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Menachos 103a

מנחות ק״ג ע״א

Menachot 103a

Learn Menachos 103a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Which details of a מנחה vow are binding, and the new משנה about vowing an improper מנחה (barley, lentils, partial measures), with the dispute between חזקיה and רבי יוחנן over why such a vow holds.

Overview

The עמוד opens by finishing a rule from the previous עמוד. A person is bound to a specific type of מנחה only if he named it when he made his נדר, not if he named it later when he set aside the flour. The source is the פסוק 'כאשר נדרת', and רבי יוחנן taught the same rule. A new משנה then teaches that someone who vows an improper מנחה (from barley, from plain flour, without oil and לבונה, half a tenth or a tenth and a half) still brings a proper one, while רבי שמעון exempts him. The גמרא asks why a barley vow counts at all, since its own words seem to cancel it. חזקיה answers that the משנה follows בית שמאי, who go by the first words (תפוס לשון ראשון). רבי יוחנן answers that it can follow בית הלל too, when the person says he would have vowed properly had he known. חזקיה also limits the rule to barley and not lentils, and the גמרא explains that he dropped the בית שמאי reading: barley is an honest mistake people make, but lentils are not. Finally, רבי יוחנן's 'even from lentils' is explained as an argument against חזקיה. He shows that the משנה's choice of barley could be a 'לא מיבעיא' style, so חזקיה had no need to retract.

Opening lines

אֶלָּא שֶׁקְּבָעָן בִּשְׁעַת נֶדֶר,

only when he fixed them at the time of the vow,

אֲבָל בִּשְׁעַת הַפְרָשָׁה – לָא.

but at the time of setting aside, no.

״כַּאֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתָּ״,

"According to what you vowed,"

וְלֹא ״כַּאֲשֶׁר הִפְרַשְׁתָּ״.

and not "according to what you set aside."

The steps (19)

  1. StatementThe type only matters if it was fixed at the time of the vow
  2. ProofThe verse: 'according to what you vowed'
  3. Proofרבי יוחנן said the same thing
  4. StatementNew משנה: vowing a מנחה in a way that is not allowed
  5. StatementVowing half a tenth or a tenth and a half
  6. ChallengeWhy does a barley vow count at all?
  7. Resolutionחזקיה: The משנה follows בית שמאי
  8. ProofThe proof: the נזיר from dried figs
  9. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: Even בית הלל agree in this case
  10. StatementBarley works, lentils do not
  11. ChallengeWhy should lentils be different?
  12. Resolutionחזקיה changed his mind
  13. QuestionWhy did he change his mind?
  14. ResponseThe משנה's choice of barley bothered him
  15. ConclusionThe real reason is a mistake
  16. Statementרבי יוחנן: Even a vow from lentils takes effect
  17. ChallengeHow can רבי יוחנן include lentils if he follows בית הלל?
  18. Resolutionרבי יוחנן was arguing on חזקיה's own terms
  19. RejectionThe משנה may use a 'not only this, but even that' style