Nedarim 72a
נדרים ע״ב ע״א
Learn Nedarim 72a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.
Open Nedarim 72a in Gemara Clarity
Topic
Is a divorce like הקמה (upholding the vow) or like שתיקה (mere silence) for the vows of a נערה המאורסה?
Overview
The גמרא asks a question about a betrothed girl's vow. An ארוס hears the vow and then divorces her that same day. Does the divorce count as upholding the vow (הקמה), which locks it in? Or does it count only as silence (שתיקה), which still leaves room to cancel until the day ends? First the גמרא looks at a ברייתא. Its first half seems to say divorce is like הקמה, but its second half seems to say it is like שתיקה, so the ברייתא proves nothing. Next comes a משנה about a girl who was divorced and betrothed again many times in one day, which seems to show divorce is like שתיקה. That proof is rejected because the first ארוס may never have heard the vow, and only the father heard it. Last, a משנה about a man who divorced and remarried his wife on the same day seems to show divorce is like הקמה. That proof is also rejected, because a husband cannot cancel vows made before the marriage, so none of the proofs settles the question.
Opening lines
תָּא שְׁמַע:
Come and hear:
אֵימָתַי אָמְרוּ ״מֵת הַבַּעַל,
When did they say: "If the husband died,
נִתְרוֹקְנָה רְשׁוּת לָאָב״
the authority passes over to the father"?
בִּזְמַן שֶׁלֹּא שָׁמַע הַבַּעַל,
When the husband did not hear the vow,
The steps (9)
- ProofA proof from the first half of a ברייתא that divorce is like upholding the vow
- RejectionThe second half of the same ברייתא points the opposite way
- ConclusionNothing can be proven from this ברייתא
- ProofA proof from the משנה about many betrothals in one day
- RejectionThe first betrothed man never heard the vow
- ChallengeThen why does the משנה say 'on that day'?
- ResolutionThe father heard, so the day matters
- ProofA new proof that divorce is like הקמה
- RejectionThat case is a married woman and earlier vows