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Nedarim 59a

נדרים נ״ט ע״א

Learn Nedarim 59a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Why vowed items (a דבר שיש לו מתירין) are not cancelled among permitted growths while תרומה is, and רבי יוחנן's ruling on tithed onions that were planted

Overview

This amud continues the discussion of the view that permitted growths from the ground can cancel out a forbidden seed. First the גמרא finishes an answer about tithes: the duty to tithe starts when the grain is piled up, not in the ground. רמי בר חמא then challenges the view from a משנה about vows (קונם), where even growths of growths can stay forbidden. רבי אבא answers that vows are a דבר שיש לו מתירין, because a חכם can release them, and such an item is not cancelled by a majority. The גמרא pushes back from תרומה, which can also be released yet is cancelled in a hundred. It tries two case answers: תרומה already in the כהן's hand, and a ישראל who inherited it from a כהן grandfather. The end of the משנה knocks down both. Finally the גמרא says that only vows carry a מצוה to be released, because of רבי נתן's teaching, and תרומה does not. The amud then returns to רבי יוחנן's ruling that tithed onions which were planted are tithed on the whole crop. רב חסדא challenges it, and רבה begins to answer with a משנה about onions that sprouted in the rain, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אָמְרִי: מַעֲשֵׂר,

They say: tithe —

דִּיגּוּן הוּא דְּקָא גָרֵים לֵיהּ.

it is the piling that causes it (the obligation).

מֵתִיב רָמֵי בַּר חָמָא:

Rami bar Ḥama raised an objection:

״קֻוֽנָּם פֵּירוֹת הָאֵלּוּ עָלַי״,

"These fruits are konam upon me,"

The steps (12)

  1. ResolutionThe tithe duty comes from piling the grain
  2. ChallengeChallenge from the vow case where growths stay forbidden
  3. ResolutionVows are different because they can be cancelled
  4. ChallengeChallenge from תרומה that is cancelled in a hundred
  5. ResolutionThe משנה speaks of תרומה already given to a כהן
  6. ChallengeThe end of the משנה shows the תרומה is still with its owner
  7. ResolutionA non-כהן who inherited the תרומה from his mother's father
  8. ChallengeWhy would the heir lose the value of his own סאה?
  9. ResolutionOnly vows carry a מצוה to be released
  10. Statementרבי יוחנן: tithed onions that were planted are tithed on the whole crop
  11. Challengeרב חסדא: where did the already-tithed part go?
  12. Proofרבה brings a matching משנה about onions that sprouted in the rain