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Nedarim 72b

נדרים ע״ב ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 72b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How a father and a husband can cancel (הפרה) a girl's vows before her marriage, and whether a husband can cancel a vow he never heard (הפרה בלא שמיעה)

Overview

The משנה describes a custom of תלמידי חכמים: before a daughter marries, her father cancels all the vows she made in his house. The husband does the same before she enters his רשות, because afterward he can no longer cancel her earlier vows. In the גמרא, רמי בר חמא asks whether a husband can cancel a vow he never heard. רבא tries to prove from the משנה that he can, but the גמרא answers that the father's words only take effect when he actually hears each vow. He speaks up early because a scholar makes a point of pursuing such matters. The גמרא gives the same answer to proofs from the husband in the משנה and from רבי אליעזר's case of a husband leaving on a trip, adding that he speaks in advance in case he is too busy when he hears. Finally, the גמרא brings a ברייתא about a husband who appoints an אפוטרופוס to cancel his wife's vows. Since everyone agrees that an agent is like the person who sent him, and the agent never heard the vows, it seems hearing is not required. Whether this proof holds continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַתְנִי׳ דֶּרֶךְ תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים,

MISHNA: The practice of Torah scholars:

עַד שֶׁלֹּא הָיְתָה בִּתּוֹ יוֹצְאָה מֵאֶצְלוֹ,

before his daughter would leave him,

אוֹמֵר לָהּ:

he says to her:

כׇּל נְדָרִים שֶׁנָּדַרְתְּ בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתִי —

All vows that you vowed in my house

The steps (16)

  1. StatementThe father cancels his daughter's vows before she marries
  2. StatementThe husband does the same before she enters his domain
  3. QuestionCan a husband cancel a vow he never heard?
  4. Proofרבא brings a proof from our משנה
  5. RejectionThe cancellation only works once he hears
  6. ChallengeThen why say it before he hears?
  7. ResolutionA scholar makes a point of pursuing these matters
  8. ProofA proof from the end of the משנה about a husband
  9. RejectionThe husband also means 'when I hear it'
  10. ProofA proof from a husband who cancels all vows until he returns from a trip
  11. RejectionAgain: he meant 'when I hear it'
  12. ChallengeThen why cancel in advance?
  13. ResolutionHe might be too busy when he hears
  14. ProofSetting up a proof from a husband who appoints an אפוטרופוס
  15. Statementרבי יונתן says the agent can cancel
  16. ProofEveryone agrees on agency, yet the agent never heard the vows