"Naziritism," unqualified, is for thirty days, [it being written (Numbers 6:5): "Holy yiheyeh" ("shall he be"). The gematria (numerical equivalent) of "yiheyeh" is thirty — whence they found support for saying that there is no Naziritism for less than thirty days.] (If he said:) "I shall be a Nazirite, one great [Naziritism]," "I shall be a Nazirite, one small [Naziritism]" — even [if he said: "I shall be a Nazirite] from now until the end of the world," he observes Naziritism for thirty days. [As to his saying: "from now until the end of the world," his intent is: This Naziritism is as long to me as it were from now until the end of the world.] (If he said:) "I shall be a Nazirite and one day," "I shall be a Nazirite and one hour," "I shall be a Nazirite one and a half," he observes two Naziritisms. [If he said: "I shall be a Nazirite and one day," when he said: "I shall be a Nazirite," he accepted upon himself one Naziritism, so that when he added: "and one day," another Naziritism obtains, for there is no Naziritism less than thirty days. Similarly, if he said: "I shall be a Nazirite and one hour," or "I shall be a Nazirite one and a half," two Naziritisms obtain; for it is impossible to be a Nazirite for one hour or (to observe) half a Naziritism without being a Nazirite for thirty days. Accordingly, he observes two Naziritisms. He shaves at the end of thirty days and observes a new Naziritism.] (If he said:) "I shall be a Nazirite for thirty days and one hour," he observes Naziritism for thirty-one days, for there is no Naziritism for hours, [it being written (Ibid. 6): "the days of his Naziritism"; and it is as if he had said: "thirty-one days." And we do not say that the "one hour" which he mentioned is (a thirty-day) Naziritism in itself, since it can be conjoined to the "thirty" which he mentioned before.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Nazir
סתם נזירות שלשים יום – as it is written (Numbers 6:5): “it shall remain consecrated [until the completion of his term as a nazirite of the LORD].” [The word] "יהיה"/it shall remain – in Gematria is thirty. From here, they relied to state that there is no Naziriteship less than thirty days.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
Introduction
As we explained above, the minimum period of naziriteship is thirty days. However, a person can accept upon himself more than one “naziriteship”, and thereby become a nazirite for 60 days, 90 days etc. In such a case, after each thirty day naziriteship he would bring the sacrifices, shave his head and then start a new, thirty day period of naziriteship. In addition, a person can certainly become a nazirite for longer than thirty days if he so specifies.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Nazir
הריני נזיר אחת גדולה – whether he said: “I will be a Nazirite for a long period of time,” or whether he said, “I will be a Nazirite for a short period of time,” or whether he said I will be a Nazir from now until [as long as it takes to get to[ the end of the world,” he practices Naziriteship for thirty days. And “from now until the end of the world,” as he states, this is what it implies: upon me this Naziriteship was long as if it from now until [as long as it takes to get to] the end of the world.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
A nazirite vow of unspecified duration is for thirty days. If one says, “Behold, I am a nazirite for one long [period”], or “Behold, I am a nazirite for one short [period]”, or even [if he says, “[Behold, I am a nazirite for as long as it takes to go] from here to the end of the earth,” he is a nazirite for thirty days. If someone vows a nazirite vow but does not specify how long the naziriteship will last, the naziriteship will be thirty days. This is true even if he says that he wants to be a nazirite for a long time, or a nazirite for a short time, or even if he says he wants to be a nazirite for as long as it takes to walk from here to the end of the world, since he did not mention a specific period of time, he is a nazirite for only thirty days, no more and no less.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
[If one says,] “Behold, I am a nazirite, plus one day,” or “Behold, I am a nazirite, plus one hour,” or “Behold, I am a nazirite, once and a half,” he becomes a nazirite for two [periods of naziriteship]. In the cases mentioned in this section, he vows one period of naziriteship, and then a partial second period. The mishnah treats this as if he has vowed two periods of naziriteship. The first one he expressed fully, and the second one, even though he only partially expressed, is obligates him for a full second naziriteship.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
[If one says,] “Behold, I am a nazirite for thirty days plus an hour,” he becomes a nazirite for thirty-one days, since there is no naziriteship for hours. In this case he did not say “I am a nazirite” without specifying for how long, but rather, “I am a nazirite for thirty days plus one hour.” Since he mentioned thirty days he has only vowed one naziriteship that shall last thirty days plus one hour. However, one cannot be a nazirite for hours, and therefore he must observe a naziriteship of thirty-one days.
