Talking Talmud
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Nazir 35: Two Grape-seeds and a Grape-skin
February 27, 2023 21:00 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBDetails of what of grapes are prohibited to a nazir, including the minimum amount that would make the nazir obligated for violating his prohibition. Plus, a dive into the logical inference of the general to the specific, and how it applies in this case. Also, the example of general/specific from using ma'aser sheni money in Jerusalem.
Nazir 34: Grapes: Skins, Seeds, Twigs, and All
February 26, 2023 17:09 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBThe Koi. A halakhic conundrum - is this animal a behamah (domesticated) or chayah (wild)? Plus, the context of people taking vows based on the halakhic status of the koi. Are they nezirim or not? Also, opening chapter 6: beginning with what is actually prohibited to the nazir, including all of the different component parts of the grape.
Nazir 33: A Page with No Gemara?!
February 25, 2023 21:28 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBFirst, a mishnah - a brainteaser of 6 people who take conditional vows of nezirut, depending on determinable unknowns. The question of whether those vows kick in depending on the dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. Plus, some talmudic revision of the phrasing of the mishnah. Also, the absence of talmudic text on Amud Bet. Plus, a brief review of the Baalei HaTosafot.
Nazir 32: It's Not the Staff That Sanctifies
February 24, 2023 12:34 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBOne who vows to be a nazir, then regrets it, and wants out - but the sage he asks to dissolve the vow tells him he must continue. Plus, how this regret lines up with consecration that was done in error. Also, what about animals that are stolen and/or blemished, and how that changes things (or doesn't) for a nazir's vow. Plus, the early practicing Jews and how they apparently didn't know about the destruction of the Temple! (And therefore people got stuck in the middle of their periods of nezi...
Nazir 31: The Black Ox and the White Ox
February 23, 2023 16:43 - 15 minutes - 14.7 MBWhat happens if you consecrate something in error? Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai dispute the outcome - not consecrated and consecrated, respectively. Also, delving into the side of Beit Shammai, and the rationale of priority when it comes to consecration, whether that which is more valuable or that which is indeed first.
Nazir 30: Wait for Elijah
February 22, 2023 15:11 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBFinishing chapter 4... with a new mishnah. A man can use his father nezirut funds for the final korbanot but a daughter cannot. But in general, a son cannot use his father's funds for his own offerings - this is an exception. Also, a series of questions at the end of the Gemara in that mishnah, with particulars about cases of nezirut, for which the Gemara does not have answers.
Nazir 29: A Father's Vow of Nezirut for His Son
February 21, 2023 15:14 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBThe Gemara presents a series of potential practical differences between the approaches of R. Yochanan (an inherited tradition - halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai) and Resh Lakish (a matter of education). Also, the value of taking the vow of nezirut (for a change), including R. Hanina's vow.
Nazir 28: Revoking a Wife's Vow and Making a Vow for a Son
February 20, 2023 13:50 - 11 minutes - 11 MBA new mishnah: Can a husband still revoke his wife's vow of nezirut at the time that she's bringing the final sacrifices at the conclusion of her nezirut? In contrast to earlier discussions, it seems that he cannot do so, this late in the game. The Gemara then probes the opinions of R. Akiva and R. Eliezer. Plus, a discussion of wigs, potentially being distasteful to a husband, in contrast to the comparable products today. Also, another mishnah: a father can make a vow to establish nezirut fo...
Nazir 27: Sons and Fathers
February 19, 2023 16:44 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBR. Nachman's position on a designated animal that ends up being blemished - already consecrated for the nazir's offerings. Is it to be treated like an unallocated animal or an allocated one? R. Hamnuna questions whether the blemished animal could be treated like unspecified funds. Plus, Rava's objection to R. Nachman - via a son and father needing to bring their own respective sin-offerings, as per a verse.
Nazir 26: Exceptions Made for the Nazir Offerings
February 18, 2023 20:43 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MBUnspecified funds - including the sin-offering funds - can be rededicated for voluntary offerings, with the nazir as an exception to the usual sin-offering rules. Can these bird offerings be redirected? Plus, the role of the Dead Sea. Also, a talmudic revision of a passage that makes more sense.
Nazir 25: It Is What It Is
February 17, 2023 12:50 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBMore on specified (and unspecified) funds that have been set aside by one undertaking nezirut. The funds that were going to the sin-offering cannot be accessed for anything else, including voluntary offerings. How do we know this detail with regard to the nazir? There's a dispute whether it's derived from a verse or if there's no need for that kind of explication. And then the question comes back the usability of the funds. Also, more on the process of swapping funds for the animal.
Nazir 24: Interrupting a Woman's Nezirut
February 16, 2023 18:38 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBA woman's vow of nezirut can be revoked by her husband up until the time that she brings the post-nezirut sacrifices. But what happens if she's consecrated them, and not yet sacrificed them, and then he revoked the vow? What happens to those animals? Plus, what would it mean that she has her own property? Also, the 4 occasions where the nazir's sacrifices are not accompanied by bread.
Nazir 23: Pure Motives
February 15, 2023 18:04 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBCan a person intentionally commit a sin but still perform a good dead? The Gemara explores how intentionality impacts the meaning of our good and bad deeds, with an eye to Lot, Tamar, Yael, Lavan, Balaam and more. (With sexual transgressions providing the extreme examples)
Nazir 22: The Importance of Tone
February 14, 2023 06:50 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBMore on a woman who vows to be a nezirah, and another woman says she'll follow in her footsteps - what happens to the vow of the second woman if the husband of the first woman dissolves her vow? Also, the case of the man who undoes his wife's vow of nezirut, but he upholds his own vow. Plus, the difference between a question and a statement - boiling down to inflection and tone, beyond the words themselves, no less.
Nazir 21: The Conundrum of the Husband Who Joins His Wife's Nezirut
February 13, 2023 15:53 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MBMore on friends who join on to another person's vow of being a nazir. Does "And I" refer to the statement by the first person or that of the second person? Are these statements all linked together or not? With implications for whether the vows are binding on all of them in the same way. Plus, a comment on talmudic methodology and the lengths the Talmud goes to in attempting to answer its questions. Also, a woman who vows to become a nezirah, and her husband says, And I! - Is there any way for...
Nazir 20: Overhearing a Vow of Nezirut: Then What?
February 12, 2023 20:22 - 17 minutes - 16.5 MBA new mishnah: when witnesses come to court to testify about another person's vow of nezirut. Plus contradictory witnesses. With a dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai on how to square the contradictions. Also, moving on to the new chapter, 4: another new mishnah: where one person takes a vow as a nazir, and subsequent people say that they each are too, then they're all nezirim... except that if the first person is released from nezirut, then those who said "and I!" are no longer boun...
Nazir 19: Religious Bargaining
February 11, 2023 21:30 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBWhen nezirut is prevented or interrupted by impurity, when does the count begin? Of the 4 opinions, whom do we follow? Plus, an immediate new case of a woman who takes a vow of nezirut, and then becomes impure, and her husband revokes her vow of nezirut. Now what does she need to do? Also, a religious, philosophical take on what it means to take the vow of a nazir. Also, Rava and Abaye on the start time/impurity issue. Plus, a new mishnah - someone who took on many stints of nezirut while out...
Nazir 18: Elegant Exegesis
February 10, 2023 12:02 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBThe complications of different impurities affecting a nazir, and how he only needs to bring one korban to purify from all the impurity. Also, the dispute between R. Yosi and R. Yehudah -- on the question of sanctification of the nazir on the day that the count resumes - either the 7th or the 8th day. With elegant reads of the verses to delineate each side of the dispute.
Nazir 17: A Month in a Cemetery - Nazir or Not?
February 09, 2023 19:56 - 20 minutes - 19.3 MBThe ongoing dispute between R Yochanan and Resh Lakish, over the declaration of nezirut in the cemetery - when the vow takes effect. Also, more on the person who takes on nezirut in a cemetery - when is he required to shave? And what happens between when he takes the oath and when the nezirut kicks in, if indeed he first must leave and purify before he can even begin the count?
Nazir 16: A Contradiction in a Nazir's Terms
February 08, 2023 15:26 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBA new chapter! And 2 new mishnayot. Opening with the case of one who takes a vow of becoming a nazir, but without specifying the number of days - as compared to one who does articulate "30 days," and what happens when each person shaves his head on the 30th day. What about a vow that sets up two periods of nezirut, to be consecutive. When does shaving become acceptable? Plus, what are the implications with regard to his becoming impure? Also, the case of one who takes the vow to be a nazir wh...
Nazir 15: To Contradict a Mishnah
February 07, 2023 15:28 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBA new mishnah: on a compound vow of becoming a nazir when a son is born to him, and also for 100 days. How do those two elements of the vow work together, overlap, preempt, or delay each other? Also, how Rav expresses his contradiction of the mishnah. How does the timing line up with haircutting and mourning, in that event. Plus, the comparison to the count of Hilkhot Niddah, the laws of family purity, which also has a count and a requirement of being able to become pure.
Nazir 14: Nazir Teasers (as it were)
February 06, 2023 15:48 - 16 minutes - 15.3 MBSomeone who vows consecutive periods of nezirut, as well as a vow for when his son is born... The Gemara figures out how to play out those consecutive or overlapping terms of nezirut. Complicated by one who has a case of tzara'at as well. Also, the lashes a nazir who violates his vow is subject to.
Nazir 13: Tips for Taking a Vow of Nezirut
February 05, 2023 12:20 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MBA new mishnah - one who takes a vow to become a nazir once he has a son. The he has a son. He's a nazir. But other progeny would not make him a nazir. What happens if the woman miscarries? Plus, the possibility of confusion between two different children. Also, conditions for consecutive or overlapping terms of nezirut.
Nazir 12: For the Birds
February 04, 2023 21:42 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBIntroducing a parallel to conditions in nezirut vows to the betrothal of a woman via a shaliach/emissary. Plus, a parallel to the birds to be designated for sacrifice. And the uncertainties that can creep into such cases. Plus, a new mishnah: when someone commits to "shave half a nazir" - paying half of the cost of korbanot that a nazir must offer.
Nazir 11: The Whole Is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts
February 03, 2023 09:38 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBCan a person vow a nedrei if nezirut for only one of the nezirut prohibitions? Was the language of becoming a Nazir part of colloquial speech?
Nazir 10: The Talking Cow
February 02, 2023 16:35 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MBWhen a vow for nezirut is conditioned upon an external event, such as the positioning of a cow or a door, and whether the vow will be upheld. Plus, the dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai continues. Also, Rava's understanding of the role of the cow in this kind of case, plus his revision, as it were, to include the possibility of both the cow and the door.
Nazir 9: People Know What a Nazir Is
February 01, 2023 06:45 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBChapter 2: One who uses unusual expressions in taking on nezirut (for example, including refraining from dried figs in the vow), and whether that has impact on the assumption of nezirut. A machloket between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. Also, specific definitions of the korbanot mitigate against just deciding whatever sacrifice one wanted to offer, for example. Misspeaking for such a thing is allowable to some extent, but the vow for nezirut is expected to comply with the definition, as peopl...
Nazir 8: To Be a Nazir Forever
January 31, 2023 10:46 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBA new mishnah: One who takes on being a nazir using euphemistic language - may indeed take on nezirut for his whole life, with some question as to how often he might be eligible to cut his hair/shave his head - depending on the phrasing used to undertake the nezirut. Likewise, one can undertake longer periods of nezirut, depending on phrasing. Also, one who undertakes nezirut "forever" can also delimit the time, depending. With the possibility of one long nezirut or multiple repetitions of 30...
Nazir 7: Until the End of the World
January 30, 2023 09:19 - 14 minutes - 13.8 MB3 mishnayot on vowing to become a nazir. First, how to specify the term of nezirut, and how the default remains 30 days. Plus, measuring distance between places based on how long it takes to travel there. Also, the language used itself can make the difference, including when not to default to 30 days, but that doesn't mean adding on an hour or a day in your vow necessarily works.
Nazir 6: Growing Your Hair Long
January 29, 2023 10:59 - 12 minutes - 12 MBMore on the machloket between R. Matanah and Bar Peda. The practical difference between their views is one who becomes impure on the 30th day, because if it's only 29 days, the impurity shouldn't negate the entirety of the nezirut. [Talmudic concept: miktzat ha-yom ke-kulo] Plus, the Gemara lines up this dispute with another one, by tannaim. Also, the impact of growing one's hair long, which takes a minimum of 30 days. Which also raises the question of whether the word, "until" is inclusive o...
Nazir 5: How Long Nezirut?
January 28, 2023 21:46 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBOn Avshalom, son of King David, and nazir. He cut his hair once a year, which is derived from a verse. Or was that every week?? Plus, a new mishnah: the default nezirut is 39 days long -- which leads the Gemara to probe how we know 30 days (and not 29, for that matter - which is a machloket between R. Matanah and Bar Peda.
Nazir 4: Samson Didn't Vow
January 27, 2023 11:01 - 15 minutes - 14.8 MB2 mishnayot - beginning with taking a vow like the nezirut of Shimshon (Samson), with different phrasings that all refer to him. But why use all the details?! Also, what's the difference between this kind of nazir and a regular nazir? Beginning with sacrifices, and hair-trimming, and the issues of becoming impure from contact with the dead. Plus, of course, the way one becomes a nazir. Also, the story of Shimon HaTzadik and the beautiful nazir.
Nazir 3: Beauty Is as It Does
January 26, 2023 09:31 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBA note on Rivan, the son-in-law of Rashi, who takes his place, as it were, in Nazir. || Wording the vow to become a nazir - with a plan to become "beautiful." Is that enough to count as a nazir's vow? Is that physical beauty or the beauty of mitzvot? Plus, the beauty if long curly locks. Also, a new mishnah: mentioning part of nezirut counts as a vow to be a full nazir. And the Gemara explaining the views represented in the mishnah (R. Shimon vs. Rabbanan). Plus, how can the vow of the nazir ...
Nazir 2: The Vow of the Nazir
January 25, 2023 04:43 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBAn introduction to Nazir, including its placement in Seder Nashim, and following Nedarim. An introduction to chapter 1, including the biblical source for nezirut. And the opening of the masekhet, with discussion of how one takes on nezirut with an articulated statement, and the ambivalence about this optional asceticism, which will be discussed at greater length going forward.
Nedarim 91: Signs of an Affair
January 24, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBThe case of a woman who says to and about her husband that he divorced her - is she to be believed? Also, narrative preceding halakhah with regard to the behavior that follows potentially misspoken words, especially as pertaining to the marital bed and its aftermath.
Nedarim 90: Is Annulment Dependent on Revocation
January 23, 2023 15:32 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBThe Gemara presents Rav Pappi’s version of the machloket between Rabbi Natan and the Chachamim. Plus the last Mishnah of our Masechet!
Nedarim 89: The Vows That Can't Be Revoked
January 22, 2023 12:51 - 20 minutes - 19.4 MB3 mishnayot, addressing how the father can revoke a daughter's vows, with what terms and what exception, what to pay attention to, etc. Plus, the 9 women whose vows are upheld and can't be revoked. Also, conditional vows that complicate the lives of everyone, and whether they can be revoked or nullified.
Nedarim 88: Can a Blind Man See?
January 21, 2023 20:33 - 16 minutes - 15.6 MBWhen the sages contradict their own opinions, specifically via a parallel case if inadvertent homicide and a blind person, as compared to Nedarim. Also, a new mishnah: when a father wants to give money or property to his daughter, but not to her husband, his son-in-law. That is, the question of whether what she acquires is also immediately acquired by him.
Nedarim 87: Missing Intel
January 20, 2023 06:25 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBThe case of a man who discovers later that he didn't have all the details at the time he revoked a vow. With a parallel to tearing keriyah in mourning, and introducing how long it takes to revise the information of the situation. Plus, a mishnah about a woman who swears off figs and grapes, and that vow is revoked apparently partially - is that sufficient? Plus a second mishnah on one who doesn't know he has the right to revoke a vow, and later discovers it - does he get an extension of time ...
Nedarim 86: Who Owns a Wife's Body?
January 19, 2023 05:05 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBIn memory and tribute of our teacher Rabbi Moshe Kahn z"l || More on the question of a vow about something that doesn't yet exist, in parallel to a field that is to be consecrated in the future, and why that parallel doesn't work... Until the Gemara figures out how it could work as a legitimate parallel. Also, what exactly does a husband own in the relationship, as tricky as that question may feel to us today? Does the wife have ownership over her body? The produce of her hands? Plus, a new m...
Nedarim 85: Swearing Away the Future
January 18, 2023 14:52 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBA new mishnah - a woman who makes the things she produces off-limits from her father, brother, in-laws... The husband can revoke the vow. She can't take those same things away from her husband. But what if she made more than the required amount, and that's the part she was making off-limits to her husband? He should still revoke the vow. Especially if they get divorced one day, and that vow would then kick in. Also, the Gemara on this mishnah, and how Shmuel decides the halakhah according to ...
Nedarim 84: The Pool of Poor People
January 17, 2023 19:16 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBA woman who has sworn off benefit from people, and can still eat from the agricultural mitzvot of charity, but it doesn't mention ma'aser ani. But is that lack of mention because she can't eat from ma'aser ani? What are the implications of demai (uncertainty with regard to whether tithes have been taken). Note that ma'aser ani doesn't have kedushah, as some other such mitzvot do. Also, the question of when one can designate the recipient of such gifts to the poor may carry monetary value (or ...
Nedarim 83: If It's a Mitzvah, It's No Gift
January 16, 2023 13:18 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBWhat did R. Yochanan mean about partial revoking of vows? With the parallel to nezirut, and how it can't be separated in its vow. Plus, when a woman swears off benefit from others, and the husband cannot revoke that vow, she can indeed eat from leket, shikhcha, and pe'ah - because they're mitzvot. Is the husband included in the "everyone" though? (It's a machloket)
Nedarim 82: Combination Nedarim
January 15, 2023 06:01 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBMore on the husband's revoking his wife's vows, and how he cannot do so when it comes to a vow she makes pertaining to a third party. Though when the vow can be extended as pertaining to his household, then he can revoke. Also, if one makes a vow that includes self-affliction and no self-affliction in the same vow (e.g., two loaves of bread, one of which is affliction to miss out on and another which is not), the husband can only revoke the part of self-affliction. And veering into the questi...
Nedarim 81: Swearing Off Makeup
January 14, 2023 17:57 - 14 minutes - 13.8 MBWhy are the children of Torah scholars not themselves also Torah scholars? With several possible answers. Also, going back to a wife's nedarim that do not involve self-affliction. The husband can then revoke the vows if they pertain to the couple's relationship, but if they pertain to her connection to others, he cannot revoke them. But if her vows pertain to both of them, he can revoke them.
Nedarim 80: Defining Affliction
January 13, 2023 06:56 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBA study of self-affliction: what is "inui"? What needs to be prohibited from oneself? With bathing as the example. Also, the question of how not bathing is suffering (or not, as the case may be) in the context of Yom Kippur, and where the karet punishment might kick in. Note that discomfort and affliction may not quite define halakhic "inui."
Nedarim 79: The Safety Net
January 12, 2023 19:39 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBFinishing the 10 chapter of Nedarim on the husband who revokes his wife's vows, as needed. And... beginning chapter 11, with a new mishnah on a vow taken by a woman that afflicts her, and which her husband or father can then revoke. Some of which might affect him or their relationship. Which means that the vows that bring about self-affliction need to be explored and defined. Also, some rationale why the husband can revoke self-affliction vows and those that would have impact on their relatio...
Nedarim 78: To Annoy His Wife
January 11, 2023 18:54 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBAgain, nullifying vs. revoking - hatarat vs. hafarat nedarim. As learned from "zeh ha-davar," as worded in the biblical verse. Plus, a gezerag shavah with regard to a vow of consecration that can be annulled. Plus, the festivals as paralleled to the vows (or vice versa). Plus, the sources for the conclusion, whether logic or verses or gezerah shavah. Also, when a husband refrains from immediate revoking of his wife's vow with the intent to annoy her - though the plan is clearly that he will e...
Nedarim 77: Did You Nullify Your Vows before Candle-lighting?
January 10, 2023 08:49 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBRevoking and annulling vows on Shabbat - the latter, specifically for things needed that same Shabbat. Plus, revoking vows at night - but why does this need to be stated? What happens when the vow is made on Shabbat? Wrapping up these issues, or almost. Also, can judges nullify a vow while standing? Rabban Gamliel dismounted his donkey to adjudicate a case... Does that answer the case? Plus, the sin in vowing, and the source for it.
Nedarim 76: Defining a Day
January 09, 2023 21:05 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBMore on the question of whether one can nullify vows in advance. With a parallel to the impurity and purity of seeds. Also, a new mishnah, on the "day" that the vow can be revoked. Plus, the Gemara on how to define the day - is it 24 hours or specifically the calendar date that the vow is made.