Nedarim 39a

נדרים ל״ט ע״א

Learn Nedarim 39a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Visiting a sick person when there is a נדר of הנאה between the visitor and the sick person: why the visitor may stand but not sit (the גמרא on the משנה in נדרים 38b–39a)

Overview

The משנה taught that if one person is forbidden by a נדר to benefit from another, he may still visit him when he is sick, standing but not sitting. The גמרא asks which direction the נדר goes, since either direction seems to clash with that rule. שמואל says the visitor's property is forbidden to the sick person, in a place where people are paid for sitting with the sick. When asked why the rule is stated so flatly, the גמרא gives two answers: payment properly belongs only to sitting, or there is a גזירה against lingering. עולא says the sick person's property is forbidden to the visitor, but the vow left out what the sick person needs for his own life, and a standing visit is enough. A ברייתא lets the visitor go in when the man himself is sick, but only ask in the market when his son is sick. This fits עולא, and שמואל answers that the ברייתא is the opposite case from the משנה. The גמרא then asks what justifies that flat split, and רבא's answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (13)

1. QuestionWhich Direction Does the Vow Go?
2. Responseשמואל: The Visitor's Property Is Forbidden, and Sitting Is Paid Work
3. ChallengeWhy Is the Rule Stated So Flatly?
4. ResolutionProper Practice Is Payment Only for Sitting
5. ResolutionSecond Answer: A Decree in Case He Stays Too Long
6. Responseעולא: The Sick Person's Property Is Forbidden, but Not for His Own Life
7. ChallengeThen Sitting Should Be Allowed Too
8. ResolutionStanding Is Enough
9. ChallengeA ברייתא: He Visits the Man, but Asks About the Son in the Market
10. ProofThe ברייתא Fits עולא Well
11. ChallengeHow would שמואל explain the father/son difference?
12. ResolutionThe משנה and the ברייתא are opposite cases
13. ChallengeWhy split the משנה and the ברייתא so flatly?