Nedarim 73a

נדרים ע״ג ע״א

Learn Nedarim 73a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Hearing and הפרה: whether a חרש can cancel his wife's נדרים, and whether a husband can cancel the vows of two wives at once

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier discussion. A husband had told his steward to cancel his wife's future vows, and this was brought as a proof that a בעל can cancel without hearing. The גמרא pushes the proof away: the husband meant the vows would be cancelled once he hears them, and he set it up early in case he is too busy then. So it remains unproven whether a hearing husband can cancel without hearing. Next, רמי בר חמא asks whether a חרש, who cannot hear at all, can cancel his wife's vows. He suggests רבי זירא's rule about mixing a מנחה: a step that is normally not required becomes required when it is impossible to do. רבא answers from a ברייתא that reads 'and her husband hears' as excluding the wife of a חרש, so a חרש cannot cancel. Then the גמרא asks whether a husband can cancel the vows of two wives at once, since the פסוק uses the singular word ״אותה״. רבינא brings a ברייתא about two סוטות, where רבי יהודה reads ״והשקה״ as 'her, by herself,' suggesting that each wife needs her own הפרה.

Opening lines

The steps (12)

1. RejectionThe steward case does not prove cancelling without hearing
2. ChallengeWhy not just cancel when he hears?
3. ResolutionHe worried he might be too busy
4. Questionרמי בר חמא asks about a חרש husband
5. QuestionFirst side: a deaf man may be different
6. Statementרבי זירא's rule about mixing a meal-offering
7. QuestionSecond side: maybe hearing is not required at all
8. Responseרבא brings a ברייתא excluding a deaf man's wife
9. ConclusionConclusion: a deaf man cannot cancel his wife's vows
10. QuestionCan a husband cancel vows for two wives at once?
11. Proofרבינא brings a ברייתא about two סוטות
12. Proofרבי יהודה reads ״והשקה״ as 'her, by herself'