Nedarim 65B

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Text Excerpt

מתיב רבי אבא: ״קונם שאיני נושא לפלונית כעורה״, והרי היא נאה. ״שחורה״, והרי היא לבנה. ״קצרה״, והרי היא ארוכה ⁠— מותר בה. לא מפני שכעורה ונעשת נאה, שחורה ונעשת לבנה, קצרה ונעשת ארוכה ⁠— אלא שהנדר טעות. בשלמא לרב הונא דאמר נעשה כתולה נדרו בדבר: תנא תולה נדרו בדבר, ותנא נדר טעות. אלא לרבי יוחנן, דאמר כבר מת וכבר עשה תשובה, למה לי למתני תרי זימני נדר טעות? קשיא.

R' Abba raised an objection from a later Mishnah (66a): If one said: I will not marry ugly so-and-so as that is konam for me, and she is in fact beautiful, or if he called her black, and she is in fact white, or if he called her short, and she is in fact tall, he is permitted to her. Not because she was ugly and became beautiful, black and became white, or short and became tall, but rather, because the vow was mistaken from the outset. Granted, according to Rav Huna, who said that he is considered like one who makes his vow dependent on a matter, the Mishnah here taught the case of one who makes his vow dependent on a matter, and it taught there the case of a mistaken vow. But according to R' Yoḥanan, who said that the Mishnah here is referring to a situation where the dog had already died, or the father had already repented, why do I need the Mishnah to teach the halakha of a mistaken vow twice? The Talmud comments: This is difficult.

מתני׳ ועוד אמר רבי מאיר: פותחין לו מן הכתוב שבתורה, ואומרין לו: אילו היית יודע שאתה עובר על ״לא תקם״, ועל ״לא תטר״, ועל ״לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך״, ״ואהבת לרעך כמוך״, ״וחי אחיך עמך״, שהוא עני ואין אתה יכול לפרנסו. אמר: אילו הייתי יודע שהוא כן, לא הייתי נודר ⁠— הרי זה מותר.

Mishnah: And R' Meir further said: The halakhic authorities may broach dissolution with him from that which is written in the Torah, and they may say to him: Had you known that through your vow you are transgressing the prohibition “you should not take vengeance” (Leviticus 19:18) and the prohibition “nor bear any grudge” (Leviticus 19:18), and the prohibition “you should not hate your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17), and “you should love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), as well as “and your brother should live with you” (Leviticus 25:36), as he, the one prohibited by the vow, is poor and now you are not able to provide him with a livelihood due to your vow, would you have vowed in that case? If he said in reply: Had I known that it is so, that my vow involved all these prohibitions, I would not have vowed; it is dissolved.

Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.