The annulment of vows [viz. (Numbers 30:9): "And if on the day that her husband hear, he constrain her"] obtains the entire day [until it gets dark, it being written: "on the day that he hear." As to its being written (Ibid. 15): "from day to day," this is to apprise us that we are not to say: in the daytime, yes; at night, no. "from day to day" indicates that sometimes he has time to annul "from time to time" (i.e., a twenty-four hour period), as when she vowed in the beginning of the night.] There is in this a leniency and a stringency. [That is, sometimes there is only little time for annulment, and sometimes, ample time.] How so? If she vowed on Sabbath night, he can annul on Sabbath night and on the day of the Sabbath until it gets dark. If she vowed before it got dark, he can annul (only) until it gets dark. For if it got dark and he had not annulled it, he can no longer do so. ["Sabbath night" apprises us that vows may be annulled (mefirin) on the Sabbath, even not for the sake of the Sabbath. But a sage may absolve one of vows (matir) on the Sabbath only for the sake of the Sabbath. And even though he had time in the daytime, he may absolve him for the sake of the Sabbath. ("For if it got dark and he had not annulled it, etc.":) For annulment of vows obtains "from time to time" only if she had vowed in the beginning of the night. And vis-à-vis annulment (hafarah) it avails only if he says: "Mufar lach" ("It is annulled for you") as per the language of the verse. For the husband's annulment is from this time forward, as in (Genesis 17:14): "He has annulled (hefer) My covenant." And when a sage says: "Mutar lach ("It is absolved for you"); there is here neither vow nor oath," he uproots the vow from its very beginning. And if the sage used the term "hafarah," or the husband, the term "hatarah," there is neither absolution nor annulment. And if he (the husband) said: "If you did not vow, I bevow you," his words stand, and he need not say: "It stands for you." Since, even if he remained silent that entire day the vow would stand, then, with minimal speaking (on his part) it also stands. And on the Sabbath he says: "Take and eat," "Take and drink," and he does not annul as he does on a weekday, and the vow is voided of itself. And if he cannot compel her, he voids it in his heart and he need not utter it with his lips. And it is only with bitul (voiding) such as: "Take and eat," where he forces her to transgress her vow, that thinking in his heart avails, even if he did not utter it with his lips. But with hafarah (annulment), where he does not compel her to transgress her vow, he must utter it with his lips, annulment in the heart not availing.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Nedarim
הפרת נדרים – as the Torah stated (Numbers 30:9): “But if her husband restrains her on the day that he learns of it, [he thereby annuls her vow which was in force or the commitment to which she bound herself.”
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Nedarim
Introduction
Numbers 30:6, 9 imply that the husband or father must annul their wives’ or daughters’ vows on the day on which they heard of them. Our mishnah explains how this day is calculated.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Nedarim
כל היום – until it gets dark, as it states (Numbers 30:6): “[But if her father restrains her] on the day he finds out (literally, “hears it”). But as it is written (Numbers 30:15): “[If her husband offers no objections] from that day to the next, [he has upheld all the vows or obligations she has assumed],” it is necessary, that you don’t say, yes, in the daytime, but now at night, we hold (Numbers 30:15): “from that day to the next/"מיום אל יום" – for sometimes he has the time to annul [her vows] during the period of twenty-four astronomical hours/"מעת לעת", as, for example, if she took a vow at the beginning of the night.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Nedarim
The annulment of vows is the whole day. This may result in a stringency or in a leniency. How is this so? If she vowed on the eve of the Sabbath, he can annul on the eve of the sabbath and on the Sabbath day until nightfall. If she vowed just before nightfall, he can annul only until nightfall: for if night fell and he had not annulled it, he can no longer annul it. The period allotted for annulling vows is one whole day. That day is calculated by the calendar and not by counting 24 hours from the time the father/husband heard the vow. In other words, the vow must be annulled on the calendar day on which it was taken. Remember, the Jewish day is calculated from evening until evening. As the mishnah points out, sometimes this will result in a longer time and sometimes in a shorter time. For instance, if he hears of the vow on the eve of the Sabbath (late Friday afternoon, towards twilight), he has until nightfall the following night, when the Sabbath is over. This is because twilight is already considered part of the Sabbath and the Sabbath is not over until nightfall. However, if he hears of the vow just before nightfall on the Sabbath itself, he only has until nightfall. After that he may no longer annul the vow. The reason that the mishnah uses the example of the Sabbath and not any other day of the week is to teach that vows may be annulled on the Sabbath.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Nedarim
ויש בדבר להקל ולהחמיר – meaning to say, sometimes when he can annula them within a short time and sometimes within a longer time.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Nedarim
נדרה בלילי שבת – this that it (i.e., the Mishnah) took/used the phrase "בלילי שבת"/”on Friday nights” to teach us that we annul vows on Shabbat (see Tractate Shabbat, Chapter 24, Mishnah 5), and even not for the need of the Sabbath. But the Sage does not release [from vows] on Shabbat other than vows that are for the needs of the Sabbath, and even though he had the free time while it was still day, he can release for the needs of the Sabbath.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Nedarim
שאם לא הפר וחשכה אינו יכול להפר – for there is no absolution of vows during the period of twenty-foru astronomical hours unless she vowed from the beginning of the night. But regarding absolution for cause, it has no affect until he says, "מופר לך"/”you are annulled,” like the language of Scripture, for the absolution of the husband is from now and into the future without reason, like (Genesis 17:14): “[And if any male who is uncircumcised fails to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his kin;] he has broken My covenant.” But the Sage who states, “you are permitted” there is no vow here, and there is no oath here which uproots the vow from its essence. But if the Sage stated in the language of הפרה/absolution and the husband in the language of התרה/permission, he is not permitted and he is not absolved (see Talmud Nedarim 77b). But if he (i.e., the husband) said: “if you did not vow, I put you under the influence of a vow,” his words are fulfilled, and he does not have to state that they are fulfilled to you, since for even if he kept silent all of the entire day, the vow is fulfilled, for any speech is also fulfilling. But on Shabbat, he should say [to the woman]: “take, eat; take drink,” and he doesn’t absolve in the manner that he states on weekdays, for the vow is nullified on its own. But if he is unable to force her, he annuls it in his heart, and he doesn’t need to release it from his lips. And specifically, nullification such as “take it, eat,” where he forces her to violate her vow is effective if he thought in his heart even though he did not release it from his lips, but absolution In which he does not force her to violate the vow, he needs to release it from his lips, and it is not sufficient if he nullified it in his heart.
