פרשת מטות - מסעי תשכ"ח - נדרים

(Parshat Yitro) On the Commandment not to take the name of the Lord...:

... And so the one who swears to do something and afterwards does not do it is, behold, also among the rebels against light, the deniers of truth. As the understanding of "swore," is, according to my opinion, that he concludes in his heart and says with his mouth to fulfill that thing that he swore about and that he will never change it, [just] as God, may He be blessed, exists and does not change forever and ever... But regarding a vow (neder), a different approach pertains to it - as it is like placing something permissible into the category of the forbidden, and [it is] as if he would say thing x which is permissible will be forbidden to him, like a sacrifice that God, may He be blessed, forbade... And this matter that we have the power to forbid the permissible is because the Torah taught us this, from that which is written (Numbers 30:3), "If [...] he creates a prohibition [...], he may not break his word"... And from the reason that we wrote about an oath, that its content is that a man concludes to fulfill his words and to confirm [them by that which] he believes in the Divine existence, we would have learned that his oath cannot be nullified from any angle. But it was from the kindnesses of God to us - in His knowing the frailty of the structure of our body and the smallness of our opinions and the constancy of the change of our wills - to give us counsel to get out from the prison of the oath with the [change] of our will at any time: he allowed us to make the claim regarding the matter of the oath that it was under duress or inadvertent... However, we were not permitted to go out from it [wantonly, but] rather [only] with the stratagem and counsel of the sage; that the one who swore come in front of the man who is wise and understanding of the ways of the Torah and confess to him that [the oath] was from his lack of knowledge - that he did not know at the time that he swore something that he knew afterwards - that he wants to annul what he swore about (Nedarim 71a); and that he recognizes that the smallness of his knowledge and his lacking caused the annulment, not something else or an external thought that would be in his heart, God forbid. And after the confession of his mouth about this, the sage recognizes and sees that there is substance in his words that something new happened to him that if he had had to agree to it at the time that he swore, he would not have sworn and that this is why he regrets [it]; he accepts his confession and he releases him from his oath. And this is what they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berachot 32a), "He cannot forgive [it], but others can forgive it to him." Therefore it is never possible to annul an oath, except with the reason of something new to the one who swore - for example, that he will say, "If I had known thing x, I would never have sworn." As this is like duress. But if he says, "Annul me my oath," without a claim, no man has the power to annul it.

"And Moses spoke unto the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded."

S.v. The heads of the tribes: According to my opinion that this section is after the war with Midian, it is for this reason that [the section about that war] is after it; just as "And Miriam and Aaron spoke about Moses (Numbers 12:1) is after "and they were in Chatserot" (Numbers 11:35) [even though it happened earlier], as I explained.¹ And Scripture states that the Children of Gad came to Moses and Elazar and the princes of the congregation and they spoke their words. And afterwards, it is written (Numbers 32:28), "Then Moses gave instructions concerning them to Elazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes" - which are the princes of the congregation [just] mentioned. And since Moses said to the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben (Numbers 32:24), "you shall do what comes out of your mouth"; it is therefore written (Numbers 30:2), "And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes," and then (verse 3), "he shall do like everything that comes out of his mouth."

S.v. Moshe spoke to the tribal leaders: This section comes here since [the Torah recently] mentioned vows to the Higher Realm: "in addition to your vows and freewill offerings, be they burnt offerings, meal offerings, libations, or offerings of well-being" (Numbers 29:39). [Hence] it also stated, "Besides all of these vows and freewill offering, there are also the vows of the commoner. And a person is obligated to do everything that comes out of of his mouth, and to do everything that he has prohibited to himself. And in all of these, he 'shall not desecrate his word.' But others may allow it to him."

There is no doubt that all of the commandments - their general principles and their details - were given to Moses at Sinai. However Moses did not immediately say them when he heard them, but rather according to the time and place that was appropriate for it - as [befits] a good leader and a praiseworthy organizer. And behold, [regarding] annulment of vows - when Moses was alive, he did not give this over to any man. Rather every man who made a vow and regretted the vow, came before him, peace be upon him, to annul it. And in his being the one expert in the generation, he would annul the vows and oaths, and clarify any doubt that existed in the matter. But when God told him (Numbers 27:12), "Ascend to Mount Abarim... and be collected to your nation," and He commanded about sacrifices that they would do after his death - since the time of his death was approaching - he saw [fit] to teach the heads of the tribes, the commandment of annulling vows which he had done by himself during his lifetime to help the nation. And it is for this reason that this section is written here.

"When a man voweth a vow unto the Lord, or sweareth an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not desecrate his word."

MISHNA: The halakhot of the dissolution of vows, when one requests from a Sage to dissolve them, fly in the air and have nothing to support them, as these halakhot are not mentioned explicitly in the Torah. There is only a slight allusion to the dissolution of vows in the Torah, which is taught by the Sages as part of the oral tradition.

[Regarding] the annulment of vows about which the Sages said that a sage may annul a vow, there is [only] a scant hint in Scripture, so it does not have what to be based upon. Rather, such was passed on to the Sages in the Oral Law.

GEMARA: It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer said: The halakhot of the dissolution of vows have something to support them... Rabbi Yehoshua likewise says: These halakhot have something to support them, as it is stated: “Wherefore I swore in My wrath” (Psalms 95:11).

From that it states, "in My wrath," it implies that I can ask about [its annulment] - as it was because of My wrath, and I did not swear with a calm mind. We can learn from here that we annul [the vow] for one who finds a hole in his vow, saying, "I did not make the vow with this in mind - that what I see coming to me because of my vow, would come to me."

Ḥananya, son of Rabbi Yehoshua’s brother, also says: They have something to support them, as it is stated: “I have sworn, and have fulfilled it, to observe your righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:106). This verse indicates that certain oaths need not be fulfilled, i.e., those that have been dissolved.

Since it states, "I shall fulfill it," it implies that if he wanted not to fulfill it, we annul it for him.

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: If I had been there, sitting with those Sages, I would have said to them: My source is better than yours, as it is stated: “He shall not nullify his word” (Numbers 30:3), from which it may be inferred: He himself cannot nullify his word; however, others, i.e., a Sage, may nullify it for him by dissolving his vow. Rava said: For all of the suggested sources for the dissolution of vows there is a possible refutation, except for that of Shmuel, for which there is no refutation... This explains the folk saying that people say: One spicy pepper is better than a basketful of squash, as the single pepper has more flavor than all the squash combined.

The [letter,] yod is vocalized by a patach; and it does not state, "yechal," with a yod vocalized by a tsere, as in (Isaiah 48:11), "as how can it be desecrated (yechal)" - like many negative commandments that are stated in the passive form. For if so, its meaning would be that he could not find any way to desanctify his vow, even if it be done through annulment. Hence the verse states it in the active form, to teach that he - from himself - cannot annul it; but it is permitted that it be desanctified by others, and that is with the annulment of others. And this is [the meaning of] of what the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 32a), "He may not annul [it], but others can annul [it] for him."

"But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, none of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her, because her father disallowed her."