Nazir

Now one of the arguments mentioned is: 'No! If you say this of the days of his defilement where the previous days are rendered void because of them, would you also say it of the days of his declared leprosy [where the previous days are not rendered void]'. What kind [of naziriteship is referred to]? Should it be a short naziriteship,  then we require a [thirty days] growth of hair and there is not such a growth.  Thus it must be a long naziriteship [which is referred to] and yet it says that they are not reckoned in the number [of days of the naziriteship]. From this it follows [that the period of declared leprosy is never counted].  This proves it. MISHNAH. R. ELIEZER  SAID ON BEHALF OF R. JOSHUA THAT EVERY DEFILEMENT [CONVEYED] BY A CORPSE FOR WHICH A NAZIRITE MUST POLL ENTAILS A LIABILITY FOR ONE ENTERING THE SANCTUARY  [WHILST THUS DEFILED], AND EVERY DEFILEMENT [CONVEYED] BY A CORPSE FOR WHICH A NAZIRITE IS NOT REQUIRED TO POLL DOES NOT ENTAIL A LIABILITY FOR ONE ENTERING THE SANCTUARY [WHILE SO DEFILED]. R. MEIR SAID: SUCH [DEFILEMENT] SHOULD NOT BE LESS SERIOUS THAN [DEFILEMENT THROUGH] A REPTILE. GEMARA. Did R. Eliezer receive this [statement] in the name of R. Joshua?  Did he not receive it in the name of R. Joshua b. Memel, as has been taught: R. Eliezer  said: When I went to 'Ardacus  I found R. Joshua b. Pethar Rosh  sitting and expound ing points of law in the presence of R. Meir. [One of them was as follows.] Every defilement [conveyed] by a corpse for which a nazirite must poll entails a penalty for entering the Sanctuary, and every defilement [arising] from a corpse for which a nazirite is not required to poll, does not entail a penalty for entering the Sanctuary. [R. Meir] said to him; Such [defilement] should not be less stringent than [defilement by] a reptile? I then asked [R. Joshua b. Pethar Rosh]. 'Are you at all versed in [the sayings of] R. Joshua b. Memel?' He replied. 'I am'. Thus did R. Joshua b. Memel tell me in the name of R. Joshua: Every defilement [arising] from a corpse for which a nazirite must poll, entails a penalty for entering the Sanctuary, and every defilement [arising] from a corpse for which a nazirite is not required to poll, does not entail a penalty for entering the Sanctuary.  Thus we see that it was in the name of R. Joshua b. Memel that [R. Eliezer] received it? — They replied:  From this it follows that whenever a tradition is transmitted through three [men], the first and the last [name] are mentioned, whilst the middle [name] is not mentioned. R. Nahman b. Isaac said: We, too. have learned to the same effect: Nahum the Scribe  said, This was transmitted to me from R. Measha, who received it from his father, who received it from 'the Pairs',  who received it from the Prophets as a tradition [handed] to Moses on Mt. Sinai: If a man who has sown his field with two varieties of wheat collects them on one threshing floor,  he need leave [only] one pe'ah,  but if he collects them on two threshing floors,  he must leave two pe'ahs.  Now here, Joshua and Caleb are not mentioned [between Moses and the Prophets]. Thus it follows from this [that intermediate names may be omitted]. MISHNAH. R. AKIBA SAID: I ARGUED IN THE PRESENCE OF R. ELIEZER  AS FOLLOWS. SEEING THAT A BARLEY-CORN'S BULK OF BONE WHICH DOES NOT DEFILE A MAN BY 'OVERSHADOWING', COMPELS A NAZIRITE TO POLL SHOULD HE TOUCH IT OR CARRY IT, THEN SURELY A QUARTER [-LOG] OF BLOOD WHICH DEFILES A MAN BY 'OVERSHADOWING, SHOULD CAUSE A NAZIRITE TO POLL IF HE TOUCHES IT OR CARRIES IF?  HE REPLIED: WHAT NOW, AKIBA! TO ARGUE FROM THE LESSER TO THE GREATER IS NOT PERMITTED IN THIS INSTANCE.' WHEN I AFTERWARDS WENT AND RECOUNTED THESE WORDS TO R. JOSHUA, HE SAID TO ME, 'YOUR ARGUMENT WAS SOUND, BUT [IN THIS CASE] THIS HAS BEEN DECLARED AS A FILED HALACHAH.