Torah Community Connections

Week 72 - Thursday - 12 April 2001

NEDARIM: CHAPTER 9: MISHNAH 10

"Konam that I do not marry ugly so-and-so," and she is good looking; "dark," and she is fair; "short," and she is tall - he is permitted to her. Not because she is ugly and became good looking, dark and became fair, short and became tall, but because the vow was made in error. And it happened that a man took a vow not to derive benefit from his sister's daughter, and they brought her to the house of Rabbi Yishmael, and made her beautiful. Rabbi Yishmael said to him, "My son! Regarding this one did you take a vow?" He said to him, "No!" And Rabbi Yishmael released him. At the same time Rabbi Yishmael wept, and said, The daughters of Israel are beautiful, but poverty makes them ugly. And when Rabbi Yishmael died, the daughters of Israel raised a lament, and said, "Daughters of Israel, weep over Rabbi Yishmael." It is similarly said of Saul, "You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul" (II Sam. 1:24).

Kehati

We have already learned (3:2, above), and mentioned in the introduction to mishnah 3 in this chapter, that if a person bases his vow on something which is not true, thinking that it is true, and it is found not to be so, then his vow is not valid, and he does not require nullification by a Sage, for this is one of the vows made in error which were nullified by the Sages. This mishnah also deals with such a vow.

If a person says, "Konam that I do not marry ugly so-and-so," and she is good looking - the person taking the vow thought that so-and-so was ugly, and took a vow not to marry her, but in truth she is good looking, and he erred; or if a person says, "Konam that I do not marry - dark - so-and-so," and - in truth, she is fair; or if a person says, "Konam that I do not marry - "short - so-and-so," and - in truth, she is tall - he is permitted to - marry her - without nullification by a Sage.

Not because she is one who was, ugly - at the time of the vow, and became good looking - afterwards, dark and became fair, short and became tall - i.e., this law was not stated in a case where she was ugly, or dark, or short at the time of the vow, and afterwards she changed and became good looking, or fair, or tall, for in such a case he may not marry her, for this is a new circumstance which is uncommon, and we do not use it as an opening for him, as was taught above (mishnah 2), but because the vow was made in error - the reason why "he may marry her" here is because the vow was found to be basically erroneous, as was explained above, since at the time of the vow, she was neither ugly, nor dark, nor short.

"Rabbi Yishmael says, Even if she was ugly and became good looking, dark and became fair, short and became tall, he may marry her" (Gemara, teaching that there is a lacuna here), for we find an opening for him with this new circumstance. And it happened that a man took a vow not to derive benefit from his sister's daughter - because she was ugly, and did not want to marry her, and they brought her to the house of Rabbi Yishmael, and they - adorned her and - made her beautiful.

Rabbi Yishmael said to him - to the one who took the vow, "My son! Regarding this one did you take a vow" - did you have in mind this woman, to prohibit by vow deriving benefit from her? He said to him, "No!" - I vowed regarding this one only because I saw her being ugly. And Rabbi Yishmael released him - from the vow, by this opening.

At the same time Rabbi Yishmael wept, and said, The daughters of Israel are beautiful, but poverty makes them ugly. And when Rabbi Yishmael died, the daughters of Israel raised a lament - over him, and said, "Daughters of Israel, weep over Rabbi Yishmael." It is similarly said of Saul, "Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet - and other delights, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel."

NEDARIM: CHAPTER 10: MISHNAH 1

A betrothed girl - her father and her husband may revoke her vows. If the father revoked and the husband did not revoke, if the husband revoked and the father did not revoke - it is not revoked; and it is not necessary to state that one of them upheld it.

Kehati

The previous chapter dealt with the annulment of vows by a Sage. This does not have an explicit source in the Torah, as we learned, "annulment of vows hover in the air and have nothing to support them" (Hag. 1:8), rather it was a tradition from Moses, that "he shall not break his word" (Num. 30:3) means that he himself shall not break it wantonly, but if he regretted and reconsidered, a Sage may annul them for him (Rambam, Hil. Shevu'ot 6:2). This chapter deals with the laws of revoking vows. It is stated explicitly in the Torah, that a father may revoke his daughter's vows, as it is written, "But if her father disallows her on the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of her bonds by which she has bound her soul shall stand" (Num. 30:6); similarly, a husband may revoke his wife's vows which impose self-denial, or affect the mutual relationship, as it is written, "Every vow, and every binding oath including self-denial, her husband may confirm it, and her husband may revoke it" (Num. 30:14). We have already mentioned (in the Introduction to this Tractate) that there is a difference between the annulment and the revoking of vows: in the annulment of vows, the Sage cancels the vow retroactively, while in the revoking of a vow, the father revokes his daughter's vows, or the husband his wife's vows, from that moment on. And the father may revoke his daughter's vows only when she is "being a na’arah, in her father's house," (ibid. ibid. 17), i.e., as long as she has not reached maturity, and has not married. If she has married, then it is her husband who may revoke her vows.

This mishnah deals with the revoking of the vows of a betrothed (meorasah) girl, who is still living in her father's house.

A betrothed girl - na'arah (in an intermediate state before becoming a bogeret) who has been betrothed (erusin), but has not yet gone under the canopy (huppah) her father and her husband - both of them together, the father and the groom, may revoke her vows - as it is written, "And if she be married to a husband . .. then he shall revoke her vow" (Num. 30:7-9); this verse was interpreted as referring to a betrothed girl, who, by kiddushin, comes under the authority of her husband for revoking her vows; since, however, she is still in her father's house, her father's rights have also not expired, and the two together may revoke her vows, as the mishnah continues to specify: If the father revoked - his betrothed daughter's vow on the day that he hears it, and the husband did not revoke - the groom remained silent and did not revoke the vow of his betrothed on the day he heard it, and similarly, if the husband revoked and the father did not revoke - as long as her vow was not revoked by both, it is not revoked - for the silence of one of them invalidates the other's revocation.

And it is not necessary to state that if one of them upheld it - i.e., he agreed to the vow, the second one can no longer revoke it. The Gemara explains that since the law is that the one who confirms her vow, on the day he hears it, may ask a Sage to annul his confirmation, and revoke her vow, the last section of the mishnah teaches that although the one who confirmed her vow had his confirmation annulled, and revoked the vow, this does not combine with the previous revoking of the other one, for her vow is only revoked if the two of them revoke it at the same time (see the commentaries, who interpret this matter in different ways).

Return to Mishna Yomit Index

Visit the Mishna Yomit Archives