Nazir 48 - March 12, 19 Adar
Study Guide Nazir 48 Today’s daf is sponsored by Gabrielle & Daniel Altman in memory of the 18th yahrzeit of our treasured mother, Honorable Myriam J. Altman, z"l, loved and missed forever, and still our North Star." Both by the kohen gadol and the nazir, the verses give a list of all the relatives to whom they cannot become impure. In the kohen gadol verses, the word "to his father" comes to exclude a met mitzva, to which he can become impure. The word "to his mother" is used to a gezeira shava to learn from a nazir that he can become impure to them in a different way, as long as they are not dead, i.e. zav or leper. From where do we derive that a nazir can become impure to a met mitzva? A braita brings the drashot of both Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva. First, Rabbi Yishmael tries to derive it from the words "to his father and his mother" by nazir, but after a number of difficulties (that mostly are resolved, other than the last one), they realize that "to his father" is needed for the simple reading that one cannot become impure to his father and they derive met mitzva from the word "and to his brother." What does Rabbi Yishmael derive from the other words in the verse? Rabbi Akiva derives the law of met mitzva from "to his father and his mother" as he uses a different word "dead" to derive that the nazir cannot become impure to relatives. What does he derive from the other words of that verse?