Honoring his Fellow and Ran Elucidated - Nedarim Daf 24
- By Avrohom Adler
- Published 01/14/2008
- Nedarim
Honoring his Friend
If
one says to his fellow, “Konam that I will not benefit from your if you
do not accept from me for your son a kor of wheat and two barrels of
wine” (and the fellow refuses the gift), he may annul his vow without
petitioning a sage, by his fellow saying, “Did you vow for any other purpose
but to honor me (that I should accept the gift)? This (the refusal of
the gift) is my honor (for it is written in Mishlei: One who hates gifts
shall live).
The
Rosh asks: Doesn’t every neder require annulment only through a sage?
How can the vower annul this neder by himself?
He
answers that since this opening is so clear and compelling, the vower is
permitted to annul it himself.
The
Ran according to the explanation of the Ayeles Hashachar learns differently. He
explains that the purpose of the vow was to honor the other fellow. Since he is
being honored by refusing the gift, that is regarded as a fulfillment of the
condition of the neder. The neder never has a chance to take
effect for the fellow was indeed honored.
The Ra”n
Elucidated
Rejecting
the proof - The Gemora
attempts to bring a proof from the following braisa: Rabbi Eliezer ben
Yaakov went even further and said: If one says to his fellow, “Konam
that I do not benefit from you if you will not be my guest and partake of hot
bread and a hot drink with me.” The fellow resisted the invitation. This is
also considered a motivational neder.
The
reason it says, “Even further” is because here, even though it is applicable to
say, “I am not a dog,” for behold, he is forbidding himself the benefit of the
invited one if he doesn’t want to accept this benefit from him, and for this
reason it can be said that he really meant the neder, nonetheless, Rabbi
Eliezer ben Yaakov said that they are motivational nedarim.
According
to this explanation, we now see that our rejections of all the proofs above,
that even Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov agrees whenever it is possible to say, “I am
not a dog” were only arguments, but were not really true.
[We use the
sefer “The Commentary of Rabbenu Nissim on Nedarim” from Rabbi Nathan Bushwick
extensively to assist us in preparing the “Elucidation of the Ra”n.” The sefer,
written in English is available for sale by writing to: Rabbi Nathan Bushwick
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