daf bit: Nazir 62

[cellio]

As we near the end of tractate Nazir, the discussion turns to slaves. Can a slave make a nazarite vow? Yes, and not only that but, according to the mishna, the nazarite vow of a slave is more stringent than one of a woman, because a man can annul his wife's vow but cannot annul his slave's vow. If a slave's master disapproves of the slave's vow, it appears that the master's only recourse is to free the slave. (62b)

(I assume, though I couldn't confirm one way or the other in the Aramaic text, that this is talking about an eved ivri, a Jewish slave. Jewish slaves get freed eventually anyway, so this would just mean accelerating the schedule, and I would be surprised if non-Jews can (per torah) take nazarite vows. (Of course they can vow anything they like, but it wouldn't be governed by torah, I would think.)

Comments

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

The default slave is actually a canaanite slave.

A Hebrew slave has all of the laws of a regular unenslaved Hebrew, other than that he is not allowed to quit. A non-Jewish slave has partially converted, and is obligated in all mitzvot except positive time bound mitzvot (hence the frequent comparison to women*).

Presumably, a slave who vowed to become a Nazirite and was freed would stay a Nazirite. However, the objecting master would not then own a nazirite slave. This could be useful if for example the master liked serving foods with wine sauces. Since he must feed the slave, and the slave will not eat wine-flavored foods (unsure about absorbed wine in dishes), the master must either make other food or set him free.

* There are certain rabbinic mitzvot which women are included in because they were included in the miracle which created that mitzva. For example: 4 cups and maror on Pesach, 3 meals on Shabbat, Megillat Ester, etc. I am unsure if slaves are also obligated in these things because women are, or if they are excluded because they were not included in miracles of Pesach, manna, or Purim respectively.

[aethereal-girl.livejournal.com]

My assumption is that it's talking about a non-Jewish slave. A non-Jewish slave of a Jew doesn't have the same halachic status as a free non-Jew (or slave of a non-Jew), instead, their status is considered generally similar to a Jewish woman. Hence the common formulation "women, children and slaves."

A male Jewish slave, on the other hand, is basically considered to have the same halachic status as a free Jewish man.