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Nedarim 38b

נדרים ל״ח ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 38b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

What counts as forbidden benefit under a נדר: feeding animals, marrying a daughter, small favors, and visiting or healing the מודר

Overview

This amud opens at the end of a משנה about feeding the animals of someone who may not benefit from you. רבי אליעזר says a non-kosher animal is fully 'Heaven's', and the חכמים answer that its owner can sell it or feed it to dogs, so it is his. The גמרא then brings רב הונא's ruling that a person may marry his daughter to someone under a נדר of benefit. רבי זירא tests both directions of the vow. He concludes that the case is where the father's property is forbidden to the groom, and the daughter is a בוגרת marrying by her own choice. A ברייתא supports this. Next come small favors that stay allowed despite a vow: filling water, lighting a lamp, roasting a small fish, and giving a 'cup of peace'. The בבל and ארץ ישראל explanations of that cup differ. A ברייתא of יהושע איש עוזא allows feeding the מודר's slaves but not his animals, because slaves are kept for work and animals for fattening. The amud ends with a new משנה about visiting and healing the מודר, which the גמרא explains on the next amud.

Opening lines

נַפְשָׁהּ וְגוּפָהּ לַשָּׁמַיִם.

its life and its body are to Heaven.

אָמְרוּ לוֹ: אַף הַטְּמֵאָה

They said to him: Even the non-kosher one,

נַפְשָׁהּ לַשָּׁמַיִם וְגוּפָהּ שֶׁלּוֹ,

its life is to Heaven and its body is his,

שֶׁאִם יִרְצֶה הֲרֵי הוּא

for if he wishes, he can

The steps (18)

  1. StatementA non-kosher animal belongs fully to Heaven
  2. RejectionThe Sages answer that the owner benefits from a non-kosher animal too
  3. Statementרב הונא: he may marry his daughter to the one under the vow
  4. Questionרבי זירא asks which case רב הונא means
  5. ChallengeIf the father's property is forbidden, he is giving the groom a servant
  6. ResolutionSecond option: the groom's property is forbidden to the father
  7. ChallengeThe משנה already taught something bigger, so this is obvious
  8. ResolutionThe case is a grown daughter marrying by her own consent
  9. ProofA ברייתא supports the בוגרת answer
  10. StatementA father who vowed against his son may still do small favors
  11. Statementרבי יצחק adds roasting a small fish
  12. StatementGiving the מודר a cup of peace is allowed
  13. QuestionWhat is a cup of peace?
  14. ResponseTwo meanings: the mourners' cup or the bathhouse cup
  15. StatementSlaves may be fed, but not animals
  16. QuestionWhy are slaves different from animals?
  17. ResponseSlaves are for work, animals are for fattening
  18. StatementNew משנה: visiting and healing the מודר