Nazir 4A

הרי מושבע ועומד עליו מהר סיני!

He is already sworn and obligated about it from Mount Sinai, i.e., he is obligated by Torah law to keep the halakhot of naziriteship, and therefore it is obvious that he may not drink wine from kiddush or havdala, as drinking the wine is required by rabbinic law (Rambam).

אלא כי הא דאמר רבא ״שבועה שאשתה״, וחזר ואמר: ״הריני נזיר״⁠ — אתיא נזירות חיילא על שבועה.

Rather, it is like that which Rava said: If one said: I hereby take an oath that I will drink wine, and he then said: I am hereby a nazirite, the naziriteship comes and applies to the subject of his oath. Although drinking wine is a mitzva for him due to his oath, his naziriteship supersedes the previous oath and renders it prohibited for him to drink wine.

ורבנן נמי, הא מיבעי ליה לאסור יין מצוה כיין רשות! אם כן, לימא קרא ״מיין״. מאי ״ושכר״? שמעת מינה תרתי.

The Talmud asks: And according to the Rabbis also, isn’t the verse needed to prohibit to a nazirite wine that is consumed as a mitzva, just like wine whose consumption is optional? The Talmud answers: If that is so, let the verse say only “he should abstain from wine” (Numbers 6:3). What is the purpose of the additional phrase “and strong drink”? Learn from it that the verse teaches two halakhot, that one is a full-fledged nazirite even if he accepted only one of the prohibitions of naziriteship, and that a nazirite is prohibited from drinking wine even when its consumption is a mitzva.

ורבי שמעון, היינו טעמא דכתב ״שכר״⁠ — לאלופי ״שכר״ ״שכר״ למקדש. דכתיב: ״יין ושכר אל תשת אתה ובניך אתך״, מה גבי נזיר: יין הוא דליתסר, אבל שאר משקין ⁠— לא, אף גבי מקדש נמי: יין הוא דליתסר, אבל שאר משקין המשתכרין ⁠— לא.

The Talmud explains: And R' Shimon could respond to this argument as follows: This is the reason that the verse writes “strong drink”: It is to teach a verbal analogy between “strong drink” written here and “strong drink” written with regard to entering and performing service in the Temple, as it is written that Aaron the priest was commanded: “Do not drink wine or strong drink, you nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 10:9). This teaches: Just as with a nazirite, it is wine alone that is forbidden but other beverages are not forbidden, so too, with regard to the Temple, it is wine that is forbidden to priests, but other intoxicating beverages are not forbidden to them.