Nedarim 8b (ח:) — the Talmud in English

Thus it is impossible to dream without meaningless things,

and who knows whether the “meaningless things” of this dream do not constitute the annulment of the excommunication.

One who takes a vow and regrets his vow, and asks a sage to annul it, must appear personally before the sage; he cannot appoint an agent in his place to come to the sage and request the annulment of his vow on his behalf.

Ravina

had a vow concerning his wife [

Ravina’s wife had a vow] that she wanted to have annulled by a sage.

He came

Ravina came

before Rav Ashi.

He said to him [

Ravina asked Rav Ashi]:

The husband—

may he serve as an agent for the regret of his wife?

Can the husband represent his wife, as though she herself had appeared before the sage, by virtue of the principle that “a man’s wife is like his own body,” or must she appear before the sage herself?

He said to him

Rav Ashi said to Ravina:

If they are assembled,

if the judges of the court are assembled for a deliberation concerning another matter,

yes,

the husband may indeed come before them at that time and ask them to annul his wife’s vow.

But

if not,

if the judges of the court are not assembled, but he wants to assemble them for this purpose—

no!

That is, they did not allow the husband to represent his wife unless the members of the court were already assembled, since it is proper for the wife who took the vow herself to appear before the court.

Infer from this

from Rav Ashi’s response—

three,

three matters!

a.

Infer from this: A husband may serve as an agent for the regret of his wife.

b.

And infer from this: It is not proper [

it is not proper for a sage]

to annul a vow in his master’s place [

to annul a vow in the place of his master, out of respect for his master]. For if not, why did Ravina not annul his wife’s vow himself, together with two other people?

c.

And infer from this: When they are assembled—

it is appropriate [

if the court is already assembled, the husband may become an agent for his wife’s regret].

This is the explanation of Ravina’s uncertainty and Rav Ashi’s response:

In principle, anyone may serve as an agent for another person and tell the court the reasons on account of which the court can annul the vow.

However, Ravina was uncertain whether the husband could also be trusted in this regard, or whether there is reason for concern that, since his wife’s vows are burdensome to him, he might add details of his own to the reasons for her regret.

Rav Ashi answered him: If the court is already assembled, it is appropriate, because since the husband has no trouble or inconvenience in the matter, we are not concerned that he might add details of his own to her regret.

But if the husband went to the trouble of assembling a court for this purpose, the factor of his exertion [as he does not want to trouble himself in vain] combines with the factor that her vows are burdensome to him. On account of these two factors, we must be concerned that he might add details of his own to her regret. Therefore, we do not accept his account of her regret.

And since the Gemara mentioned the halakha that a sage should not annul vows in the place of his master, the Gemara adds further halakhot:

And with regard to excommunication,

excommunication—a sage may annul it

even in his master’s place,

in the place of his master.

And since the Gemara was discussing excommunication, it adds further:

And an expert individual [

a distinguished sage who is well versed in the halakhot]

may annul excommunication,

he may annul the excommunication by himself, and a court is not required. Likewise, an expert individual may annul a vow.

Rabbi Shimon bar Zevid said that Rabbi Yitzhak bar Tavla said that Rabbi Hiyya Arikha of the house of Rabbi Aha said that Rabbi Zeira said that Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Hanina said that Rabbi Miyasha said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai:

What

is the meaning of the verse

that is written

in the Book of Malachi [chapter 3]: “

And the sun shall shine for you who fear My Name”?

Who are those whom the verse calls “those who fear My Name”?

These are people who are afraid to utter the Name of Heaven in vain.

And once the Gemara has explained the beginning of the verse, it proceeds to explain the continuation of the verse: “

A sun of righteousness and healing”—

Abaye said: Infer from this that the dust of the sun heals [

the dust visible in the sunbeams entering through a window heals].

And it disagrees

with this statement of Abaye, who interprets “a sun of righteousness” as referring to “the dust of the sun,” with that

which

said

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish.

For

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said:

There is no Gehenna in the World to Come!

In the future, after the resurrection of the dead, those wicked people who were sentenced “to disgrace and everlasting abhorrence” will not be judged in Gehenna.

Rather,

this is how they will be judged:

The Almighty

will remove the sun from its sheath—

the righteous will be healed by it.

But the wicked—

will be judged by it,

for they will suffer from its heat.

The righteous will be healed by it—

As it is stated: “

And the sun shall shine for you who fear My Name,

a sun of righteousness, with healing in its wings.”

And not only that, but

the righteous

will delight in it.

As it is stated [

the end of the verse is]: “

And you shall go forth and frolic like calves of the stall.”

Like calves that enter the stall to be fattened.

And

those

wicked people—

will be judged

punished

by it!

As it is stated [

in the preceding verse]: “

For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven,

and all the arrogant and all those who commit wickedness shall be straw, and the coming day shall set them ablaze.”