Tosefot comes to Reish Lakish’s rescue TB Nazir 16

On today’s daf TB Nazir 16 Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish disagree on a fundamental understanding of nezirut. A nazir is not permitted to become ritually unready by coming into contact with the dead; consequently, he may not start his nezirut in a state of ritual unreadiness. The Mishnah cites a strange case where a person decides to become a nazir while standing in a cemetery, a place of ritual unreadiness. Is he a nazir or not?

“It was stated that the amora’im disagree with regard to one who vowed to be a nazirite while in a cemetery. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Naziriteship takes effect for him, and Reish Lakish said: Naziriteship does not take effect for him. The Gemara clarifies their respective opinions: Rabbi Yoḥanan, who said naziriteship takes effect for him, holds that from the moment he accepts naziriteship upon himself it is pending, so that when it is found that he is in a state of ritual purity it takes immediate effect. The vow registers from when he states it, but it cannot take effect in practice as long as he stands in a ritually impure location. And Reish Lakish said that naziriteship does not take effect for him at all. Consequently, if he again said after leaving the cemetery that he accepts a vow of naziriteship, it takes effect for him; but if he does not repeat his vow, he is not a nazirite.” (Sefaria.org translation) Rabbi Yoḥanan holds that the person becomes a nazir immediately, but doesn’t start counting his days of nezirut until he becomes ritually ready. Reish Lakish disagrees and says the person’s vow has no meaning. If he wants to become a nazir, he must declare so when he is ritually ready.

Rabbi Yoḥanan raises an objection to Reish Lakish from a baraita. “Rabbi Yoḥanan raised an objection to the opinion of Reish Lakish from what was taught in a baraita (Tosefta 2:14): One who was impure and took a vow of naziriteship must still observe the halakhot of a nazirite: He is prohibited from shaving, and from drinking wine, and from becoming impure from a corpse. And if he shaved, or if he drank wine, or if he became impure from a corpse, he incurs [sofeg] the forty lashes administered to one who actively transgresses a negative Torah prohibition. Rabbi Yoḥanan asks: Granted, if you say that naziriteship takes effect despite his ritual impurity, that is the reason that he incurs the forty lashes, similar to any nazirite who transgresses the prohibitions of naziriteship. But if you say the naziriteship does not take effect while he is ritually impure, why does he incur the forty lashes?” (Sefaria.org translation) The baraita clearly supports Rabbi Yoḥanan’s position.

Reish Lakish has to read into the baraita a lot of missing facts in his defense. “Reish Lakish responded: With what are we dealing here in this baraita? With one who left and entered, meaning that after having left the cemetery and purifying himself, he then vowed again to be a nazirite and subsequently reentered the cemetery.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Tosefot ד"ה הָכָא בְּמַאי עָסְקִינַן בְּיוֹצֵא וְנִכְנָס raises a good question. If Reish Lakish’s interpretation is correct, this baraita is not teaching us anything new. There’s no point to it. They provide two different answers to defend Reish Lakish’s position. The first answer says that even though the person doesn’t say a nazarite vow, he becomes a nazir when he refers back to it and comes liable for lashes if he purposely breaks this vow. The second answer lies in the person’s intention. Since he intended to become a nazir, and procrastinated he violated the prohibition of delaying (בל יאחר), the rabbis punished him with lashes.