Nazir 40 - Shabbat March 4, 11 Adar

Study Guide Nazir 40 Today’s daf is sponsored by Abby Flamholz in honor of Sigal Spitzer Flamholz on her birthday. “An inspirational mom, wife, daughter, businesswoman, and daf learner.” From where do we derive that the shaving of a nazir needs to be performed with a razor? Rav Chisda brings a number of rulings regarding shaving of a nazir at the end of the term and cutting hair during the term (regarding when one receives lashes and when one needs to restart the count). A Mishna in Negaim 14:4 lists three people who need to shave their hair with a razor - a nazir, leper and the levites in the desert (a one-time action - not for future generations). From where is derived that a razor is needed? Regarding the nazir and levites, there are verses that show this. Regarding the leper, they attempt to derive it from a logical inference from either nazir, or the levites, or both together, but they are unsuccessful. Rava bar Mesharshia asked Rava about this as in a braita quoted earlier (Nazir 39b) they unsuccessfully tried to derive the razor from the leper to the nazir and here it is the opposite. Rava answers the question by explaining that the braita followed the rabbis' opinion and the Gemara here followed Rabbi Eliezer regarding a debate they have about whether the prohibition on men to remove the corners of their beard is only with a razor or with other implements as well. The Gemara explains how the rabbis' opinion there that it is only forbidden with a razor proves that a leper needs to shave with a razor as his obligation overrides the Torah law.