Nedarim 15b

נדרים ט״ו ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 15b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Defending רב יהודה on conditional נדרים, how a vow can forbid marital relations, and the start of a new משנה on oaths and phrasings with קרבן.

Overview

רב יהודה holds that if a נדר depends on a later condition, a person may not do the forbidden act now, because it might turn into a broken נדר after the fact. The גמרא tests this against several sources. It defends him each time. Some sources only describe what happens after the fact ('if she benefited,' 'he ate'), not what is allowed from the start. רבא explains that even before the wife goes to her father's house she is forbidden, and going only adds lashes. In the loaf ברייתא, the wording 'he went' was chosen only to match 'he ate,' so it proves nothing. The גמרא then asks how a husband can vow against relations with his wife when the Torah obligates him. It answers that he forbids his own pleasure, not his duty, and רב כהנא's ruling about a wife's vow supports this. Finally a new משנה begins. A שבועה not to sleep, speak, or walk is binding, but certain phrasings using the word קרבן leave the food permitted.

Opening lines

The steps (15)

1. ChallengeThe challenge is declared a full refutation of רב יהודה
2. ResolutionThe משנה only describes the result after the fact
3. StatementA second משנה: benefit forbidden until סוכות if she goes before פסח
4. ChallengeThe inference: if she did not go, benefit is allowed
5. Resolutionרבא: She is forbidden even before she goes
6. ChallengeChallenge from the loaf ברייתא: he ate it today
7. Resolution'He ate' means after the fact, not permission
8. ChallengeLater in the ברייתא: going is the forbidden act, so a difficulty for רב יהודה
9. ResolutionThe ברייתא said 'he went' only to match 'he ate'
10. StatementThe משנה's case of a husband's vow against relations
11. ChallengeBut the Torah obligates him to his wife
12. ResolutionHe vowed against his own pleasure
13. Proofרב כהנא shows the difference between the act and the pleasure
14. StatementAn oath not to sleep, speak, or walk is binding
15. StatementThree phrasings with the word 'offering' that do not work