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Nedarim 48a

נדרים מ״ח ע״א

Learn Nedarim 48a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Using town property under a נדר by writing one's share to the נשיא, and giving a gift through a third person to get around a נדר

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a משנה about two people forbidden by a נדר to benefit from each other. Things belonging to עולי בבל, like the הר הבית, are allowed to them. Things belonging to their town, like the בית הכנסת and the bathhouse, are forbidden. The fix is to write one's share of town property over to the נשיא. רבי יהודה and the חכמים argue about whether a formal transfer is needed. A ברייתא explains why the people of the גליל were already covered: they were quarrelsome, so their fathers signed their shares over ahead of time. A new משנה teaches that a person may give food to a third person as a gift, so that someone under a נדר can eat it. The story of a man in בית חורון shows the limit of this method: a gift the receiver could not make הקדש is not a real gift. The גמרא explains that the story illustrates a missing line about gifts that later turn out to be fake. רבא then discusses which wordings make such a gift forbidden, in two versions.

Opening lines

וַאֲסוּרִים בְּדָבָר שֶׁל אוֹתָהּ הָעִיר.

And they are forbidden to use something belonging to that town.

וְאֵיזֶהוּ דָּבָר שֶׁל עוֹלֵי בָּבֶל —

And what is something belonging to those who came up from Babylonia?

כְּגוֹן הַר הַבַּיִת, וְהָעֲזָרוֹת,

For example, the Temple Mount and the Temple courtyards,

וְהַבּוֹר שֶׁבְּאֶמְצַע הַדֶּרֶךְ.

and the water cistern in the middle of the road.

The steps (18)

  1. StatementTown property is forbidden, with examples
  2. StatementWriting one's share to the נשיא
  3. Statementרבי יהודה: writing to the נשיא or to an ordinary person
  4. StatementThe חכמים: both require a formal transfer
  5. Statementרבי יהודה: the people of the גליל need not write
  6. ChallengeWhy would writing to the נשיא be forbidden?
  7. Resolutionרב ששת: the clause is the remedy
  8. StatementThe גמרא quotes the dispute again
  9. StatementWhy the fathers of the גליל wrote their shares to the נשיא
  10. StatementFeeding someone under a vow by giving a gift to a third person
  11. StatementThe son in בית חורון gives his wedding meal to a friend
  12. StatementThe friend consecrates the gift and explains why
  13. ConclusionA gift that cannot be consecrated is not a gift
  14. ChallengeWhy does the story contradict the rule?
  15. ResolutionA line is missing: if the end shows the gift was fake, it is forbidden
  16. Statementרבא: Only the 'Only So My Father Comes' Wording Is Forbidden
  17. StatementAnother Version: Even Softer Wording Is Forbidden
  18. ResponseThe Reason: The Meal Itself Gives Him Away