1Abaye continues: Now consider the Gate of Nicanor, where all those lacking atonement stand to bring their offerings; where is it located? In the gates of the Levites. Three camps are detailed in the verses, each having its own restrictions as to who may or may not enter them (see Numbers, chapter 5). The verses speak of the camps of the Jewish people in the wilderness, and the Sages taught that the statuses of certain areas of Jerusalem corresponded to those camps. The camps in the wilderness were the Israelite camp, the Levite camp, and the camp of the Divine Presence. They correspond to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the Temple itself. The Gate of Nicanor had the status of the Levite camp.
2Abaye continues: But isn’t it taught in a baraita ( Tosefta , Kelim 1:8) that one who is impure due to contact with a corpse is permitted to enter the Levite camp; and not only one impure from a corpse, but even a corpse itself may be brought inside the Levite camp, as it is stated: “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him” (Exodus 13:19). The baraita explains: What is the meaning of “with him”? The phrase “with him” indicates that Joseph’s bones were taken within Moses’s boundary, with him in the Levite camp. This demonstrates that even a corpse may be brought into the Levite camp. If so, certainly a nazirite who was impure from contact with a corpse and who has been sprinkled and immersed may enter there. Consequently, the halakha that a nazirite must wait until the eighth day to sacrifice his offerings cannot be due to a prohibition against entering the Gate of Nicanor. One can similarly infer that the halakha that a zav who has immersed may not bring his offerings before the eighth day is not because he is prohibited from entering the Gate of Nicanor.
3Rather, Abaye says: The baraita should be understood slightly differently than suggested by the assembly of Rav Natan bar Hoshaya: One who immersed himself that day to release himself from the status of a zav , i.e., a full-fledged zav , who experienced three emissions, not merely two, is considered like a zav with regard to the prohibition against entering the Levite camp. But the reason for this prohibition is not that a zav who immersed himself that day may not enter the Levite camp. Rather, granted that he is permitted to enter the Levite camp in terms of his impurity, even so, since he is lacking atonement, as he has yet to sacrifice his offerings, he may not enter the Levite camp.
4Abaye elaborates: The reason he may not enter is that the Torah states with regard to a zav : “And he shall come before the Lord to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 15:14), and if he is standing in the Levite camp, at the Gate of Nicanor, when he brings his offerings, why does the Torah call it “the Tent of Meeting”? Rather, this verse must be coming to say: Just as there, with regard to the Tent of Meeting itself, i.e., the camp of the Divine Presence, one who is lacking atonement may not enter there, so too, with regard to the Levite camp as well, one who is lacking atonement may not enter there.
5The Gemara asks: And from where do we derive that one who lacks atonement may not enter there, i.e., the camp of the Divine Presence? The Gemara answers: As it is taught in a baraita : The Torah states with regard to the prohibition against an impure person entering the Tabernacle: “He shall be impure; his impurity is yet upon him” (Numbers 19:13). The phrase “he shall be impure” serves to include one who immersed himself that day in the prohibition against entering the Temple. “His impurity is yet upon him” serves to include one who lacks atonement, who is prohibited from entering the camp of the Divine Presence until he has sacrificed his offerings of purity.
6MISHNA: With regard to a nazirite’s shaving of purity after the completion of his term of naziriteship, how is it performed? He would bring three animals: One for a sin-offering, one for a burnt-offering, and one for a peace-offering. And he slaughters the peace-offering and shaves his hair after he slaughters them. This is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Elazar says: He would shave only after he slaughtered the sin-offering, as the sin-offering precedes the other offerings in all places, and therefore he sacrifices the sin-offering first. He shaves his hair after he slaughters this offering. And if he shaved after the sacrifice of any one of the three of them, he has fulfilled his obligation after the fact.
7Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: If a nazirite brought three animals without specifying which of them was for which offering, the one that is fit for a sin-offering, i.e., a female sheep in its first year, is sacrificed as a sin-offering; that which is fit for a burnt-offering, a male sheep in its first year, is sacrificed as a burnt-offering; and that which is fit for a peace-offering, a ram, i.e., a male sheep over the age of one year, is sacrificed as a peace-offering.
8GEMARA: The Gemara first addresses the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, whose reasoning was not stated in the mishna. The Sages taught that when the Torah states: “And the nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 6:18), the verse is speaking of the peace-offering, as the phrase “the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” alludes to a peace-offering, as it is stated: “And if his offering is a sacrifice of peace-offering… and he shall slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 3:1–2).
9Do you say the verse is speaking of the peace-offering, i.e., that the nazirite shaves after bringing his peace-offering? Or perhaps it is only teaching that he shaves at the actual entrance to the Tent of Meeting, at the gate to the Sanctuary, as indicated by a literal reading of the verse? You can say in response: If so, that is a degrading manner of service, to shave at the entrance to the Sanctuary.
10Rabbi Yoshiya says: This proof is not necessary, as the Torah states: “And you shall not ascend by steps to My altar, so that you should not reveal your nakedness upon it” (Exodus 20:23). If the Torah is concerned about the disrespect to the altar presented by normal human behavior, then by an a fortiori inference the Torah prohibits acting in a degrading manner by shaving at the entrance to the Sanctuary.
11A different version of this derivation is stated in the midrash to the Torah portion of Naso . The Torah states: “And the nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offering” (Numbers 6:18). Rabbi Yoshiya says: The verse is speaking of the peace-offering. Or perhaps it is only teaching that he shaves at the actual entrance to the Tent of Meeting? If so, the Torah said: “And you shall not ascend by steps to My altar” (Exodus 20:23). By an a fortiori inference with regard to this matter it is derived that he should not shave at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Rather, the verse is speaking of the peace-offering.
12Rabbi Yitzḥak says: It is not necessary to cite an indirect proof that a nazirite may not shave at the entrance to the Sanctuary, as the verse states with regard to a nazirite: “And he shall take the hair of his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offering” (Numbers 6:18). The verse is referring to one who has not yet performed only the stages of taking and placing his shaven hair under the pot of the peace-offering, which is outside the Sanctuary. These two stages are the only ones he lacks; he does not have to do any other action. That excludes this one, a nazirite who shaved at the entrance to the Sanctuary, as he has not yet performed three actions, taking, bringing the hair from one sanctified area to another, and placing his shaven hair under the pot of the peace-offering.
13Some say a different version of this statement. Rabbi Yitzḥak says: The verse is referring to the peace-offering. He clarifies his assertion: Do you say the verse is speaking of the peace-offering, or is it teaching only that he shaves at the actual entrance to the Tent of Meeting? The verse states: “And he shall take the hair of his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offering” (Numbers 6:18). This indicates that in the same place where he would cook the peace-offering, outside the courtyard, there he would shave.
14Abba Ḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Eliezer that the verse “And the nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 6:18) is referring to the time rather than the place of his shaving, i.e., this verse teaches that as long as the entrance to the Tent of Meeting is not open, he may not shave. He may shave only during those hours when the entrance to the Sanctuary is open.
15Rabbi Shimon Shezuri says: The phrase “And the nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” does not refer to the place of his shaving. Rather, the masculine form of the word nazirite serves to emphasize that this applies to a male nazirite and not a female nazirite. A woman does not shave her head in the Sanctuary,