Nedarim 88b — the Talmud in English

In accordance with whom does this statement of Rav proceed

[According to whose view did Rav state his ruling]?

According to Rabbi Meir, who says: A woman’s hand is like her husband’s hand.

And we raise a contradiction —

And if so, there is a contradiction to this from the Mishna in tractate Eruvin [Eruvin 73b], where we learned:

A mavoi is an alley enclosed on three sides and open on the fourth side toward the public domain. Open into the mavoi are entrances from several courtyards of houses. By rabbinic law, it is forbidden to carry on Shabbat in this mavoi. And the Sages instituted that if all the members of the courtyards participate with bread or with a barrel of wine [as they do with courtyard eruvin], then they are all considered members of one courtyard and may carry in the mavoi.

How does one participate in the mavoi?

One places

one of the members of the mavoi, who makes the eruv on behalf of all the members of the mavoi,

the barrel

of wine.

And he says: This is for all the members of the mavoi!

And he confers a share in it upon them,

upon all the members of the mavoi, a portion of the wine in the barrel,

by means of his Hebrew slave and his Hebrew maidservant,

who lift the barrel, and by lifting it acquire a portion of the wine on behalf of each one of the members of the mavoi.

And

he may likewise acquire a portion of the wine for all the members of the mavoi

by means of

the acquisition of

his adult son and daughter

on behalf of the members of the mavoi, by lifting the barrel.

And by means of his wife.

And if you say

that if the father did not say, “Except for what you carry and bring into your mouth,” then

her husband acquired it.

If so,

the eruv

that the woman acquires on behalf of the members of the mavoi

does not leave the husband’s domain —

the eruv does not leave the husband’s domain for the woman, for she cannot acquire it independently.

And how can the woman acquire the barrel for all the members of the mavoi, since everything that the woman acquires, her husband acquires from her?

And we answer:

Rava said: Even though Rabbi Meir said that a woman’s hand is like her husband’s hand,

and she cannot acquire something unless her husband acquires it through her, nevertheless,

Rabbi Meir concedes with regard to the partnership

of alleyways,

for since it is to acquire on behalf of others, she acquires it from her husband’s hand —

that is, Rabbi Meir concedes that just as when the husband confers a gift upon his wife, the husband does not acquire it, since it is considered that he removes himself from acquiring it, so too, when he confers something upon others through his wife, it is considered that he removes himself from acquiring the eruv, and therefore the woman can acquire it for all the members of the mavoi.

Ravina raised an objection to Rav Ashi

from what we learned in tractate Eruvin:

These are those for whom one acquires

[those by means of whom one may acquire the bread or the barrel for all the members of the mavoi]:

By means of

his adult son and daughter, and his Hebrew slave and maidservant —

since they have the ability to acquire for themselves, and therefore they can acquire property for others.

And these are those for whom one does not acquire: By means of his son and daughter

who are minors, and his Canaanite slave and maidservant, and his wife —

since they do not have the ability to acquire for themselves, and therefore they cannot acquire on behalf of others.

And it is explained in this Mishna that a woman cannot acquire from her husband for all the members of the mavoi?

And we answer with another answer:

Rather, Rav Ashi said:

The Mishna

[in the earlier Mishna, which says that the eruv can be acquired by means of his wife,] is speaking about

a case where she has a courtyard in that same mavoi.

For since she acquires for herself —

she acquires for others.

Since his wife has a courtyard which also opens into that same mavoi, she too must participate in the mavoi, and she too acquires the eruv for herself, together with all the members of the mavoi. Therefore, since she acquires for herself, she can also acquire for the rest of the members of the mavoi.

But the Mishna in which it was said that the woman cannot acquire the eruv for the members of the mavoi is speaking of a case where she does not have a courtyard in this mavoi, and she herself does not need to acquire the eruv. Therefore, she cannot acquire it for the rest of the members of the mavoi, because her hand is like her husband’s hand.

Mishna:

The Torah said: “

And the vow of a widow and a divorced woman shall stand upon her.”

How so? —

The woman said

the woman:

“Behold, I am a nazirite after thirty days”; even though she married within the thirty days, he cannot annul it

for her, even though the naziriteship takes effect after she married, since at the time she vowed she was not yet married, and therefore the husband cannot annul her vows.