Nedarim 66b — the Talmud in English

It was taught:

the tanna taught in the beraita: How was she ugly, and he made her beautiful:

An artificial tooth,

an ugly artificial tooth

she had,

for a tooth had fallen out and they placed an artificial tooth in its place.

And Rabbi Ishmael made her a tooth

artificial

of gold, from his own,

and through this she became beautiful.

When he died,

when he passed away,

Rabbi Ishmael, he began concerning him,

a eulogy for him,

that eulogizer,

and said

as follows:

Daughters of Israel! Weep over Rabbi Ishmael,

for he is

the one who clothes you! And so on.

There was one who said to his wife,

to his wife:

A konam: You are forbidden to derive benefit from me until you make

your

cooking tasteable to Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Shimon.

The woman went to them with her cooking, and asked Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Shimon to taste from it.

Rabbi Judah tasted

from the cooking, despite the fact that there was contempt for his honor in this.

He said,

Rabbi Judah reasoned by means of

a kal va-chomer:

And just as,

in order

to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah said: My Name,

the Name of the Almighty

which was written in holiness, shall be erased upon the water of bitterness!

If a man’s wife was secluded with a strange man, after he warned her and cautioned her not to be secluded with him, she is forbidden to him, until he brings her to the Temple and gives her to drink water of bitterness, and the water tests her whether she is impure or pure.

The koen writes the passage concerning the Sotah, in which the Name of the Almighty is mentioned, and erases the entire passage into the water, and gives the Sotah that water to drink.

It follows that the koen erases the passage containing the Name of the Almighty into the water so that, if the woman is found to be pure, her husband will take her back and live with her in peace.

And they do this, despite the fact that the bringing about of peace between them is

in doubt.

For there is no certainty that there will be peace between them, since, if she committed adultery, she will die, and there will not be peace between them.

And

if so,

I,

who am required only to suffer humiliation and taste the cooking brought to me by this woman, so that her husband’s konam should not take effect upon her,

all the more so

must I bear the humiliation so that there will certainly be peace between them.

But

Rabbi Shimon did not taste.

Rather, Rabbi Shimon cursed her husband for showing contempt for the honor of Torah scholars, and

said: Let all the sons of a widow die

a hint to this husband, who was uneducated, like the sons of a widow, who had no father to educate them,

and let Shimon not move from his place

to taste from the cooking because of this man’s desire.

And another

reason why Rabbi Shimon did not taste:

so that they would not become accustomed to making vows.

So that people would not become accustomed to vowing easily, in order thereby to attain the desires of their hearts.

There was one who said to his wife

to his wife:

A konam: You are forbidden to derive benefit from me until you spit upon Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

She came,

the woman came,

and she spat

upon

his garment,

upon the garment of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel,

and he permitted her,

and permitted her to derive benefit from her husband, for the condition had been fulfilled.

Rav Aha of Difti said to Ravina: But this

man

was intending for contempt

of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel

he was intending,

and there is contempt only if she spat upon him himself, and not when she spat upon his garment.

He said to him,

Ravina:

Spitting upon the garments

spitting upon his garments

of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel—

it is great contempt!

There was one who said to his wife,

to his wife:

A konam: You are forbidden to derive benefit from me until you show a blemish

like “anything”; that is, until you can show anything, something

beautiful in you

that is in you,

to Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosei.

He said to them,

Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosei:

Perhaps her head is beautiful?

They said to him:

Her head is

round,

round, and it is ugly.

Perhaps her hair is beautiful?—

It resembles tufts of flax,

which are spread out and tangled with one another.

Perhaps her eyes are beautiful?—

They are bulging,

round

they are!

Perhaps her ears are beautiful?—

They are doubled,

large, as though they were doubled,

they are!

Perhaps her nose is beautiful?—

It is blocked,

contracted and appearing sealed,

it is!

Perhaps her lips are beautiful?—

They are thick!

Perhaps her neck is beautiful?—

It is quiet,

short

it is!—

Perhaps her belly is beautiful?—

It is swollen,

a swollen belly,

it is!

Perhaps her legs are beautiful?—

They are broad

they are

like those of a goose!

Perhaps her name is beautiful?—

Her name is Lichluchit.

He said to them: Beautifully do they call her Lichluchit, for she is soiled with blemishes,

and this name is fitting for her, to describe her by it.

And he permitted her,

Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosei, because he found something beautiful in her, in her name “Lichluchit.”

There was that Babylonian who went up

who went up

to the Land of Israel.

He married a woman.

And he married a woman who did not understand the hint of the language, but did everything according to the plain meaning of his words.

He said to her,

her husband,

Cook for me “

two lentils,”

and the hint of the expression is for a small amount: that she should cook him a little, one or two portions of food.

And she

cooked for him two lentils,

two full measures of what he had requested, according to the plain meaning of his words.

He became angry

he was angered

at

her.

The next day he said to her: Cook for me a geriva,

and the hint of the expression is for a large measure.

And she

cooked for him a geriva,

a certain ordinary measure, according to its plain name.

He said to her: Go, bring

go and bring

me two butzinei,

watermelons.

She went and brought him two lamps,

lamps [earthenware vessels into which oil and a wick are put], which in the language of the Targum are also called butzinei.

He said to her: Go, break them

break these lamps

upon “

the head of the gate”

the top of the entrance, that is, the door in the gate of the house. And she understood that she had to break them upon the head of Bava ben Buta, who was the greatest of the generation.

Bava ben Buta was sitting

he was sitting

at the gate,

at the entrance of the court,

and was judging judgment,

and was adjudicating the case.

She went and broke them,

the woman went and broke the earthenware lamps

upon his head

of Bava ben Buta.

He said to her: What is this that you have done,

why have you done this?

She said to him: Thus my husband instructed me!

He said

to her: Since

you have fulfilled your husband’s will—

the Omnipresent will produce two sons from you

corresponding to the two lamps that you broke upon me because your husband so instructed you, that they should be like me,

like Bava ben Buta.

We have returned to you, chapter of Rabbi Eliezer

Introduction

1.

The Annulment of the Daughter’s Vows by the Father

The Torah said in the portion of Mattot: “And if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself with a bond in her father’s house, in her youth. And her father hears her vow, and her bond with which she has bound herself to her soul, and her father remains silent to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she has bound herself to her soul shall stand.

But if her father annuls her on the day of his hearing, all her vows and her bonds with which she has bound herself to her soul shall not stand. And the Lord shall forgive her, because her father annulled her.”

These verses speak of a minor daughter who made a vow during her twelfth year, whose vows are examined. And if she knows for Whom she made the vow, she has made a vow, even though she is a minor.

And likewise a maiden who made a vow during her maidenhood, in her thirteenth year, from the time that she grows two hairs until six months afterward.

The minor and the maiden are under the authority of the father with regard to vows, and by virtue of this he can annul their vows.

But the father cannot annul every vow!

Rather, only if she made a vow that involves affliction of her soul, or if she made a vow concerning something that is between her and her father, only then can her father, on the day that he hears the vow, say to her: “It is annulled for you!” or any other expression whose meaning is that he does not consent to the vow. And through this the vow is annulled.

And if the father remained silent on the day that he heard his daughter’s vow, or explicitly said that he “upholds” the vow, then the vow is upheld, and thereafter the father has no ability to annul the vow.

2.

The Annulment of the Woman’s Vows by the Husband

The Torah further said at the continuation of the portion: “

And if she shall be married to a man, while her vows are upon her, or the utterance of her lips with which she has bound herself to her soul.

And her husband hears it on the day he hears it, and remains silent to her, then her vows shall stand, and her bond with which she has bound herself to her soul shall stand.

But if her husband annuls it on the day that he hears it, then he shall annul her vow that is upon her, and the utterance of her lips with which she has bound herself to her soul, and the Lord shall forgive her.

But if, in her husband’s house, she made a vow, or bound herself with a bond upon her soul by an oath—

and her husband heard it and remained silent to her, and did not annul it,

then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound herself to her soul shall stand.

But if her husband shall indeed annul them on the day that he hears them, everything issuing from her lips concerning her vows and the bond upon her soul shall not stand. Her husband annulled them, and the Lord shall forgive her.

Every vow and every oath-bond for afflicting the soul, her husband shall uphold it, and her husband shall annul it.”

These verses speak of a married or betrothed woman [who was betrothed but has not yet married], who made vows involving affliction of the soul or vows whose subject is matters between her and the husband, which the husband can annul on the day that he hears them.

And if he remained silent on the day that he heard it, or explicitly upheld her vow, then the vow is upheld, and thereafter the husband has no ability to annul the vow.

The husband alone annuls the vows of his wife who is married to him. But the betrothed man cannot alone annul the vows of his betrothed.

Rather, if his betrothed is a maiden, who is still under her father’s authority with regard to the annulment of vows until the marriage, then the betrothed man can annul the vow in partnership with the father, who also must annul her vow.

But there is no possibility for neither the father alone nor the betrothed man alone to annul the vow, because she requires the annulment of both of them together.

Mishna:

The betrothed maiden

who made a vow—

her father and her husband annul her vows

in partnership, and neither one can annul without the other.