Si uno se confiesa a sí mismo del "negro de la cabeza", tiene prohibido a los calvos y los grises, [no haber hablado de los que tienen cabello], y está permitido a las mujeres y los niños, ya que solo los hombres se llaman "los negros de la cabeza ". [Porque los hombres a veces ocultan sus cabezas y otras las revelan y las "ennegrecen", por lo que se ve que son hombres. Pero las mujeres siempre van con la cabeza cubierta, y los niños (jóvenes), tanto hombres como mujeres, van con las cabezas descubiertas y no pueden (fácilmente) distinguirse como hombres o mujeres. Por esta razón, solo los hombres adultos se llaman "el negro de la cabeza"].
Bartenura on Mishnah Nedarim
אמר בקרחים ובבעלי השיבות – since he didn’t say, “with those who have hair.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nedarim
Introduction
This mishnah teaches that one who vows not to benefit from “the black-haired” is forbidden to benefit from all men, but not from women and children.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Nedarim
שאין נקראים שחורי הראש אלא אנשים – because the men sometimes cover heir heads and sometimes reveal and blacken their heads that is recognized that they are men, but women always walk and their heads are covered. But the small children, whether boys or girls walk with their heads revealed and they are not recognized as to whether they are boys or girls, and because of this, they are not called, “black-haired,” but rather, the adult men.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nedarim
He who vows [not to benefit] from the black-haired may not [benefit] from the bald or the gray-haired, but may [benefit] from women and children, because only men are called black-haired. The word “black-haired” is interpreted to be a reference to men, whether or not they have black hair, gray hair or no hair at all. Women are not called “black-haired” because they typically covered their hair. They were called “head-coverers”. Children were called “head revealers” because they went without a head covering. However, men were called “black-haired” because sometimes they covered their heads and sometimes they did not. Furthermore, nearly all men had black hair. Indeed, the only other hair color referred to in the mishnah is gray. No blondes or brunettes in Palestine in the Mishnaic period.
