Does skipping a bath one day constitute an affliction (עִנּוּי נֶפֶשׁ)? TB Nedarim 80

Yesterday we began the 11^th and last chapter of our massekhet. We learned that a husband can annul two categories of oaths. “The first category consists of matters that involve affliction for the woman who took the vow. (נִדְרֵי עִנּוּי נֶפֶשׁ)” (TB Nedarim 79b, Sefaria.org translation). The second category of vows impact negatively the relationship between husband and wife (נְדָרִים שֶׁבֵּינוֹ לְבֵינָהּ) 

Today’s daf TB Nedarim 80 spends a lot of time trying to give the simple meaning of the Mishnah. The tanna kamma and Rabbi Yosei disagree whether skipping bathing for one day is an affliction (עִנּוּי נֶפֶשׁ). The tanna kamma says yes it is while Rabbi Yosei says is no big deal therefore it is not.

 Discussing the topic of bathing, the Gemara is ultimately going to come to the conclusion that affliction (עִנּוּי נֶפֶשׁ) has two different connotations, one for Yom Kippur and one for vows. We are commanded to afflict or practice self-denial on Yom Kippur as is written in Leviticus 23:27-30. The Hebrew words I have highlighted in red come from the same root as עִנּוּי which means afflict or self-denial.

“אַ֡ךְ בֶּעָשׂ֣וֹר לַחֹ֩דֶשׁ֩ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֨י הַזֶּ֜ה י֧וֹם הַכִּפֻּרִ֣ים ה֗וּא מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְעִנִּיתֶ֖ם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה:

Mark, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you: you shall practice self-denial, and you shall bring an offering by fire to YHVH; you shall do no work throughout that day. For it is a Day of Atonement, on which expiation is made on your behalf before your God YHVH.

כִּ֤י כׇל־הַנֶּ֙פֶשׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־תְעֻנֶּ֔ה בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְנִכְרְתָ֖ה מֵֽעַמֶּֽיהָ:

Indeed, any person who does not practice self-denial throughout that day shall be cut off from kin; and whoever does any work throughout that day, I will cause that person to perish from among the people.” 

The Torah doesn’t define what constitutes an affliction. The first Mishna in chapter eight of massekhet Yoma enumerates five different actions that are considered an affliction. “On Yom Kippur, the day on which there is a mitzva by Torah law to afflict oneself, it is prohibited to engage in eating and in drinking (1), and in bathing (2), and in smearing (3) oil on one’s body (think of it as applying a deodorant or wearing perfume or aftershave lotion-gg), and in wearing shoes (4), and in conjugal relations. (5)”

There is a seemingly contradiction concerning whether not bathing is an affliction when comes to Yom Kippur and taking a vow not to bathe. “The Gemara asks: And do the Rabbis, i.e., the first tanna, mean to say with regard to bathing that when she does not bathe it involves affliction? The Gemara raises a contradiction from a baraita that states: Although one is prohibited from performing any of the five activities associated with affliction on Yom Kippur, i.e., eating or drinking, bathing, anointing, engaging in sexual intercourse, and wearing leather shoes, one is punished with karet only when one eats or drinks or performs prohibited labor alone. And if you say that when a woman does not bathe there is affliction, and for this reason a husband may nullify such a vow if receive karet, in accordance with the verse “For whatever person shall not be afflicted on that same day, he shall be cut off [venikhreta] from his people” (Leviticus 23:29), as he has failed to observe this form of affliction.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rava teaches that the verses concerning Yom Kippur and making vows shapes the meaning and application of the word affliction (עִנּוּי נֶפֶשׁ). We shall see that on Yom Kippur the affliction has to be readily apparent that the person is afflicting himself to be liable for the punishment of karet. When one is fasting other people can tell because the person stomach may be growling, he is tired, and his tongue turns white. When a person doesn’t bathe for one day, it is not readily apparent to the people around him. Consequently, if a person bathes on Yom Kippur he is doing something wrong but not liable for the punishment of karet. Concerning vows, the affliction (עִנּוּי נֶפֶשׁ), doesn’t have to be immediately apparent. This affliction can have an accumulative effect.

“Rava said: The meaning of the affliction in each case may be learned from the context of the verse. With regard to Yom Kippur, where it is written: “On the tenth of the month you shall afflict your souls” (Leviticus 16:29), the reference is to a matter for which one knows and feels the affliction right now, on Yom Kippur itself, i.e., abstention from food and drink, which is felt within a short period of time. One who abstains from bathing, however, does not know and feel the affliction now, but only later. By contrast, with regard to vows, where it is written: “Every vow and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may uphold it, or her husband may nullify it” (Numbers 30:14), the reference is to a matter that leads to affliction, and if she does not bathe for an extended period of time, it eventually leads to affliction.” (Sefaria.org translation)