Nedarim - Daf 72
- Attempted proofs if divorce is like silence or hakamah
The Gemara attempts to prove that a divorce is like silence and not hakamah, from our Mishnah, which taught that when an arusah was divorced and remarried on the same day, her last husband and father may revoke her nedarim. If divorce was like hakamah, they would not be able to revoke them. The Gemara answers that our Mishnah may be speaking where the arus never heard the neder, so the divorce would not constitute hakamah. The Gemara then attempts to prove that divorce is like hakamah, from a Mishnah which states: נדרה בו ביום, גירשה והחזירה בו ביום – If she vowed on that day, and he divorced her and remarried her on that day, אין יכול להפר – he cannot revoke the neder. Apparently, he cannot revoke the neder because the divorce was tantamount to hakamah. The Gemara answers: הכא בנשואה עסקינן – here we are speaking about a nesuah, and the husband cannot revoke nedarim from the previous marriage, because he can never revoke nedarim from before his marriage except where she remained an arusah and in the father’s domain.
- If one can revoke nedarim without hearing them
Rami bar Chama inquired: בעל מהו שיפר בלא שמיעה – Can the husband revoke nedarim without hearing them? Do we say that the passuk which states: ושמע אישה – “And her husband heard,” is a prerequisite for hafarah or not? The Ran adds that this question is pertinent to a husband of an arusah or nesuah, as well as to the father. The Gemara attempts to resolve this question from our Mishnah, which states: דרך תלמידי חכמים עד שלא יצאת בתו מאצלו – It is the way of Torah scholars, before one’s daughter leaves his domain, אומר לה כל נדרים שנדרת בתוך ביתי הרי הן מופרין – he says to her, “All nedarim that you made in my home are hereby revoked.” It seems that he may revoke nedarim he has not yet heard. The Gemara answers that he will again revoke the nedarim when he hears of them. The purpose of the father’s declaration, although ineffective, is a means of entering into a discussion with his daughter, whereby she will tell him of the nedarim she made, and he will then revoke them.
- Machlokes if a shaliach can revoke nedarim
The Gemara attempts another proof from a Baraisa, which teaches: If one was traveling abroad and assigned an administrator (to care for his property), and told him that he should revoke all nedarim his wife makes in his absence, Rebbe Yoshiyah says he cannot, because the Torah specifically names the husband as the one who can confirm and revoke, and not an agent. Rebbe Yonasan countered: מצינו בכל התורה כולה שלוחו של אדם כמותו – We find throughout the Torah that one’s agent is like himself, and here as well, the agent can revoke his wife’s nedarim. We see that an agent could revoke nedarim (and even Rebbe Yoshiyah only invalidated it based on a passuk), although the husband never heard them! The Ran explains that although it is possible that the agent heard the nedarim, if the husband would not be able to revoke nedarim that he himself did not hear, his shaliach would not be able to either.The Gemara answers on the next Daf that it can be speaking where he instructed the shaliach to say, “Your nedarim should be revoked when your husband hears about them.” Such a hafarah takes effect when the husband hears of the nedarim.
