If one said: "I shall be a Nazirite," and his neighbor heard and said: "And I," and (his neighbor:) "And I," they all became Nazirites. [This, on condition that each one of them "latched onto" the words of his neighbor (after no longer a period than) it takes for a disciple to greet his master, viz., to say to him: "Peace to you, my master."] If the first were absolved (of his vow), all are absolved. If the last were absolved, the last is permitted, and all the others, forbidden. If one said: "I shall be a Nazirite," and his neighbor heard and said: "My mouth as his mouth," or "My hair as his hair" [He must say: "My mouth is as his mouth from wine," and "My hair is as his hair from shaving."], he becomes a Nazirite. If one said: "I shall become a Nazirite," and his wife heard and said: "And I," he can annul hers, and his remains. If she said: "I shall be a Nazirite," and her husband heard and said: "And I," he cannot annul it. [For he already caused her vow to stand by saying "And I." And if a woman vowed to be a Nazirite, and another heard and said: "And I," and afterwards her husband annulled her vow, it is not annulled for the other, who said: "And I," for a husband does not uproot a vow from its beginning as a sage does.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Nazir
מי שאמר הריני נזיר. כולם נזירים – and he who caused each one of them to be seized within the time that is needed for an utterance by his fellow incidentally while the student greets his teacher, which is in order that he can say, “peace be upon you, my teacher [and rabbi].”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
Introduction This mishnah teaches that a person can become a nazirite by seeing his friend take a nazirite vow and saying “I too.” The Talmud teaches that in order for this to be effective he must state “I too” as soon as he hears his friend vow, for only in such a way is it clear that he has vowed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Nazir
פי כפיו כו' – and he that would say, “my mouth is like his mouth [concerning abstention] from wine and my hair is like his hair from being sheared.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
One who said, “Behold, I am a nazirite”, and his friend overheard and said “I too,” [and another one said] “I too”, all are nazirites. If the first one is released [from his vow], all are released. If the last one is released, he alone is released, and the others remain bound [by their vows]. The mishnah teaches that it is effective to state “I too” when one hears another take a nazirite vow. In this case, each person who took a later vow is dependent upon the earlier vows. If the first person asks a sage to release him from his vow, a process which we learned about in chapter nine of Nedarim, the latter are also released from their vows. In contrast, if the latter nazirites are released, those who vowed earlier are not released.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Nazir
ושמע בעלה ואמר ואני אינו יכול להפר – for he already fulfilled her vow when he said: “and I [too],” but if his wife made a vow to be a Nazirite and another person heard it and said, “and I [also],” and afterwards her husband annulled it, it is not annulled for this one who said, “an I [also],” for the husband cannot abrogate a vow from its essence like a Sage.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
If he said, “Behold, I am a nazirite”, and his companion overheard and said, “My mouth shall be as his mouth and my hair as his hair”, he becomes a nazirite. Besides saying “I too” he may also employ other hints that he wishes his status to be like that of the one who vowed. He may say that just as the other’s mouth cannot taste wine, so too my mouth cannot taste wine, or just as the other does not cut his hair, so too I won’t cut my hair. These are all clear enough statements in order to make him a nazirite.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
[If he said,] “Behold, I am a nazirite,” and his wife overheard and said, “I too,” he can annul her vow, but his own remains binding. [If a woman says,] “Behold, I am a nazirite”, and her husband overhears and adds, “I too,” he cannot annul her vow. A wife can make her nazirite vow depend on her husband's by saying “I too.” He can annul her vow, since this is a vow that has in it the element of self-denial. If he annuls her vow, his is still valid because his does not depend on hers. However, if he makes his vow dependent on hers, he cannot annul her vow. This is because saying “I too” is a means of affirming her vow, and once a husband affirms his wife’s vow he can no longer annul it.
