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How does "lo yefater min ha'olam ad she'yehei nazir" work when the person doesn't make himself a nazir now? The shiur develops a fundamental chiddush in the Rambam (רמב"ם) (Hilchos Nazir, Hilchos Arachin 6:31) that a person can obligate himself to *become* a nazir through a shevud ha'guf to Hashem (ה׳)—without actual kabbalas nazirus—resolving why this constitutes ba'al ta'achar de'nazirus rather than ba'al ta'achar de'nedarim, and proving that one can commit to be makdish a davar shelo ba'olam.
This shiur analyzes a fundamental tension in the Rambam (רמב"ם) regarding the status of someone who says "lo yefater min ha'olam ad she'yehei nazir" (I will not leave this world before I become a nazir). The Rambam in Hilchos Nazir (halacha (הלכה) 4) states this person is a "nazir miyad" (a nazir immediately), yet in Hilchos Arachin (Perek 6) the Rambam uses this very case to prove that one can make a neder to be makdish something in the future—a davar shelo ba'olam. This appears contradictory: if the person is a nazir miyad, how does this prove the din of future commitment? The major answer proposed by many is that "nazir miyad" doesn't mean the person *is* a nazir immediately, but rather that he is obligated to *accept* nazirus immediately (chayav l'kabel nazirus). This creates a neder to make a neder. However, Rabbi Zweig identifies two severe problems with this approach. First, the Rambam's language in Hilchos Arachin is "chayav linhog b'nazirus" (obligated to conduct himself in nazirus), not "chayav l'kabel nazirus"—suggesting actual nazirus conduct, not just acceptance. Second, if this were truly about being obligated to accept nazirus, then violating this would be ba'al ta'achar of the *neder* (to accept), not ba'al ta'achar of *nazirus* itself—yet the Rambam clearly treats it as ba'al ta'achar de'nazirus.
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Nedarim 4a
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