Halakhah for Nedarim 3:2
נִדְרֵי הֲבַאי, אָמַר, קוֹנָם אִם לֹא רָאִיתִי בַדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה כְיוֹצְאֵי מִצְרָיִם, אִם לֹא רָאִיתִי נָחָשׁ כְּקוֹרַת בֵּית הַבָּד. נִדְרֵי שְׁגָגוֹת, אִם אָכָלְתִּי וְאִם שָׁתִיתִי, וְנִזְכַּר שֶׁאָכַל וְשָׁתָה. שֶׁאֲנִי אוֹכֵל וְשֶׁאֲנִי שׁוֹתֶה, וְשָׁכַח וְאָכַל וְשָׁתָה. אָמַר, קוֹנָם אִשְׁתִּי נֶהֱנֵית לִי, שֶׁגָּנְבָה אֶת כִּיסִי וְשֶׁהִכְּתָה אֶת בְּנִי, וְנוֹדַע שֶׁלֹּא הִכַּתּוּ וְנוֹדַע שֶׁלֹּא גְנָבָתּוּ. רָאָה אוֹתָן אוֹכְלִים תְּאֵנִים וְאָמַר, הֲרֵי עֲלֵיכֶם קָרְבָּן, וְנִמְצְאוּ אָבִיו וְאֶחָיו, וְהָיוּ עִמָּהֶן אֲחֵרִים, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, הֵן מֻתָּרִין וּמַה שֶּׁעִמָּהֶן אֲסוּרִין. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, אֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ מֻתָּרִין:
"Vows of exaggeration" [hyperbole, where he himself knows that it is not so]: If he said: "Konam, if I did not see on this road as many as left Egypt," "if I did not see a serpent as (thick as) the beam of the olive press." "Vows of unwittingness": If he said: "Konam, [this loaf to me] if I have eaten or if I have drunk," and he remembered that he had eaten or drunk [and at the time of the vow he thought he had not eaten or drunk, it is no vow.] If he said "Konam, if I eat or drink (from you)," and he forgot and ate or drank, (it is no vow) [for at the time when the vow was to have "taken," the time of eating or drinking, he had forgotten the vow, so that it is permitted. This is derived from oaths, where it is written (Leviticus 5:4): "a man with an oath," it being required that he be "a man" at the time the oath is to take effect; that is, that he be conscious of the oath. And the same applies to vows.] (If he said:) "Konam, my wife from benefitting from me because she stole my purse" or "because she beat my son," and he discovered that she had not stolen it or beaten him, [these are unwitting vows, for discovering that she did not steal it cancels the vow retroactively]. If he saw people eating figs, and he said: "Let them be forbidden to you as korban," and then he found that they (the eaters) were his father and mother, and others with them — Beth Shammai say: They (his parents) are permitted, and those with them, forbidden. And Beth Hillel say: Both are permitted. [For "a vow that is partially voided is entirely voided," the vower desiring that the vow "take" as he vowed it; and since part of it was unwitting, it is entirely void.]
Explore halakhah for Nedarim 3:2. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.