Mizbe'ach. The amount of oil that was used for each of the Chavitin was one Revi'is.

c)[line 20]çìú, øáéòéú ùîï ìçìäCHALAS, REVI'IS SHEMEN L'CHALAH (TODAH)

(a)The Todah (thanksgiving-offering) was a form of Shelamim (see Background to Nazir 22:2) that was eaten for only one day and one night (Vayikra 7:15).

(b)An animal that was sacrificed as a Todah was brought together with forty loaves of bread, ten each of the following:

1.Chalos Matzos - Matzos mixed with oil;

2.Rekikin - flat Matzos saturated with oil;

3.Soles Murbeches - Matzos made of boiled flour mixed with oil;

4.Loaves of leavened bread. (ibid. 7:12-13)

(c)Only half a Log of olive oil was used for all thirty Matzos: a quarter of a Log for the Soles Murbeches, an eighth for the Chalos Matzos and an eighth for the Rekikin (Gemara Menachos 89a, Rambam Hilchos Ma'asei ha'Korbanos 9:20). When the Gemara refers to a Revi'is of oil for the Chalos, it actually means the Revi'is that is used for the Chalos and the Rekikin.

(c)One loaf of each type of bread was given to the Kohen who performed the Zerikas ha'Dam of the Todah (ibid. 7:14). (These four loaves were known as Terumas Lachmei Todah.) The owner eats the rest of the loaves of bread of the Todah along with the meat (see Background to Nazir 22:2c).

12)[line 21]ðæéø, øáéòéú ùîï ìðæéøNAZIR, REVI'IS SHEMEN L'NAZIR (REKIKEI NAZIR)

When a Nazir completes his period of Nezirus, he must offer three sacrifices: a male sheep as an Olah, a female sheep as a Chatas, and a ram as a Shelamim. Together with the Shelamim he brings 6 and 2/3 Esronos of Soles (fine flour), which are made into 20 loaves of Matzah: 10 Chalos (unleavened loaves of Matzah) and 10 Rekikin (flat Matzos). One Revi'is of oil was used for all of the loaves. He then shaves off his hair and burns it under the pot in which the Zero'a of the Shelamim is cooked (Bamidbar 6:18). (Sefer ha'Chinuch #377)

13)[line 21]îöåøò, øáéòéú îéí ìîöåøòMETZORA, REVI'IS MAYIM L'METZORA

On the day that a Metzora is healed from his Tzara'as, he takes two kosher birds (Tziporei Metzora), a piece of cedar, some crimson wool and a hyssop branch. One of the birds is slaughtered over fresh spring water in a clay bowl. A Kohen dips the other bird, along with the other articles, into a Revi'is of spring water that is mixed with the blood and sprinkles it seven times on the Metzora. The living bird is sent away towards the fields. Both birds are Asur b'Hana'ah, but the Isur is removed from the living bird after it is sent off to the fields. (For a description of the rest of the purification process of the Metzora, see Background to Nazir 14:5.)

14)[line 22]ùðôñìåSHE'NIFSELU- a person who drinks a Revi'is of liquids that are Teme'im is Tahor according to the Torah, but needs to immerse in a Mikvah (or wash his hands with Netilas Yadayim --RASHI to Chagigah 18b, see Insights to Chagigah 18:2) by a Rabbinical decree (as listed in Shabbos 13b)

15)[line 23]äâåééäGEVIYAH- person (lit. body)

16)[line 24]áùáúB'SHABBOS (HOTZA'AH)

(a)Hotza'ah is the last of the thirty-nine Avos Melachos of Shabbos. It involves either

1.transferring objects from a Reshus ha'Yachid (private domain) to a Reshus ha'Rabim (public domain),

2.Hachnasah, which refers to transferring objects from a Reshus ha'Rabim to a Reshus ha'Yachid,

3.Ma'avir Arba Amos bi'Reshus ha'Rabim, or carrying an object from one place in Reshus ha'Rabim to another over a distance of at least four Amos,

4.Moshit, which involves passing an object from one Reshus ha'Yachid to another through Reshus ha'Rabim (as described in the Mishnah Shabbos 96a, see Background to Shabbos 4a). These are all Biblical prohibitions.

(b)In order to transgress the Biblical prohibition of Hotza'ah, certain conditions must be met. An Akirah (initiation of movement) and a Hanachah (putting the object to rest) must be performed on the object by the same person. If one person does the Akirah and another does the Hanachah, only a Rabbinical prohibition is involved, as the Gemara states in Shabbos 3a.

(c)One transgresses the Biblical prohibition of Hotza'ah only if he picked up the object which he moved (Akirah) with the intention of placing it down again in another Reshus. If he decides to place it in another Reshus only after picking it up, he has not transgressed a Biblical prohibition, and hence need not bring a Korban Chatas for atonement.

(d)One only transgresses the prohibition of Hotza'ah if the object transferred has a certain minimum size. The Mishnah (Shabbos 75b) describes this size as, "Anything that is normally put away for human use and people do put away this amount of it." If the object transferred is food, one is only liable to punishment if the food is the size of a dried fig (k'Grogeres). The amount for a liquid is a Revi'is.

17)[line 25]äùåôëéíSHOFCHIM- foul-smelling water

18)[line 28]ôééìéPEYALI- an earthenware cup or broad flat bowl

38b----------------------------------------38b

19)[line 13]çîøà çãúàCHAMRA CHADTA- new wine, i.e. grape juice (that is less than three days old - TOSFOS)

20)[line 16]àìàå ùáëììåúA'LAV SHEBI'CHELALOS (LAV SHEBI'CHELALOS)

A Lav shebi'Chelalos is a single Lav that prohibits many different acts. There is an argument among the Amora'im as to whether a person who transgresses a number of the prohibitions included in a single Lav receives a separate Malkus for each prohibition, one Malkus for everything, or no Malkus at all (see Insights to Pesachim 41:2).

21)[line 23]ìà éçì ãáøåLO YACHEL DEVARO

(a)The Torah empowers a person to create a prohibition, or obligation, upon himself through the means of his speech, as the verse states (Bamidbar 30:3), "If a man makes a "Neder" (vow) to HaSh-m, or swears a "Shevu'ah" (oath) to create a prohibition upon himself, he may not violate his word. As he spoke, he shall do." By pronouncing a Shevu'ah one can either prohibit an act that was formerly permitted, or make obligatory an act that was formerly voluntary. By pronouncing a Neder, in contrast, one can only prohibit and not obligate, with the exception of Nidrei Hekdesh (vows to consecrate a sacrifice) which can also obligate a person (to bring the sacrifice he vowed). Nezirus is a type of Neder.

(b)Lo Yachel Devaro is the Mitzvas Lo Sa'aseh that prohibits a person who makes a vow from breaking his vow. Besides Lo Yachel, one who violates a Neder transgresses a Mitzvas Aseh (Bamidbar ibid., Devarim 23:24). If, for example, a person takes a vow not to eat a certain food, as soon as he eats the smallest amount of that food, after being warned by two witnesses not to, he is punished with Malkus (RAMBAM Hilchos Nedarim 1:4-5).

22)[line 27]ãáéï äáéðééíBEIN HA'BEINAYIM- (a) the meat of the grape that is located between the seed and the peel (TOSFOS to Daf 34b, MEFARESH ibid.); (b) small underdeveloped grapes that are not fit to eat that are found between large grapes (RABEINU TAM, cited by TOSFOS ibid. and the ROSH ibid.)

23)[last line]ìà úðéà îéãé çîùLO TANYA MIDI CHAMESH- the correct reading of the Beraisa does not include the words "Lokeh Chamesh," but rather just "Lokeh" [and may just as well refer to six sins]