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Week 70 - Wednesday - 28 March 2001

NEDARIM: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 6

If one prohibits himself by vow from meat, he is permitted the broth and the jelly; and Rabbi Yehudah prohibits. Rabbi Yehudah said, It once happened, that Rabbi Tarfon forbade me eggs which had been cooked with it. They said to him, It was indeed so! When? When he says, "This meat is for me," for if a person prohibits himself by vow from one thing and it is mixed with another, if it contains enough to impart flavor -- he is forbidden.

Kehati

This mishnah teaches that the Tannaim disagree if one forbade himself meat by a vow, whether he is permitted something which has been cooked with the meat and which has absorbed its flavor. The mishnah further teaches that there is a difference between one prohibiting himself from meat by a vow, without qualification, and one prohibiting himself by vow from meat which is before him. In the latter case, all agree that everything which is cooked with it is forbidden, because of the law of mixture. If forbidden food is mixed with permitted food, and the forbidden spreads throughout the permitted and imparts its flavor, then the entire mixture is forbidden. The Sages established the ratio of 1:60 -- if the quantity of the permitted food is less than 60 times as much as the quantity of the prohibited food, the latter "imparts its flavor."

If one prohibits himself by vow from meat -- e.g., he said, "Konam meat for me" (or "Konam meat that I do not taste"), he is permitted the broth -- the juice of the meat, and the jelly -- that which jelled on the sides of the pot in which the meat was cooked, for these are not called "meat" in popular usage;

And Rabbi Yehudah prohibits -- the one prohibited by vow from meat also from the broth and the jelly, since they have the taste of meat, and are therefore included in the term "meat."

Rabbi Yehudah said, It once happened -- that I prohibited myself meat by a vow, that Rabbi Tarfon forbade me eggs which had been cooked with it -- the meat, in one pot. Hence everything which is cooked together with meat and absorbs its flavor is prohibited to one who prohibits himself meat by a vow, and therefore is prohibited broth and jelly.

They -- the Sages, said to him -- To Rabbi Yehudah, It was indeed so! -- the law indeed follows Rabbi Tarfon, but --

When -- is one prohibited meat by a vow forbidding anything cooked with meat? When he -- the person taking the vow, says, "This meat is for me" -- he does not forbid himself meat, without qualification, but rather meat which is before him, for if one prohibits himself by vow from one thing and it -- the item prohibited him by a vow, is mixed with another -- item which is permitted to him, if it contains enough to impart flavour -- he -- the one taking the vow, is prohibited -- from tasting anything of the mixture. If, however, he prohibited himself by vow from meat, without qualification, he is prohibited only actual meat, and is permitted anything which is cooked with it, even broth and jelly.

NEDARIM: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 7

If one prohibits himself by vow from wine, he is permitted cooked food which has in it the taste of wine. If he said, "Konam this wine that I do not taste," and it fell into the cooked dish, if it contains enough to impart flavor -- then it is prohibited. If one prohibits himself by vow from grapes, he is permitted wine; from olives, he is permitted oil. If one said, "Konam these olives and grapes that I do not taste" -- he is forbidden them and what comes from them.

Kehati

This mishnah is a continuation of the preceding mishnah, and adds that there is a difference between one who prohibits himself by vow from a type of food in general, such as from meat or wine, and one who prohibits himself by vow from food which is before him, e.g., he says, "May this meat or this wine be prohibited to me as a sacrifice." The latter declares them to be a prohibited item of food, and when they impart flavor to a mixture, the mixture is also prohibited to him; but one who prohibits himself by a vow meat or wine, without qualification, only prohibits himself actual meat or wine which he will taste, and meat and wine are not considered prohibited food to render the mixture forbidden. He is therefore permitted cooked food that contains the taste of meat or the taste of wine.

If one prohibits himself by vow from wine -- e.g., he said, "Konam wine to me," he is permitted cooked food which has in it the taste of wine -- if wine fell into the cooked dish and imparted the flavor of wine, he is permitted the cooked food, in accordance with the opinion of the Sages in the preceding mishnah.

If he said, "Konam this wine that I do not taste" -- he forbade himself the wine before him, and it -- that same wine, fell into the cooked dish, if it contains enough to impart flavor -- if sufficient wine fell to impart flavor to the cooked food, then it -- the cooked food, is prohibited -- to him, as was explained above.

If one prohibits himself by vow from grapes -- e.g., he said, "Konam these grapes for me," he is permitted wine -- since he prohibited to himself only grapes, and not the derivative; and similarly, if a person prohibits himself by vow -- from olives, he is permitted oil -- for the reason which was explained above, since he prohibited to himself only the olives, and not the derivative.

If one said, "Konam these olives and grapes that I do not taste" -- he prohibited himself by a vow the olives and grapes before him, he is forbidden them -- the olives and the grapes which he prohibited to himself by a vow, and what comes from them -- wine and oil; since he said, "these olives and grapes," he prohibited to himself both the fruits and their derivative, as was explained above. The Gemara explains that the same applies if he said, "Konam these olives and grapes for me" -- he is prohibited from them and their derivative. The Gemara poses the question whether he is forbidden the derivative if he said, "Konam the olives and the grapes that I taste," and did not say the word "these."

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