Today we finish the eighth chapter of our massekhet. Previously we understood the expression “until it will be Passover-הַפֶּסַח עַד שֶׁיְּהֵא” to mean through the end of Passover. The Mishnah on today’s daf TB Nedarim 63 teaches us that you have to take the context of the vow into consideration in order to understand exactly what the person meant. The Mishnah will give us three examples when the context will provide the expiration date of the vow.
Example #1 “Rabbi
Yehuda says: In the case of one who says: Wine is konam
for me, and for that reason I will not taste it until it will
be Passover, it is understood that this individual intended
for his vow to apply only until the night of Passover, i.e., until
the time when it is customary for people to drink wine in order to fulfill
the mitzva of drinking the four cups, but he did not intend to prevent himself
from being able to fulfill this mitzva.” Everybody knows drinking 4 cups of
wine is at the Seder. Obviously the person wants to fulfill this mitzvah;
consequently, even though he use the expression “until it will be Passover-הַפֶּסַח עַד שֶׁיְּהֵא” everybody understands the vow will expire
right before Passover begins so he may fulfill the mitzvah of drinking 4 cups
of wine.
Example #2 “Similarly,
if he said: Meat is konam for me, and for that reason I
will not taste it until it will be the fast of Yom Kippur, he is
prohibited from eating meat only until the eve of [leilei] the
fast. This is because it is understood that this individual intended
for his vow to apply only until the time when it is customary for people to
eat meat in the festive meal before the fast, and he did not intend to
prevent himself from being able to participate in that meal.” Since it was a
custom to eat meat before a holiday even including Yom Kippur, everybody
understands that the vow will expire right before Yom Kippur because everybody
eats meat to prepare for the fast.
Example #3 “Rabbi
Yosei, his son, says: One who vows: Garlic is konam
for me, and for that reason I will not taste it until
it will be Shabbat, it is prohibited for him to eat garlic only until
the eve of Shabbat, as it is understood that this individual intended
for his vow to apply only until the time when it is customary for people to
eat garlic.” (All three
translations come from Sefaria.org) Back during Talmudic times, Jews regularly ate
garlic (and even today.) The Gemara (TB Baba Kama 82a) enumerates different
excellent qualities of garlic. They believed it strengthens the body and they
used it for medicinal purposes to treat different sicknesses. Eating cooked
garlic was considered effective to increase a man’s virility. Therefore Ezra
ordained the custom was to eat garlic erev
Shabbat. Everybody knows why a person eats garlic Friday night; consequently,
the person’s vow will expire before the onset of Shabbat.
When comes to understanding a person’s vow we have to take two things into consideration. What was the common meaning of the words of vow when he made the vow and what was the context in which the vow was spoken?
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