Daf: Nedarim 88-91

As we wrap the last of Nedarim, I look back and realize how much stronger my understanding was this time, over the previous time.


I must admit that when I went through Nedarim last, I felt it was rather dull, its discussions parochially Neder-focused rather than global in their reach. I also felt that there were so many mishnayos focused on lexical minutia that I had trouble sensing forward motion or flow in the gemara.


This time round was an entirely different experience. Part of that is because I was teaching it this time rather than learning it on my own, and part is because I went through it with an eye for structure. I could see much more of a progression from Point A to Point B, and I also found many items which did have ramifications for greater, non-Nedarim issues.


Here are some last thoughts on the final dapim. Nothing huge, just a few things to see.

88a
Regarding the issue of giving something to a wife without that also being considered a gift to the husband, one might challenge this based on our discussion earlier on supporting the wife without benefiting the husband. The Rosh on the mishnah addresses this.

89a-b
Note the Ran vs. the Rosh on each of the 9 cases.

89b
The Rosh has an interesting edition of לא יפר in the mishnah.

90b
On Rav Sheshes’s point, see the Tosafos in Sotah 6a that is referenced on the side of the amud.

Note that יורה כחץ is an allegation of infertility, not impotence; the gemara was familiar with the medical concept of male infertility, although the case here ascribes it to mechanical malfunction rather than something more subtle.

91b
R’ Akiva Eiger refers you to an interesting Tosafos in Shabbos 110a on the dietary habits of snakes.

I should also note, though, that our gemara might be read to indicate that snakes automatically poison that which they eat, through a toxin on their fangs. This is actually subject to a machlokes in Sanhedrin 78a.

The last Ran is important in understanding whether these final stories are examples of extraordinary leniency, or simply a reduction of בעל נפש chumra concerns.

Next installment: Nazir