1)

WHEN DOES THE FATHER GET BACK FULL AUTHORITY TO ANNUL? [Nedarim: Hafarah: Nisrokna]

(a)

Gemara

1.

68a (Beraisa) Question: When do we say that that if the Arus dies, the father gets back full authority (to annul her vows alone)?

2.

Answer: It is when the Arus died without hearing the vow, or after he annulled it, or if he died on the day he heard it, before he acted on it;

3.

If the Arus affirmed the vow, or was silent on the day he heard it and died on a later day, the father cannot annul it.

4.

If the Arus heard her vow and annulled it and died before the father heard it, the father gets full authority.

5.

If the father heard her vow and annulled it and the Arus died before he heard it, the father can annul the portion of her vow that remained to the Arus;

6.

R. Noson says, this is Beis Shamai's opinion. Beis Hillel say that he cannot annul.

7.

70a (Mishnah): If the Arus dies, the father gets full authority.

8.

Question: What is the source for this?

9.

Answer (Rabah): "If Hayo Tihyeh (she will be Mekudeshes) to a man, and her vows are on her" equates her vows before her second Kidushin to her vows before her first. Just like the father can annul (alone) before her first Kidushin, he can do so (after she was widowed and) before her second Kidushin.

10.

Question: Perhaps this applies only to vows that her husband did not hear!

11.

Answer: Those vows we already know from "when she is a Na'arah, in her father's house."

12.

71a (Beraisa): The father and Arus of a Na'arah Me'orasah annul her vows.

13.

If the father heard her vow and annulled it, and her Arus died before he heard it, and she became Mekudeshes that day, even 100 times, her father and her last Arus annul her vows.

14.

If the Arus heard her vow and annulled it and died before the father heard it, the father can annul the portion of the Arus.

15.

R. Noson says, this is Beis Shamai's opinion. Beis Hillel say that he cannot annul.

(b)

Rishonim

(c)

The Rif cites the Gemara (68a) verbatim.

1.

The Rif and Rosh (10:4) bring the Mishnah and Gemara (70a) verbatim.

2.

Rambam (Hilchos Nedarim 11:16): If her father heard her vow and the Arus did not and the Arus died that day, or also the Arus heard it and he annulled it and died or was quiet and died that day, the father gets all authority, and he can annul. If the Arus heard and affirmed and died that day, or heard and was quiet and died the next day, the father cannot annul.

3.

Rambam (19): If the Arus heard her vow and annulled, and died before the father heard it, or if the father heard it and annulled, and the Arus died without hearing it, the father can annul it only in partnership with the last Arus, if she became Mekudeshes the same day, like we explained.

4.

Rosh (10:2): If the Arus died without hearing it, or heard it and annulled it or was silent, his authority passes to the father. The father can annul on the day he hears. This need not be the day that the Arus heard. Since the husband died on the day he heard, the father inherits his authority. It was not affirmed by the husband. However, if the husband heard and affirmed or was silent the entire day and died the next day, the father cannot annul.

5.

Rosh (ibid.): When the Arus annulled and died before the father heard, the father gets all authority, and he can annul his share and the Arus' share. Even though the Arus already annulled his share, since the Hafarah was not finished in his lifetime, also his Hafarah is Batel, and the father must annul everything. If the Arus heard her vow and did not annul it and the father died before hearing it, the Arus cannot annul it, since he can annul only in partnership.

i.

Korban Nesan'el (5): The Rosh teaches a bigger Chidush. Even though the Arus did not yet 'spend' any of his power to annul, he cannot annul alone.

6.

Rosh (ibid.): If the father heard her vow and annulled it and the Arus died before he heard it, the father can annul the portion of her vow that remained to the Arus. R. Noson says, this is Beis Shamai's opinion. Beis Hillel say that he cannot annul. This shows that Beis Shamai hold that the father cuts the vow; Beis Hillel hold that he weakens it.

(d)

Poskim

1.

Shulchan Aruch (11): If the Arus died while she is a Na'arah, she returns to her father's authority. He can annul, on the day he hears, even what she vowed and the Arus heard before he died. This is if the Arus died on the day he heard it, or never heard her vow, or heard and annulled it. The father must annul again. If the Arus affirmed it or died after the day he heard it, the father cannot annul.

i.

Question (Shach 22): This implies that if the Arus did not die, even after the day he heard it, the father could annul. This is like the Rambam (like the Shulchan Aruch said above, Sa'if 5), but the Rambam (see the next entry) holds that the father cannot annul even on the day that the Arus heard it!

2.

Shulchan Aruch (ibid.): The Rambam holds that if the Arus annulled it and died and then the father heard, he cannot annul it.

i.

Beis Yosef (DH v'Da): The Rambam (11:19) rejected the Beraisa (68a) due to the Beraisa (71a) in which R. Noson says that Beis Shamai hold that the father inherits the husband's authority, but Beis Hillel disagree. Also, in the Seifa of the Beraisa (68a) itself, R. Noson says that Beis Hillel disagree, i.e. also in the Reisha.

ii.

Retraction (Bedek ha'Bayis): We cannot say so. The Rambam himself (Halachah 16) says that the father inherits the husband's authority if the husband died the same day!

iii.

Continuation of Beis Yosef: Alternatively, the Beraisa is like Beis Hillel. The father inherits the Arus' authority only if the father heard the vow before the Arus died. Beis Hillel say that the father cannot annul when he did not hear the vow before the Arus died.

iv.

Support (Bedek ha'Bayis): The Rambam (Halachah 16) mentions that the father heard in every case when he gets authority to annul by himself.

v.

Continuation of Beis Yosef: However, it seems that the Rambam holds that the father does not get full authority to annul vows made in the life of the first Arus.

vi.

Retraction (Bedek ha'Bayis): All this must be erased.

vii.

Shach (23): The Shulchan Aruch holds like his conclusion (in Bedek ha'Bayis) that the father can annul, as long as he heard before the Arus died.

viii.

Gra (31): All agree that the father can annul if he heard before the Arus died. Beis Hillel do not argue in the Reisha.

3.

Rebuttal (Taz 13): What the Shulchan Aruch writes in the name of the Rambam is astounding. The Gemara explicitly says that the father gets all authority. The Rambam (11:16) explicitly says that if both of them heard her vow and the Arus died, the father gets all authority. This is not only when the father heard beforehand; "Hayo Tihyeh " equates her vows before her second Kidushin to her vows before her first. Her father can annul alone even if he did not hear until after the Arus died. The Rambam (19) wrote that if the Arus heard and annulled and died before the father heard it, the father can annul it only in partnership with the last Arus. The Kesef Mishneh explained that if there is no Arus, he cannot annul alone. It seems that the Rambam means, if she became Mekudeshes the same day, the father cannot annul alone. The Rambam does not argue with the Tur about this.

See also: