What’s the meaning of neder, shavua, kinuyai, and yadot if they all are forms of vow? BT Nedarim 2

We begin massekhet Nedarim (Vows) today with daf TB Nedarim 2. The first question we should answer is why is the tractate concerning vows in the Seder Nashim (Order of Women)? We can also include in this question why is the tractate concerning the Nazirite (נָזִיר) included in this Seder. The most of the Seder includes the tractates concerning aspects marriage like Yevamot, Ketubot, Kiddushin, and Gittin (divorce). The answer is quite simple. One of the rights of the husband towards his wife is the ability to annul her vows. The maasekhet Nazir is appended here because it is a subcategory of vows with many different laws. Besides a woman may take the vow and become a Nazirite.

Even though there are 365 negative commandments in the Torah, a person can add to it a personal prohibition. A person can prohibit something to himself and he can prohibit somebody else from benefiting from him. What he cannot do is prohibit anybody else or anything else to another person.

Some of these terms used in our Mishna will sound familiar even if you don’t know what they mean because of the Yom Kippur liturgy. On Erev Yom Kippur the Cantor sings with a haunting melody “Kol Nidre.” It begins “כָּל נִדְרֵי וֶאֱסָרֵי וּשְׁבוּעֵי וַחֲרָמֵי וְקוֹנָמֵי וְכִנּוּיֵי” Each of these terms explicated as we travel through this tractate.

Let me explicate some basic information concerning these terms. The Torah uses both a neder (נֶ֜דֶר) and a shavua (שְׁבֻעָה֙ ) in Numbers 30:3. “אִישׁ֩ כִּֽי־יִדֹּ֨ר נֶ֜דֶר לַֽיהֹוָ֗ה אֽוֹ־הִשָּׁ֤בַע שְׁבֻעָה֙ לֶאְסֹ֤ר אִסָּר֙ עַל־נַפְשׁ֔וֹ לֹ֥א יַחֵ֖ל דְּבָר֑וֹ כְּכׇל־הַיֹּצֵ֥א מִפִּ֖יו יַעֲשֶֽׂה:)-If a householder^*householder God or takes an oath imposing an obligation^*an obligation Or “a prohibition.” on himself, he shall not break his pledge; he must carry out all that has crossed his lips.)

A neder refers to a noun. For example, I take a neder not to eat these grapes.

A shavua refers to an action. For example, I take a shavua not to enter this person’s house.

Kinuyai (כִּינּוּיֵי) “all substitutes for the language of vows are like vows.” (Sefaria.org translation) These are words that don’t necessarily have intrinsic meaning, but everybody understands that you’re taking a vow. The most common of these words will be konom (קוֹנָם)

Yadot (יָדוֹת) “intimations of vows” (Sefaria.org translation) Instead of using a full sentence formulation of a vow, he says only one half of the sentence. The Mishnah gives several examples of yadot. “הָאוֹמֵר לַחֲבֵרוֹ "מוּדְּרַנִי מִמָּךְ", "מוּפְרְשַׁנִי מִמָּךְ", "מְרוּחֲקַנִי מִמָּךְ", "שֶׁאֲנִי אוֹכֵל לָךְ", "שֶׁאֲנִי טוֹעֵם לָךְ"  אָסוּר.-With regard to one who says to another: I am avowed from you, or: I am separated from you, or: I am distanced from you, and he then says: That which I eat of yours, or: That which I taste of yours, even though he did not explicitly state that he is taking a vow or specify the nature of the vow, the object of his vow is nevertheless forbidden. His intention is understood based on his incomplete statement, known as an intimation of a vow, and his vow therefore takes effect.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Judaism takes the spoken word very seriously because the words spoken by God created the world in the first chapter in the book of Genesis and revealed the Torah to Israel upon Mount Sinai in chapter 20 in the book of Exodus. Since we are created in God’s image, our words can create or destroy too. Consequently, we should be very careful what we say, promise, and vow.

To listen to a rendition of Kol Nidrei follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V6gawRUkLIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPIiQDICFFchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPIiQDICFFc