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Nedarim 77b

נדרים ע״ז ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 77b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Rules for dissolving vows, the sin of vowing, and the wording a husband and a חכם must use to remove vows

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a report of a vow dissolved in a side room of the study hall, standing, by one person, at night. רבה quotes רב נחמן's ruling: vows may be dissolved standing, by a single expert, at night, on שבת, and by relatives, even if there was time before שבת. The גמרא challenges the 'standing' part from a ברייתא where רבן גמליאל got off his donkey and sat down to dissolve a vow. It answers that רבן גמליאל holds פותחין בחרטה, which needs careful examination, while רב נחמן does not. רבא then reports that the רבנן in ארץ ישראל told someone whose vow they dissolved to pray for mercy, because anyone who vows is called a sinner, as רב זביד learns from a פסוק. Next, a ברייתא lists which words of a husband do nothing and which confirm his wife's vow. It also teaches how he cancels her vow on שבת, with רבי יוחנן adding that he must cancel it in his heart, and בית שמאי and בית הלל argue about cancelling in the heart. Finally, רבי יוחנן rules that a חכם and a husband cannot use each other's wording. A ברייתא begins to prove from "זה הדבר" that a husband cannot release vows, and the proof continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בְּקִיטוֹנָא דְבֵי רַב,

In a side room of the study hall,

עוֹמֵד, יְחִידִי, וּבַלַּיְלָה.

standing, alone, and at night.

אָמַר רַבָּה אָמַר רַב נַחְמָן:

Rabba said that Rav Naḥman said:

הֲלָכָה, נִשְׁאָלִין נְדָרִים

The law is: vows may be asked about (to dissolve them)

The steps (14)

  1. StatementWhere and how the vow was dissolved
  2. Statementרב נחמן's ruling on dissolving vows
  3. ChallengeChallenge: רבן גמליאל sat down to dissolve a vow
  4. ResolutionTwo different approaches to opening a vow
  5. Statementרבא's report: the son of רב הונא בר אבין
  6. Proofרב דימי: anyone who vows is called a sinner
  7. Proofרב זביד: the פסוק behind it
  8. StatementWhich husband statements do nothing and which confirm the vow
  9. StatementHow a husband cancels his wife's vow on שבת
  10. StatementHe must also cancel the vow in his heart
  11. Proofבית שמאי and בית הלל on cancelling in the heart
  12. StatementA חכם and a husband cannot swap each other's wording
  13. ProofA ברייתא: a חכם releases vows, a husband does not
  14. ChallengeWhy a פסוק is needed: a קל וחומר would let the husband release