the Nazir shall grow out their hair
Verse: גדל פרע שער ראשו
Command: The Nazir shall grow our their hair wildly
Bamidbar 6:5
Type: Positive
SMG Mitzva # 126
Cross-Ref: {link}
SMG
It is a positive Mitzva that the Nazir grow out the hair on his head, as it says in the verse[i] גדל פרע שער ראשו.[1] The negative Mitzvos stated with regard to the Nazir are explained in the book on the negative Mitzvos (see below negative Mitzva 250). [In the fulfillment of the vow to be a Nazir, and grow out his hair, he is also fulfilling the positive Mitzva of[ii] ככל היצא מפיו יעשה (see positive Mitzva 124 – מוצא שפתיך תשמר ועשית).[2]
[1] What about someone who is bald on his head – does this Mitzva still apply? Can he be considered a Nazir? Inquiring minds want to know.
[2] The verse כפי נדרו אשר ידר כן יעשה provides that a Nazir can increase certain components of his required sacrifices or make his vow conditional on being able to use certain specific animals – as discussed in the Gemara.
[i] Bamidbar 6:5
[ii] Bamidbar 30:3
AMUDAY SHLOMO
[The Amuday Shlomo does not have a comment related to this Mitzva.]
RASHI
Rashi provides the following commentary on the verse:
- קדש יהיה – his hair, that he must wildly grow the hair on his head.
- פרע – the word פֶרע has the Nekuda of a small Patach (whichwe now call a Segol), even though it is connected to [the words following, namely] שער ראשו; which gives us the meaning that this is the פרע of the שער ראשו – the hair on his head. The meaning of the word פרע is growth of the hair – similar to the verse[i] את ראשו לא יפרע. [Long hair] is not defined as פרע if [it was growing] for less than thirty (30) days.
[i] Vayikra 21:10
Discussion by SMS
Unlike Rashi’s comment that the vowel under the word פרע serves to push the word forward to connect with the next word, the verses’ cantillation actually pushes the word פרע backward to attach to גדל and not שער ראשו. However, the effect of the cantillation doesn’t change the meaning of the verse.
Key
Applicable Units of Measurement
- פרע – Wild hair growth of more than thirty (30) days.
Rashi seems to enjoy explaining this word and does so on multiple occasions. For example:
- On the verse[i] ראשיכם אל תפרעו, Rashi explains Aharon and his remaining two (2) sons may not grow out their hair in mourning over the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, as that would disturb the celebration of the inauguration of the Mishkan.
- On the verse[ii] וראשו יהיה פרוע, Rashi explains that the Metzora must grow out his / her hair.
- On the verse[iii] את ראשו לא יפרע, Rashi explains that the Kohen Gadol may not grow out his hair – growing out being considered thirty (30) days or more – presumably based on the Gemara[iv].
The Gemara based on which Rashi makes his determination that the requirement is thirty (30) days or more states as follows:
A king has a haircut daily, a Kohen Gadol every week, and a regular Kohen once a month:
- A king cuts his hair daily, as it says in the verse[v] מלך ביפיו תחזינה עיניך.
- A Kohen Gadol takes a haircut every week, as Rav Shmuel son of Naĉman said in the name of Rabbi Yoĉanan – because every week a new Watch of Kohanim is assigned.
- A regular Kohen cuts his hair once every thirty (30) days as it says in the verse[vi] וראשם לא יגלחו ופרע לא ישלחו, כסום יכסמו את ראשיהם.[1]
And we can derive the comparison of the word פרע in relation to the Kohanim from the word פרע used in relation to a Nazir – just like a Nazir period is for thirty (30) days, so too a Kohen cuts his hair every thirty (30) days.
As for how we know that a Nazir period is for thirty (30) days, Rav Masna stated that is because the verse states קדש יהיה in describing the Nazir, and יהיה has the Gematria[2] of thirty (30).
While the Gematria might be fine for establishing Halaĉa as the Halaĉa can follow the דרש or רמז, how does Rashi arrive at the same conclusion in interpreting the verse according to the פשט?[3]
Furthermore, the verse is talking about the Kohen Gadol, which, according to the Gemara cuts his hair weekly. Why would there be a prohibition against allowing his hair to grow for a month, if there is a requirement to cut it weekly? Granted the introduction of the grouping of the Kohanim by week was only introduced by King Dovid and his court many centuries later, but in that case, the reverse question can be asked – if the Kohen Gadol is allowed to grow his hair up to a month, why would he be required with the introduction of the Watches to cut it weekly.[4]
The injunction issued to Aharon and his sons seemed to make no difference between a Kohen Gadol, and a regular Kohen. Why then does the Gemara make such a difference.
Did Aharon and his sons just happen to be thirty (30) days since their last haircut when Nadav and Avihu died?
This seems very unclear as to the source of the thirty (30) day mark.[5] Perhaps that is why the Gemara relied on a Gematria.
Bar Padda offered[vii] a different allusion in that there are thirty (twenty-nine plus one day to do the ritual) references to the term Nazir or Neder in the Parsha of Nazir. However, Rav Masna argued there against this stating that these references are all needed for various Halachos and are not extra. Bar Padda answered that there is at least one term that isn’t in use – and therefore it can be used to tell us to count the number of times the term is used. The Gemara goes back and forth on determining if Bar Padda is correct about a Nazir period only lasting for twenty-nine days.
How then did Rashi actually arrive at this number?
— As an alternative to the Gemara’s acceptance of the Gematria as the source for why the number of days is thirty (30), and possibly Rashi’s source although Rashi makes no mention of this, it seems we can arrive at this determination straight from the פשט. In relating the of mourning of Moshe’s passing, the Torah states in the verse[viii]
- “ויבכו בני ישראל את משה בערבות מואב שלשים יום, ויתמו ימי בכי אבל משה – and the Jewish people cried for Moshe in the plains of Moav for thirty (30) days, and the days of mourning for Moshe passed.”
That verse explicitly provides a time frame for mourning as being thirty (30) days. Considering the reverence the people held for Moshe, we can assume this to be an upper limit to the number of days allowed for mourning.
Following the same connection chain in the Gemara, the statement by Moshe to Aharon regarding being unable to mourn his sons, is for the thirty (30) day mourning period, which is thus applied to a Metzora and Nazir as all three verses use the term פרע.
Although this seems to be a simple and obvious answer as to where the thirty (30) day term can be derived from in the Torah, it remains unclear to me as to why the Gemara didn’t use this logic chain, and why Rashi doesn’t state this reasoning explicitly – if he indeed agrees with this.
[1] As this prophecy by Yeĉezkel is in reference to the higher standards required in the times of Moshiach for the Kohanim, it is unclear why this would be used as the source verse for the current requirement of Kohanim to cut their hair every thirty (30) days.
[2] Yud = 10, Hay = 5. (10+5+10+5=30)
[3] There are other times a homonym is written either with the letter Hay (Yirmiyahu 2:24) or Aleph regarding Yishmael (Beraishis 16:12). Are those versions of the same word? I do not know. They seem to be.
[4] How much does hair grow in a week or month anyway. According to the National Institute of Health, hair grows about 0.35 millimeters per day, or half an inch in a month. Hardly something considered wild.
[5] Comedically (or perhaps on a serious note), since the word to “pay back” a debt in Aramaic פרע is a homonym to the Hebrew word for used in Nazir, perhaps that is why the sages also instituted a standard loan period as being thirty (30) days long corresponding to the standard Nazir period of thirty (30) days. [See negative Mitzva 156 for further discussion.]
[i] Vayikra 10:6
[ii] Vayikra 13:45
[iii] Vayikra 21:10
[iv] Gem. Sanhedrin 22b
[v] Yeshayahu 33:17
[vi] Yeĉezkel 44:20
[vii] Gem. Nazir 5a
[viii] Devarim 34:8