How much are we really talking about? TB Nazir 53

Today’s daf TB Nazir 53 concludes the discussion how much bone fragments and how much blood is enough to make the nazir ritually unready (tamei-טָמֵא) when they are in the same room that has a ceiling (ohel-אוֹהֶל) 

“Rabbi Eliezer said that some of the early Elders would say: A half-kav of bones and a half-log of blood impart ritual impurity in all forms. Their impurity applies by Torah law, and therefore they impart impurity in a tent. But a quarter-kav of bones and a quarter-log of blood, they do not impart impurity in all forms, i.e., they do not impart impurity in a tent. And some of these Elders would say that even a quarter-kav of bones and a quarter-log of blood impart impurity in all forms. This was the dispute of earlier generations.

“The court that followed them said: A half-kav of bones and a half-log of blood impart ritual impurity in all forms. A quarter-kav of bones and a quarter-log of blood impart impurity only with regard to teruma and offerings, i.e., the Sages decreed that they impart impurity in a tent to invalidate teruma and offerings but not with regard to a nazirite. A nazirite is not required to shave or bring offerings for impurity after contact with a quarter-kav of bones or a quarter-log of blood. And similarly, one who performs the ritual of the Paschal offering may proceed despite the fact that he came into contact with this amount of blood or bones, as the Sages did not apply this decree in cases where one’s impurity precludes the performance of a mitzva whose neglect is punishable by karet.” (Sefaria.org translation) Remember that the larger the measurement for the nazir the more lenient the position is.

Although this looks like a good compromise, the Gemara doesn’t think it’s a compromise at all. First of all, a compromise doesn’t add new factors to the discussion like in our case “teruma and offerings.” Secondly, “Rabbi Ya’akov bar Idi said: This ruling was not stated as a compromise. Rather, they said it from tradition, from Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the last of the prophets. This was not a new attempt to mediate between two earlier opinions but an ancient ruling in its own right.” (Sefria.org translation)

I looked up the measurements of a kav and a log to find out how much were the sages really arguing about. ½ kav equals 1.11 dry pint and ¼ kav equals .2775 dry pint. ½ log equals 16.075 ounces and ¼ log equals 8.0375 ounces.