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Nazir Chutz La'Aretz

Eduyot (4:11) | Yisrael Bankier | 7 hours ago

The fourth perek of Eduyot lists the cases where Beit Hillel ruled more stringently than Beit Shammai. One of the cases (4:11) is where a person accepted a long term of nezirut outside of Eretz Yisrael, completed it there and then came to Eretz Yisrael¹. Recall that the Chachamim recognized that in chut la'aretz, it was difficult to know the location of tumat ha'met. Consequently, the Chachamim made a gezeira to treat anything in chutz la'aretz as being tameh met -- tumat eretz ha'amim Also remember that we learnt that if a nazir becomes tameh met he must restart his term of nezirut. That being so, in our case Beit Shammai maintains that the nazir must be a nazir for thirty days when coming to Israel whereas Beit Hillel maintains that he must start he nezirut from the beginning.

The Bartenura explains that due to the gezeira, nezirut does not apply in chutz la'aretz and the person is obligated to immediately came to Israel to fulfil his neder.

The Rambam (Mishnah Nazir 3:6) explains that it is not possible to be observed nazirut in chutz la'aretz. When the Tosefta mentions that it is observed there that is simply by way of a kenas (fine). Consequently, he must go to Eretz Yisrael. When he arrives there, the debate is simply the extent of the (second) kenas applied regarding what nezirut he must observer there.²

The Tosfot Yom Tov (Nazir 3:6) suggests that if the person did go to Eretz Yisrael immediately then Beit Shammai would agree that the full long term of nezirut would need to be observed³. Nevertheless, he admits that it does not seem to be the understanding of the Rambam as cited above. That would seem to support that simple reading that according to the Rambam, there is no nezirut in chutz la'aretz.

The Tosfot Yom Tov however understands the obligation for the nazir to go to is Eretz Yisrael is itself a knas. Since tumat eretz ha'amim is rabbinic, he could complete his nezirut in chutz la'aretz. There is no urgency to go immediately. The knas however is that at the end, he must go there and become a nazir (the duration of which is debated).⁴

¹ The Tosfot (Nazir 19b) explains that at the end he must come to Eretz Yisrael in any case, since the nezirut is only completed once he brings the required korbanot.

² The Rambam (Nezirut 2:21) explains that kenas would apply even today. The person would be obligated to go to Israel and, since he would not be able to bring the korbanot to end his nezirut, he would need to live his life out there as a nazir. The Raavad however disagrees. Considering that everyone nowadays is tameh met, in this respect, there would be no difference if stayed or went.

³ Interestingly the R' Peretz explains that if the nazir came in the middle of the nezirut, Beit Shammai would not require him to do an additional thirty days at his completion. That is because that kenas was simply that he observes the minimum duration of nezirut in tahara in Eretz Yisrael.

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