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Nedarim 13b

נדרים י״ג ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 13b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How the wording of a נדר decides whether it works: קרבן wordings, a קונם placed on one's limbs, and the opening of פרק ב on vows that compare food to things forbidden by the Torah.

Overview

The amud opens with the גמרא settling a contradiction about the word קרבן. Saying 'הָא קָרְבָּן' sounds like swearing 'by the life of the offering', which does nothing, while 'הַקָּרְבָּן' is a real נדר. Next, the גמרא asks how רבי מאיר can forbid someone who said 'לַקָּרְבָּן לֹא אוֹכַל לָךְ', since he does not draw a 'yes' out of a 'no'. רבי אבא answers that the words mean 'let it be a קרבן, so I won't eat yours.' A new משנה rules that a קונם on 'my mouth speaking with you', 'my hand working with you' or 'my foot walking with you' takes effect. The גמרא challenges this from a ברייתא saying נדרים apply only to things with ממש. רב יהודה answers that the vow is placed on the physical mouth, hands and feet, and the משנה's wording supports him. The first פרק then ends. The second פרק opens with a משנה listing vows that fail because they compare food to things forbidden by the Torah rather than by a vow. The גמרא infers that saying 'לַחוּלִּין' would make a vow, then begins asking whether that fits רבי מאיר, a challenge that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לָא קַשְׁיָא:

It is not difficult:

הָא דְּאָמַר ״הָא קׇרְבָּן״,

this one is where he said 'ha korban',

וְהָא דְּאָמַר ״הַקׇּרְבָּן״.

and that one is where he said 'hakorban'.

מַאי טַעְמָא?

What is the reason?

The steps (14)

  1. ResolutionTwo different wordings: 'הָא קָרְבָּן' versus 'הַקָּרְבָּן'
  2. ResponseWhy 'הָא קָרְבָּן' does nothing
  3. StatementQuoting the משנה: רבי מאיר forbids 'לַקָּרְבָּן'
  4. ChallengeBut רבי מאיר doesn't draw a 'yes' from a 'no'
  5. Resolutionרבי אבא: read it as 'Let it be a קרבן, so I won't eat'
  6. StatementNew משנה: a קונם on speaking, working or walking with someone
  7. ChallengeA ברייתא says נדרים only apply to things with substance
  8. ResolutionThe vow is placed on the limb itself
  9. ProofThe wording of the משנה supports רב יהודה
  10. ConclusionHadran: closing the chapter כל כינויי
  11. StatementVows that compare food to Torah-forbidden things do not work
  12. StatementA man who compares his wife to his mother
  13. StatementThe vow fails only because he said 'חולין'
  14. ChallengeWhose opinion does the משנה follow?