Nedarim - Daf 73
- Can a deaf husband revoke his wife’s nedarim?
Rami bar Chama inquired: חרש מהו שיפר לאשתו – Can a deaf man revoke nedarim of his wife? He explained, that if you will conclude regarding the inquiry of the previous Daf that one does not need to hear his wife’s nedarim to revoke them, perhaps that is only because he is capable of hearing them, but someone deaf, who is incapable of hearing them, might not be able to revoke them. This is based on a principle taught by Rebbe Zeira: כל הראוי לבילה אין בילה מעכבת בו – Any [minchah] which is fit for mixing, the mixing is not critical to it (and even if it is not mixed, the minchah is valid),וכל שאין ראוי לבילה בילה מעכבת בו – and any [minchah] which is not fit for mixing, the mixing is critical and the lack of mixing invalidates the minchah. Or do we say that the Torah did not intend the husband’s hearing as a requirement at all? Rava brought a Baraisa that explicitly excludes a deaf person from revoking his wife’s nedarim.
- Can a man can revoke nedarim of two wives simultaneously?
The Gemara asks: בעל מהו שיפר לשתי נשיו בבת אחת – Can a husband revoke nedarim of two wives simultaneously? "אותה" דוקא או לאו דוקא – Is the word “her” in the passuk of hafarah meant specifically, to only allow hafarah of one wife at a time, or not? The Ran adds that the same question can be posed about a father revoking his daughters’ nedarim. The Gemara resolves the inquiry from a Baraisa about a sotah: אין משקין שתי סוטות כאחת – We do not give two sotahs to drink at once, מפני שלבה גס בחבירתה – because her heart is encouraged by her friend. Meaning, a possibly guilty sotah will be encouraged to insist on her innocence when she sees her innocent friend stand fast in her own denial. Rebbe Yehudah says this is not the reason, rather it is a Scriptural decree from the passuk, saying “"והשקה אותה – “and he shall give her to drink,” implying her alone and not two. The Ran says, based on Sotah 8a, that both Tannaim agree to the derashah, but disagree to its reasoning and parameters. Thus, the Gemara proves that the word “her” is intended specifically, and one cannot revoke two wives’ nedarim at once.
- Machlokes about revoking an arusah’s nedarim after the appointed time of nisuin
The next Mishnah speaks about an arusah who has reached the time by which nisuin was supposed to be performed, and the husband must support her as if she were a nesuah. Rebbe Eliezer says: הואיל ובעלה חייב במזונותיה יפר – Since her husband is obligated in her support, he can revoke her nedarim. The Chochomim hold that he cannot revoke nedarim until she enters his domain with actual nisuin.
Rabbah posits that Rebbe Eliezer’s opinion reflects that of the משנה ראשונה – the initial teaching, which ruled that after the appointed time of nisuin passes, the arusah of a Kohen may eat terumah. Mid’Oraysa, even an arusah of a Kohen may eat terumah, but the Rabbonon forbade it for one of two concerns discussed in Kesubos 57b, which are diminished when the time for nisuin passes. Both opinions seem to treat an arusah supported by the husband as somewhat like a nesuah. Abaye says they may not be the same, because the Mishnah Rishonah was only discussing a Rabbinic concern (as above), and nedarim is a d’Oraysa issue. Rebbe Eliezer’s opinion, on the other hand, may be based on the principle of Rav Pinchas in the name of Rava: כל הנודרת על דעת בעלה היא נודרת – Anyone who vows, vows according to the will of her husband. Thus, because he supports her, even though she is not truly a nesuah, he may revoke her nedarim because she subjects her nedarim to his decision.
