Nazir, Chapter 7, Mishnah 3. In the previous mishnah we examined the types of tumah for which the nazir must undergo the process of purification and shaving, and which wipe out his count of nezirus. In this mishnah, the Mishnah sets against them other types of tumah - forms of tumah that the nazir does contract, but for which he does not shave.
The forms of tumah for which the nazir does not shave:
"Aval ha'sechachos ve'ha'pera'os" - the two are similar to one another. Sechachos are tree branches that hang intermittently over a given area, and they do not form one continuous covering but rather a bit here and a bit there. Therefore there is no certainty that the tumah was beneath the particular branch under which the person passed - it is a case of doubt. Pera'os are the same idea applied to stones that protrude intermittently from a fence. In both cases the person is considered tamei, and nevertheless he does not shave for it.
"U'veis ha'pras" - a field in which there was a grave and the grave was plowed over. Within a hundred amos around that grave we are concerned that a small piece of bone that came from the grave may be lying there, and the person may come into contact with it and become tamei. For this too the nazir does not shave.
"V'eretz ha'amim" - the gentile lands outside of Eretz Yisrael, which by rabbinic law are considered tamei; and for this too the nazir does not shave.
"V'ha'golel v'ha'dofek" - there are differing explanations of these words. According to the approach taken here by the Rav, the golel and the dofek are two parts of the coffin: the golel is the covering on top, and the dofek is the sides that hold up the coffin's cover. One who comes into contact with them, even though he did not touch the corpse itself, becomes tamei, but he does not shave on account of this.
"U'revi'is dam" - a revi'is of a log of blood. As mentioned above, this is an amount sufficient to render a person tamei, but it is an accepted halachah that the nazir does not shave for this measure; for that a half log is required, and not a revi'is of a log.
"V'ha'ohel" - one who comes into contact with the covering over a corpse, whether an actual tent or anything else that covers the corpse, becomes tamei through his touching it, and nevertheless he does not shave for this.
"V'rova atzamos" - a quarter kav of bones, which renders a person tamei; whereas to obligate shaving a half kav of bones is required.
"V'keilim ha'nog'im b'mes" - the halachah is "cherev harei hu k'chalal," that a utensil which touched the body of a corpse has the same status as the corpse itself. Even though the person becomes tamei, nevertheless he does not shave for it.
"Vi'yemei sofro vi'yemei gomro" - here the Mishnah moves to tumah of a different sort, the tumah of tzaraas. After the metzora has been healed of his tzaraas, he must count seven days, called the days of his counting, and during them he is still tamei. The days of his "completion" are the days on which he is a confirmed metzora and is obligated to dwell outside the camp. In both situations, even though he is tamei, since this is not tumah from a corpse, he does not shave for it.
The law governing these forms of tumah:
"Al eilu ein ha'nazir megale'ach" - he does not undergo the process of shaving and bringing the offerings.
"U'mazeh ba'shelishi u'va'shevi'i" - nevertheless, the waters of the chatas, the waters of the parah adumah, are sprinkled upon him on the third day of his tumah and on the seventh day of his tumah. It is worth noting that this detail does not apply to the days of his counting and the days of his completion, which pertain only to a metzora, and a metzora has no connection to the chatas waters of the parah adumah.
These forms of tumah also do not cancel his count of nezirus and do not return the count to its beginning.
"U'moneh mi'she'hu tahor" - once he becomes tahor, upon completing the process of purification, he immediately continues his count of nezirus in purity.
"V'korban ein lo" - he need not bring any offerings at all.
"Be'emes amru":
The expression "be'emes amru" teaches that this is an accepted halachah: "Yemei ha'zav v'ha'zavah vi'yemei hesgero shel metzora - harei eilu olin lo" - the days on which a person has the status of a zav because of a discharge that issued from him, or of a zavah because of her discharge, as well as the days of the metzora's quarantine - the days during which he is shut up until it becomes clear whether or not his affliction bears a sign of tumah - are counted toward his tally of nezirus.
In this respect these three differ from the other forms of tumah mentioned above: with those, even though they do not cancel the count, the days on which the person was tamei do not count toward his nezirus; whereas with a zav, a zavah, and the days of a metzora's quarantine, even though these are days of tumah, they count for him and are included in the tally of his thirty days of nezirus.
In summary: in this mishnah the Mishnah listed the forms of tumah that the nazir contracts but for which he does not shave - the sechachos and the pera'os, beis ha'pras, the land of the nations, the golel and the dofek, a revi'is of blood, an ohel, a quarter kav of bones, utensils that touched a corpse, and the days of a metzora's counting and completion. For these there is no shaving and no offering, but the waters are sprinkled upon him on the third and seventh days, and once he becomes tahor he continues his count. By contrast, the days of a zav and a zavah and the days of a metzora's quarantine do count toward his tally of nezirus.