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Nedarim 56b

נדרים נ״ו ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 56b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Defining the דרגש for an אבל, and how far a vow against a city or a house reaches

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the discussion of the דרגש, a kind of bed that an אבל (mourner) does not have to overturn. The גמרא first compares a 'fortune-bed' to a bed used only for storage, which is not overturned either. It then drops the fortune-bed idea, because רבן שמעון בן גמליאל says a דרגש has loops, and רבין reports that a דרגש is a leather bed. Next the גמרא asks how a מטה differs from a דרגש. After a challenge from a משנה about smoothing wood with fish skin, it concludes that both are strung through the frame: a מטה through holes and a דרגש through loops. Two rulings close the bed topic: a bed with protruding posts is just stood on its side, and the הלכה follows רבן שמעון בן גמליאל. A new משנה then teaches that a vow against a city includes its עיבור but not its תחום, and a vow against a house begins at the doorstop. The גמרא proves the עיבור rule from יהושע being 'in יריחו' while the city was shut, and shows the תחום is 'outside the city.' Finally, רב מרי challenges the doorstop rule from the laws of a house with נגעים, and the גמרא answers that that case is different because of the special words 'from the house.'

Opening lines

מִידֵּי דְּהָוֵה אַמִּטָּה הַמְיוּחֶדֶת לְכֵלִים,

It is just like a bed designated for vessels,

דְּתַנְיָא: אִם הָיְתָה מִטָּה הַמְיוּחֶדֶת לְכֵלִים —

as it is taught: If it was a bed designated for vessels,

אֵין צָרִיךְ לִכְפּוֹתָהּ.

one does not need to overturn it.

אֶלָּא אִי קַשְׁיָא — הָא קַשְׁיָא,

Rather, if something is difficult, this is difficult,

The steps (19)

  1. ResolutionA fortune-bed is like a bed used only for storing things
  2. ChallengeA fortune-bed would not have loops
  3. Resolutionרבין's new definition: a leather bed
  4. QuestionWhat separates a מטה from a דרגש?
  5. Responseרבי ירמיה: straps over the frame versus through the frame
  6. ChallengeWhy smooth a bed's frame if the straps hide it?
  7. ResolutionBoth are strung through the frame: holes versus loops
  8. StatementA bed with protruding posts is just stood on its side
  9. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רבן שמעון בן גמליאל
  10. StatementThe משנה: a vow against a city or a house
  11. QuestionWhere do we learn that the outskirts count as the city?
  12. Responseרבי יוחנן brings the פסוק about יהושע in יריחו
  13. Proofיריחו was shut, so יהושע was in its outskirts
  14. ChallengeMaybe even the שבת boundary counts as the city
  15. ResolutionThe תורה calls the תחום 'outside the city'
  16. StatementA vow against a house covers only the doorstop and inward
  17. ChallengeA ברייתא about a house with צרעת says standing under the lintel is still 'in the house'
  18. ChallengeThe ברייתא's practical rule: stand beside the doorway, though even other spots work after the fact
  19. ResolutionA house with נגעים is different because the פסוק says 'from the house'