Ask A Question about the Daf

Previous daf

Nazir, 18

18b

QUESTION: The Gemara cites a Beraisa in which Rebbi Eliezer rules that when a person becomes Tamei and thereby is "Soser" his Nezirus, and on the seventh day of his Tum'ah -- after he has completed the seven-day Taharah process -- he becomes Tamei again, and then seven days later when he becomes Tahor from the second Tum'ah he again becomes Tamei (a third time) on the seventh day, he brings only one Korban Tum'ah. However, if he becomes Tamei each of the three times on the *eighth* day, he brings three Korbanos Tum'ah.

TOSFOS asks why Rebbi Eliezer says that the Nazir brings three Korbanos Tum'ah when he becomes Tamei on the eighth day? Rebbi Eliezer is the Tana who holds in the Mishnah earlier (16b) that a person is not Soser his Nezirus and does not bring a Korban Tum'ah unless he has observed at least one day of Nezirus Taharah before he became Tamei. That is, he only brings the Korban Tum'ah when he became Tamei on the second day of his observance of Nezirus. If he became Tamei on the first day of his count, then it is not Soser his Nezirus and he does not bring the Korban Tum'ah. Why, then, does Rebbi Eliezer in the Beraisa here rule that when he becomes Tamei on the eighth day on three different occasions, he brings three sets of Korbanos Tum'ah? If Rebbi Eliezer holds that a Nazir does not start the count of Nezirus Taharah until the eighth day, then when he becomes Tamei on the eighth day, he is becoming Tamei on day *one* of his count! Since he was already Soser the previous Nezirus, the eighth day is always going to be day one of his count. As such, he should not have to bring a Korban Tum'ah for the Tum'ah that happened to him on the eighth day! (See SHITAH MEKUBETZES and VILNA GA'ON in Hagahos ha'Gra, who assert, because of this question, that the Girsa of the Beraisa should read "*Rebbi*" instead of "Rebbi Eliezer;" it is Rebbi who holds that even if a Nazir becomes Tamei on the first day of his Nezirus, he is Soser the Nezirus and brings a Korban Tum'ah.)

Tosfos answers that Rebbi Eliezer holds like Rebbi Yosi bar'Rebbi Yehudah, who says that the Nazir could start his count of Nezirus Taharah on day seven and does not have to wait until day eight. He may begin counting Nezirus Taharah on the seventh day of his Taharah process, because on that day he becomes Tahor and he does not have to wait until he brings the Korbanos on the next day (day eight) in order to start his count. Day eight, therefore, is the *second* day of his count, and that is why he brings a Korban Tum'ah for Tum'ah that happened to him on the eighth day after the previous Tum'ah.

REBBI AKIVA EIGER (Teshuvos 1:214) asks a strong question on the approach of Tosfos. The Beraisa says that if the person became Tamei three times, and the last two times he became Tamei on the *seventh* day of the previous Tum'ah, then he brings only one Korban. It would seem obvious that the point of the Beraisa is to teach that even though there are three separate Tum'os, he does not have to bring three separate sets of Korbanos for the three Tum'ah periods, because they are all like one long Tum'ah, since he became Tamei before he was able to bring his Korban and start Nezirus Taharah. (This is how the SHITAH MEKUBETZES and VILNA GA'ON learn according to their Girsa of "Rebbi.")

According to Tosfos, who says that Rebbi Eliezer is the Tana of this Beraisa and he holds that the Nazir must have counted at least one day of Nezirus before he can be Soser his Nezirus, it is obvious that a person only brings one Korban for the three sets of Tum'ah periods, because he never had the opportunity to count a day of Nezirus Taharah before becoming Tamei again! If he became Tamei on the seventh day after the first Tum'ah, then he did not yet count one day of Nezirus Taharah! Hence, according to Rebbi Eliezer, since he did not count a day of Nezirus Taharah, *that* is why he is not Soser his Nezirus and he does not bring Korbanos Tum'ah! Similarly, after the second period of Tum'ah, when he became Tamei on day seven, again he did not have a chance to count a day towards his Nezirus so that his Tum'ah should be able to be Soser it and so that he should have to bring the Korbanos of a Nazir Tamei!

What is the Chidush of the Reisha according to Tosfos? The case of the Reisha seems to be teaching that the three incidents of Tum'ah are all one long Tum'ah and should not be viewed as three separate different Tum'ah periods, and therefore the Nazir brings only one Korban Tum'ah. But according to Rebbi Eliezer, that is not at all the reason why the Nazir brings only one Korban Tum'ah! The reason he brings only one Korban is because he never was Soser one day of his Nezirus count!

ANSWERS:

(a) REBBI AKIVA EIGER answers that in the Reisha there actually *was* one day of Nezirus counted according to Rebbi Eliezer. He explains as follows: After becoming Tamei the first time, the Nazir waited seven days, became Tahor, and then became Tamei again before nightfall. There was, however, a moment on the seventh day during which he was Tahor. Tosfos holds that, according to Rebbi Eliezer, if a person becomes Tamei on the day that he starts his Nezirus, since he is not Soser that day (since he has not yet observed a day of Nezirus) he only needs to observe another 29 days after he becomes Tahor (see TOSFOS 16b, DH Rebbi Eliezer Omer). Accordingly, when the Nazir became Tamei on the seventh day shortly after he became Tahor from his first Tum'ah, there was a period of time during which he was Tahor -- after the first Tum'ah was over and before he became Tamei with the second Tum'ah on the same day. That amount of time, says Rebbi Akiva Eiger, counts as a whole day of Nezirus because of "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo." Hence, that gives him one day of Nezirus already. At the end of the second period of Tum'ah, when he becomes Tahor again and then becomes Tamei again before nightfall, that third Tum'ah occurs on a day *after* the first day of Nezirus; it is happening on the second day of Nezirus, because he again has a "Miktzas ha'Yom" during which he observes Nezirus b'Taharah for a second day. Since the first day was not revoked, the "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" of Nezirus Taharah on the seventh day after the second Tum'ah counts as the second day, and when he becomes Tamei later it is as if he becomes Tamei on the second day of his Nezirus count. Therefore, after the second Tum'ah, he indeed should be Soser his Nezirus with the third Tum'ah and he should have to bring two sets of Korbanos -- one for the first Tum'ah, which started after he had observed a number of days of his Nezirus and was certainly Soser some of his Nezirus, and one for the third Tum'ah which was Soser the two days of Nezirus that he counted because of "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo!"

(b) The CHAZON ISH takes issue with the approach of Rebbi Akiva Eiger. He says that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" cannot apply when one observes Nezirus in the middle of the day. "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" applies only when one observes Nezirus at the end of the day, or when he starts off his Nezirus on that day (such as a person who accepts upon himself Nezirus and on the same day he becomes Tamei; since that period of time that he observed Nezirus during the middle of the day was the *beginning* of his Nezirus, it counts as "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo"). But if -- at the beginning of the day -- he was a Nazir Tamei, and then in the middle of the day he became Tahor for a short while, and then he became Tamei again before nightfall, then "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" does not apply, because he only had an hour in the middle of the day, and Tosfos says in a number of places that "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" applies only at the beginning of the day (or the Nezirus) or at the end of the day.

Therefore, the Chazon Ish says that perhaps Rebbi Akiva Eiger is simply correct in his question, and the reason why Rebbi Eliezer in the Beraisa says that the Nazir brings only one Korban in a case where he becomes Tamei three different times on the seventh day of his Tum'ah is simply because he had no days to be Soser, since he always became Tamei on the first day and not on the second day of observing his Nezirus. Indeed, Rebbi Eliezer's ruling has nothing to do with bringing one Korban for a number of Tum'os. The reason he brings one Korban is simply because he was not Soser two days.

The Chazon Ish points out that this Beraisa is not necessarily teaching a Chidush about bringing one Korban for a number of Tum'os. It is not like the Mishnah in Kerisus (quoted on 18a) which says that "there is a case of a person who brings one Korban for many Aveiros," and which mentions this Halachah of bringing one Korban Nezirus for many Tum'os. The Mishnah in Kerisus is trying to prove the point of bringing one Korban for many Tum'os. This Beraisa here, though, is not necessarily teaching that.

However, we may point out that the ROSH also explains like Tosfos, and says that the Tana of the Beraisa is Rebbi Eliezer, and if the Nazir becomes Tamei on the eighth day it is as if two days of Nezirus-observance have passed. However, the Rosh himself writes that the Gemara (18a) could have said that the Mishnah in Kerisus which says that "there is a case of a person who brings one Korban for many Aveiros" was written by Rebbi Eliezer even though the whole point of the Mishnah is to teach that one brings only one Korban if he becomes Tamei each time on the seventh day even though there are a number of different Tum'os. According to Rebbi Eliezer, though, that should not be the Chidush; according to Rebbi Eliezer, he does not bring a Korban for each Tum'ah for a different reason -- because he did not keep two days of Nezirus, like the Chazon Ish himself says.

(c) Perhaps we can answer that when the Beraisa says that he became Tamei on "Shevi'i," it does not really mean on the seventh *day*, but it means on the *night after* the seventh day, because with regard to matters involving Kodshim, "the night follows the day" (Chulin 83a). Hence, on the night after the seventh day, according to Rebbi Eliezer, the principle of "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" certainly applies, since he started his Nezirus Taharah after the first seven days of Tum'ah and he continued observing his Nezirus through the end of the day, until nightfall, and thus "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" applies. However, since he became Tamei before the next morning, when he would have been fit to bring his Korbanos, he only brings one Korban for the second Tum'ah, because Rebbi Eliezer holds that one must be fit to bring Korbanos in order for a second Tum'ah to be considered a separate Tum'ah, like the Gemara says (beginning of 18b), "Lailah Lav Mechusar Zman." Thus, Tum'ah at night is considered one long Tum'ah and is not considered a separate Tum'ah until he becomes Tamei during daytime of the following day (the day after the seventh -- i.e. the eighth day), because when the daytime comes he is fit to bring his Korbanos.