Nedarim 61b (סא:) — the Talmud in English

And we raise an objection:

Does this mean

that it was said]

that Rabbi Meir holds: A person does not place himself in a situation of uncertainty

with regard to uncertainty a person does not place himself in a situation of uncertainty. Therefore, although “before Passover” can be interpreted as until the final moment before the end of Passover, since it is not clear that this is the meaning of his statement, and this period of Passover is uncertain, a person does not create a situation of uncertainty for himself. We assume that his intention in taking the vow was only according to the certain meaning of the words, and therefore he is prohibited only until Passover.

a person does not bring himself into a state of uncertainty], and therefore, although “before Passover” can be interpreted as until the final moment before the end of Passover, since it is not clear that this is the meaning of his speech, and this time of Passover is uncertain, a person does not create for himself a state of uncertainty; and we assume that his intention in taking a vow is only according to the certain meaning of the words, and therefore he is forbidden only until Passover.

And Rabbi Yosei holds: A person does place himself in a situation of uncertainty a person creates a situation of uncertainty for himself. Since it is possible that the meaning of his words is until the final moment of Passover, he is therefore prohibited, due to the uncertainty, until that time.

a person creates for himself a state of uncertainty], and since it is possible that the meaning of his words is until the final moment of Passover, he is therefore forbidden, because of the uncertainty, until this time.

And is this indeed their position?!

And we raise a contradiction

from that which we learned in tractate Kiddushin [51b]:

One who has two groups of daughters from two wives,

he has from each of his two wives an older daughter and a younger daughter.

For example, he had two wives, one named Rachel and the other Leah.

His wife Rachel had two daughters: Bilhah, the older, and Zilpah, the younger.

And his wife Leah also had two daughters: Dinah, the older, and Asenath, the younger.

Bilhah was older than Dinah, Dinah was older than Zilpah, and Zilpah was older than Asenath.

And he said

the father, at the time that he betrothed his daughter, to the man who betrothed her: “

I have betrothed

to you

my older daughter.”

And I do not know,

it is not known how to interpret his statement:

If

the intention is only the

older of

the two

older daughters

from the two wives, namely, Bilhah.

Or

if

the intention is the

older of

the two

younger daughters,

from the two wives, namely, Zilpah.

And if,

the intention is the

younger of the older daughters

from the two wives, namely, Dinah,

which is

the

older than the older of the younger daughters,

namely, Zilpah.

Thus

all—

Bilhah, Zilpah, and Dinah—

are prohibited,

since all of them are included in the uncertainty, as explained.

Except for the younger of the younger daughters,

namely, Asenath, since she certainly cannot be called “older” and is not included in the uncertainty,

the statement of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yosei says: All of them are permitted, except for the older of the older daughters.

That is, Bilhah.

The reason is that a person does not wish to place his daughters in a situation of uncertainty, and he certainly intended the older of the older daughters.

It follows that Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yosei disagree on this matter, and their positions are the opposite of their positions in our Mishna?!

Rav Ḥanina bar Avdimi said that Rav said: The positions must be reversed

in our Mishna: The statement of Rabbi Meir must be attributed to Rabbi Yosei, and the statement of Rabbi Yosei to Rabbi Meir.

The Gemara supports this resolution:

And it was taught

in a conciliatory manner:

This is the general rule: Whenever its duration is fixed

its period of duration is fixed,

and he said “

until before”:

Rabbi Meir says: Until it ends,

because a person does place himself in a situation of uncertainty

; and Rabbi Yosei says: Until it arrives,

because a person does not place himself in a situation of uncertainty.

Mishna:

One who said: “The wine that I taste is konam”—“

until the harvest”

of wheat, or “

until the grape harvest”

of grapes, or “

until the olive harvest”

of olives —

he

is prohibited only until it arrives

the harvest, grape harvest, or olive harvest.

This is the general rule:

Whenever its duration is fixed,

that is, “its period of duration is fixed,” such as Passover, which lasts seven days and no longer,

and he said,

that is, only then is there a distinction between the expressions, so that if he said: “

Until it arrives”

he is prohibited

until

it arrives,

and if he said “

until it is,”

he

is prohibited until it ends.

And whenever its

period

is not fixed,

such as the harvest and grape harvest, whose duration is not fixed, so that they last for a certain period and no longer,

whether he said “

until it is”

or

whether he said “

until it arrives,”

he

is prohibited only until it arrives,

since a person does not prohibit himself for a period whose duration is undefined.

One who said “

until summer” [

the season for gathering figs] or said: “

until it is summer,”

he is prohibited

until people begin bringing in baskets

the baskets used for gathering figs, since its duration is not fixed, and his intention was to say: “Until it arrives.”

And if he said: “

Until summer passes,”

he is prohibited

until they fold up the knives

the knives designated for cutting figs when making them into round cakes of dried figs—that is, when they fold up their knives and stop cutting.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “Until summer, until it is summer, until people begin bringing them in baskets”:

A tanna

taught in a beraita to explain the Mishna: “

The basket”

that they said

in our Mishna means

a basket of figs and not a basket of grapes,

because “summer” indicates fruits that are “cut off” by hand, whereas grapes are “cut” with a knife and are not “cut off.”

It was taught:

One who vows with regard to the fruits of “

summer,”

that is, fruits that are cut off,

is prohibited only with regard to figs,

as the Gemara proceeds to explain the reason.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says:

Even

grapes

are included among figs,

that is, grapes, like figs, are included among the fruits of “summer.”

And we explain:

What is the reason of the first tanna?

Because

he holds: Figs are cut off by hand [

they are cut off by hand], and therefore they are included among the fruits of “summer,” but

grapes

are

not cut off by hand

but with a knife, and therefore they are not included among the fruits of “summer.”

Whereas

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel holds: Grapes too

are,

when their stems have dried,

when the stems of the grapes have dried,

cut off by hand,

and therefore they too are included among the fruits of “summer.”

We learned in the Mishna:

“Until summer passes, until they fold up the knives”:

A tanna

in a beraita

said:

“Until they fold up most of the knives.”