Author: Meghan Froy

We know from the Torah (Numbers 6) that a nazir is prohibited from becoming impure through contact with a dead body and as a result a nazir cannot enter a cemetery. If they do, they are punished with lashes for having violated a negative prohibition.  The Talmud determines that a nazarite vow taken in a […]

The Tenth Commandment teaches us not to covet. How can emotion be legislated? Our tradition offers many answers. One points to the idea that you only covet that which you believe you can have. Whatever belongs to someone else should be considered strictly off limits, and if you think of it that way you will […]

The final mishnah of Nazir chapter 2 informs us that: If one says, “I am hereby a nazirite when I will have a son,” and added, “I am hereby a nazirite from now for 100 days,” and then began observing the 100 days of his naziriteship, if a son is born to him up to […]

Toward the bottom of today’s page, we encounter this mishnah: If one says: “It is incumbent upon me to shave half a nazirite,” and another heard and said: “And I, it is incumbent upon me to shave half a nazirite,” — this one shaves a whole nazirite and that one shaves a whole nazirite. This is […]

It can be hard to turn down a drink. Even without problems related to alcohol dependency, when a friend offers you a glass of wine it can feel awkward to just say no. In fact, a number of organizations that support people committed to sobriety advocate telling a white lie — that you’re currently taking antibiotics, say, […]

A new mishnah on today’s page takes up a another case of an oddly stated nazirite vow: If one said: “This cow said: I am hereby a nazirite if I stand up,” or “This door said: I am hereby a nazirite if I am opened,” — Beit Shammai say he is a nazirite, and Beit Hillel say he […]

Reading of sacrifices in the Bible, many are mortified to think that ancient Israelites would slaughter animals at the Temple. It seems primitive, bloody — even barbaric. As someone who has not eaten chicken or meat in over thirty years, I nonetheless want to defend the practice.  When we buy meat, most of us do so after […]

Figs are delicious — dried, fresh, whatever. Yum! But nazirite vows aren’t about what’s delicious, but about what’s defined by the Torah. And Numbers 6:4 is very clear that a nazirite shall abstain from wine, grapes and any kind of intoxicant. It says nothing about figs. So the mishnah on today’s daf asks: What happens […]

Kiddush is a blessing traditionally made over a cup of wine that sanctifies Shabbat and holidays. Kiddush, which means “holiness” in Hebrew, is also recited at Havdalah and at lifecycle events, such as weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and the bris.  When saying Kiddush over wine or grape juice, the blessing is: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱֹלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ […]

In a mishnah two days ago, we learned that if one doesn’t specify how long a period of naziriteship will last, it lasts for 30 days. A mishnah on today’s daf puts a sharper point on this ruling:  If one said: “I am hereby a nazirite for one long term,” or: “I am hereby a nazirite for one short […]