Nedarim 43a
נדרים מ״ג ע״א
Learn Nedarim 43a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.
Open Nedarim 43a in Gemara Clarity
Topic
Why borrowing and buying are forbidden in the earlier משנה, the vow about a neighbor's cow, indirect ways to help a hungry מודר, and רבי יוסי's view of הפקר
Overview
The גמרא first asks about the previous משנה. If only one person is forbidden to benefit from the other, why can't the other person borrow money, borrow an object or buy from him, since that seems to give him nothing? רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא answers that both people vowed against each other. אביי answers that the חכמים made a גזירה: borrowing from him may lead to lending to him. A new משנה follows. A man who is refused a cow vows that plowing his field with it is a קונם, and how far the vow reaches depends on whether he usually plows himself. The משנה then shows ways to help a hungry מודר without giving to him directly: hinting to a shopkeeper or to workers and paying them later, giving food as a gift to a third person, or making the food הפקר. רבי יוסי forbids the הפקר method. רבי יוחנן explains that for רבי יוסי, הפקר works like a gift and stays the owner's until someone takes it. רבי אבא challenges this from a ברייתא where רבי יוסי forbids only when the vow came before the הפקר, and the discussion continues on the next amud.
Opening lines
גְּמָ׳ בִּשְׁלָמָא לֹא יַלְוֶנּוּ
Gemara: It makes sense that he may not lend to him
דְּקָא מַהֲנֵי לֵיהּ
because he is giving him benefit.
אֶלָּא לָא יִלְוֶה הֵימֶנּוּ
But that he may not borrow from him,
מַאי קָא מַהֲנֵי לֵיהּ?
how is he giving him benefit?
The steps (12)
- ChallengeWhy is borrowing from him forbidden?
- ChallengeEven harder: why is borrowing an item forbidden?
- ResolutionBoth people vowed against each other
- ResolutionA rabbinic decree: borrowing may lead to lending
- StatementThe angry vow about plowing with a neighbor's cow
- StatementFeeding a hungry מודר through the shopkeeper
- StatementHiring workers indirectly for the מודר
- StatementOn the road, giving food through a third person
- StatementMaking food ownerless when no one else is there
- QuestionWhy does רבי יוסי forbid?
- Responseהפקר works like a gift
- Challengeרבי אבא challenges from a ברייתא about timing