Se uno si svuota dal "nero della testa", gli è vietato il calvo e il grigio, [non avendo parlato di quelli che hanno i capelli], e gli è permesso a donne e bambini, poiché solo gli uomini sono chiamati "il nero di testa ". [Perché gli uomini a volte nascondono le loro teste e talvolta le rivelano e le "anneriscono", per cui si vede che sono uomini. Ma le donne vanno sempre con la testa coperta e i bambini (giovani), sia maschi che femmine, vanno con la testa scoperta e non possono essere (prontamente) distinti come maschi o femmine. Per questo motivo, solo gli uomini adulti sono chiamati "il nero della testa".]
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.
