תלמוד על במדבר 19:12

MISHNAH: But for overhanging branches¹³⁶If the nazir walks under a tree under which a grave is suspected., or protuberances¹³⁷Standing out from a building or a fence and it is suspected that a grave may be buried underneath., or broken fields¹³⁸“The house of the broken-off piece” is a field which contained a grave ploughed under. Not only is the suspected place of the grave impure by biblical standards but the entire field is rabbinically impure since the plough might have caught a bone and transported it to another part of the field., or Gentile territory¹³⁹Which is rabbinically impure even in the Holy Land., or the cave door, or its frame¹⁴⁰גּוֹלֵל “the roller” is a large circular stone which closes the entrance to a burial cave. דּוֹפֵק “the knocker” is the frame which keeps the roller in place. The expressions were later transferred to burial in the earth, where “the roller” became the stone plate covering the grave and “the knocker” the stone frame on which it rests. Cf. Note 142., or a quartarius of blood¹⁴¹One-half of the amount which induces biblical impurity., or a tent¹⁴²Everything inside a tent in which there is a corpse is impure (Num. 19:14). The tent confines the impurity; outside of the tent everything is pure. The impurity of a person touching a tent (or a “roller” or a “knocker”) from the outside is purely rabbinical. But cf. Note 164., or a quarter (qab) of bones¹⁴¹One-half of the amount which induces biblical impurity., or objects that touched the corpse¹⁴³An object inside a tent in which there is a corpse is a source of original impurity. But an object touching a corpse under the open sky becomes impure in a derivative way. Anybody touching such an object becomes impure in a secondary way which in most cases is only rabbinical; cf. Demay 2:3, Note 137., or the days of his counting or his being absolute¹⁴⁴This refers to the sufferer from skin disease. The nazir is enjoined from becoming impure by the impurity of the dead; in general, impurity generated by the nazir’s own body has no influence on his status as nazir. “The days of his counting” are the eight days which the healed sufferer from skin disease has to observe between the preliminary and the final expiation ceremonies. These days do not interfere with his status as nazir but they cannot count since he has to shave all his hair on the first and seventh days. “The days of his being absolute” is the time in which the sufferer is declared to be certainly impure. Then he is required not to shave his hair (Lev. 13:45); nevertheless, these days do not count towards the fulfillment of his vow., the nazir does not shave¹⁴⁵If his impurity is caused by a corpse and either is rabbinical or questionable. but sprinkles on the third and seventh days¹⁴⁶Num. 19:12., does not disregard the preceding¹⁴⁷The time he is in any state of impurity caused by the dead, whether rabbinical or questionable, cannot be counted towards fulfillment of his vow of nazir. But the preceding and following days count and after purification he simply completes the count; he does not start anew., starts counting immediately, and has no sacrifice. In truth¹⁴⁸This expression is a label for an old, pre-Mishnaic, rule., the days of a male or female sufferer from flux¹⁴⁹Lev. 15. As explained in Note 144, this impurity generated by the nazir’s own body has no influence on his state of nezirut. “The days of quarantine” are those in which the possible sufferer from skin disease is put under observation before his final status is determined (Lev. 13:4,5,21,26, 31). and the days of quarantine of the sufferer from skin disease are counted for him.