What do we do when the values between two of our commitments conflict?

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 15 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

In today’s episode we ask how can a person fulfill two obligations at the same time?

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 14 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What is the obligation to fulfill a Nazir’s vow, if it was made in a moment of bargaining for the life or health of a child?”

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 13 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

A meditation on the limits of language and knowledge when we depend on others.

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 12 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

When someone makes a vow in order to prevent others from forcing them into an action, does that vow have validity? In other words if I make a vow to avoid peer pressure do I remain accountable for that vow after the fact?

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 11 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What are the limits of frustration as an explanation for extreme statements? If a person makes a Nazarite vow under the stress of frustration does that vow have validity?

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 10 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Can an individual modify the Nazarite vow to fit their personal preferences? We will look at the limits for individuals altering religious ritual described in the Torah.

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 9 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Yesterday’s daf focused on the implications of the person’s vow on the length of his or her n’zirut if the vow mentioned duration. Today’s daf focuses on the implications of the person’s vow if it specifies the n’zirut not in terms of time, but in terms of other measures. For example, what happens if a person vows to be a nazir like the sand at the sea or like the capacity of a basket? Does such a vow refer to the number of days of n’zirut or the number of terms of n’zirut? After completing the discussion of the text on today’s daf, we discuss briefly the question of what it would mean for us to consecrate ourselves to God in a way that the nazir apparently did in ancient times. This completes Chapter 1 of Tractate Nazir and so we close with an appropriate celebration.

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 8 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Although Chapter 1 of Tractate Nazir has led us in many interesting directions, we have to remember that the internal theme of the chapter is on the implications of the specific language of the vow on the person’s n’zirut. Today’s daf focuses on the implications of the person’s vow on the length of his or her n’zirut if the vow mentions duration. For example, the vow to be a nazir for 31 days is different from the vow to be a nazir for 30 days and 1 day. What happens if a person takes a vow to be a nazir for as long as it takes to walk from A to B? In this episode, the question of whether the tradition approves or disapproves of the nazir is also discussed.

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 7 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The ceremony at the end of the nazir’s term is called “hitgalachat” because that is when his or her hair is cut (galach). Daf 6 focuses on the question of when hitgalachat takes place. If the term of the nazir is 30 days, then you would expect hitgalachat to take place on the 31^st day. But the principle that “part of a day is equivalent to a whole day” applies here, as well as to sitting shiva. Just as the mourner may end the shiva after the morning service on the seventh day, the nazir may complete n’zirut on the morning of the 30^th day and have the hitgalachat later on the same day. Much of today’s daf is devoted to the ramifications of this principle.

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 6 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today’s daf is focused on a Mishnah that states that if a person vows to be a nazir without setting a specific time limit, then the term of his or her n’zirut is 30 days. This term is not mentioned in the description of the nazir in Bamidbar (Numbers), where it is assumed that each nazir specifies in advance his or her own length of n’zirut. We speculate on both the reason and the effects of providing a 30-day term for the nazir. We also present simple rationales (published originally by Rabbi Eliezer Diamond) for the three prohibitions of the nazir and for a person’s becoming a nazir – what could be considered the “p’shat” of the text in Bamidbar. (Numbers)

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 5 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today’s daf focuses on a vow to be a nazir like Samson and a vow to be a nazir for life; neither of these corresponds to the nazir described in Bamidbar (Numbers) since that nazir has a fixed term. The daf includes a discussion of the differences between a nazir like Samson and a nazir for life, and this leads to a discussion of the details of Samson’s life and the life of another Biblical figure who is considered to be a nazir – Absalom, the son of King David. Embedded in this discussion is a Narcissus-like story about a young nazir with long curly hair who becomes enamored of his image in a well.

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 4 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Following up on a question in the previous daf, this episode discusses the question of why the nazir might be considered a sinner? This leads us to discuss the ceremony at the end of a period of n’zirut – which involves two sheep and a ram, and the shorn hair of the nazir – and the question of whether an ordinary person could afford to be a nazir. The main point of the Mishnah on the second side of the page is that you can’t be a partial nazir. If you even vow not to eat grape pits, then you automatically become a nazir. So we digress to a discussion of what is the fruit-of-the-vine prohibition of a nazir, and what are yayin and sheichar. The daf ends with a question. Isn’t the wine of Kiddush and Havdalah obligatory? How then could a person become a nazir?

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 3 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The first chapter of Tractate Nazir focuses on the implications of the actual statement made by a person on whether and for how long he or she becomes a nazir. We begin today’s episode, dealing with the first page of Tractate Nazir, with a description of the three prohibitions of the nazir in Bamidbar (Numbers). A nazir is a person who vows not to partake of the fruit of the vine, not to be in contact with a corpse, and not to cut his or her hair. The episode continues with a discussion of the various perceptions of the nazir, and a set of questions that will be discussed in the first seven episodes of Tractate Nazir, including, Is there any link between the three prohibitions? Why would a person choose to be a nazir? What role did the nazir have in society? Was the nazir regarded favorably or unfavorable in Jewish history? The first Mishnah of the tractate includes a number of euphemisms and abbreviations that would make a person a nazir, including one that provokes the question in the gemara of whether a nazir is a sinner (!)

To view the text of Nazir, Daf 2 on Sefaria, please click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.