1MISHNA: If one says: I am hereby a nazirite like the hair of my head, or: Like the dust of the earth, or: Like the sand of the sea, he is a nazirite forever. He has accepted a separate term of naziriteship for every hair or particle of dust or sand, which in practice means that he will be a nazirite forever. And he shaves his hair once every thirty days.
2Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: This nazirite does not shave his hair once every thirty days, as he has accepted upon himself one long term of naziriteship lasting for as many days as there are hairs or particles of dust or sand. And who is the nazirite who shaves his hair once every thirty days? One who says: It is hereby incumbent upon me to observe naziriteships like the hair of my head, or: Like the dust of the earth, or: Like the sand of the sea. Since he used the plural term naziriteships, it is clear that he is accepting distinct terms of naziriteship.
3If one says: I am hereby a nazirite in accordance with the capacity of the house, or: The capacity of the basket, one checks with him what he had in mind. If he said: My intention was to take a nazirite vow for one long term of naziriteship, he is a nazirite for only thirty days, in accordance with the ruling of the mishna that the words long or short are of no account when used in a nazirite vow (7a). And if he said: I took a nazirite vow without specification, it is assumed that he meant to accept upon himself terms of naziriteship corresponding to the number of items that fit into the basket, and the smallest items normally placed in baskets are used for this evaluation. Consequently, one views the basket as though it were full of mustard seeds, which are extremely small, and he is a nazirite for his entire life.
4If one says: I am hereby a nazirite from here until such and such a place, one estimates how many days it takes to walk from here until such and such a place. If it is less than thirty days, he is a nazirite for thirty days, since this is the minimum term of naziriteship. And if not, i.e., if it takes more than thirty days to walk that distance, he is a nazirite in accordance with the number of days it takes to walk to that place.
5If one says: I am hereby a nazirite in accordance with the number of days in a solar year, he counts 365 consecutive naziriteships, in accordance with the number of days in a solar year. Rabbi Yehuda said: There was an incident where someone took this vow and observed 365 consecutive terms of naziriteship. Once he completed all these terms of naziriteship, he died.
6GEMARA: The mishna taught that if one said: I am hereby a nazirite in accordance with the capacity of the basket, and he did not specifically intend to accept one term of naziriteship, one views the basket as though it were full of mustard seeds, and he is a nazirite for his entire life. The Gemara asks: But why does one view the basket as though it were full of mustard seeds? Let us view it as though it were full of cucumbers or gourds, which are much larger. The basket would consequently hold fewer of them, and there would be a remedy for him, i.e., he would be able to complete his terms of naziriteship and resume living as a non-nazirite.
7In response to this question, Ḥizkiyya said: This issue is taught as a dispute between tanna’im , and the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, who said: A person places himself in a state where the resulting uncertainty is more stringent than if there were certainty, i.e., an individual willingly accepts conditions that are ambiguous although this may cause him to have to keep more stringent halakhot if the uncertainty is not clarified.
8This is as it is taught in a baraita : With regard to one who says: I am hereby a nazirite on the condition that this pile of grain will be found to contain at least one hundred kor , and he went to measure the pile and found that it was stolen or lost, making it impossible to determine whether it contained one hundred kor , Rabbi Shimon prohibits him to drink wine or cut his hair, as he holds that in a case of uncertain naziriteship one is required to act stringently. Similarly, in the case in the mishna, since it is not known whether one intended to accept naziriteship according to the number of mustard seeds in the basket or according to the number of gourds there, he must act stringently.
9Conversely, Rabbi Yehuda permits him to drink wine or cut his hair, as he holds that in a case of uncertain naziriteship one is permitted to act leniently. The naziriteship does not take effect, since the pile might have contained less than one hundred kor .
10Rabbi Yoḥanan said: You can even say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda because the cases in the mishna and in the baraita are not comparable. There, in the case discussed in the baraita , he does not necessarily even enter a state of naziriteship, as it is unclear whether the pile contained a kor of grain. Consequently, he retains his previous status and is not considered a nazirite. Conversely, in the case discussed here in the mishna, he certainly enters a state of naziriteship, since he undoubtedly vowed to be a nazirite for some period of time. Consequently, how is it possible to remove the state of naziriteship from him when it is uncertain when his terms end? Therefore, even Rabbi Yehuda would agree that he remains a nazirite indefinitely.
11The Gemara asks: Why is it not possible to remove from him the status of naziriteship? Let us view the basket as though it were full of cucumbers or gourds, as he has accepted at least as many terms of naziriteship as the number of cucumbers or gourds that can fit in the basket, and in this way there will be a remedy for him. It entered our minds to say that it is distinct naziriteships that he accepted upon himself, and so once he has completed the minimal number of naziriteships, he should no longer be considered a nazirite unless it can be determined that he accepted more than this number of terms of naziriteship.