QUESTION: The Gemara asks that there is a contradiction between two Beraisos. One Beraisa states that when a man is Mekadesh a woman on condition that she has no Nedarim, and she has a Neder but annuls it (before the husband discovers the Neder), the Kidushin takes effect. A second Beraisa states that in such a case the Kidushin does not take effect.

Rava answers that the Beraisa that says that the Kidushin does not take effect refers to an "Ishah Chashuvah," a woman from a prominent family. RASHI explains that since the woman is from a prominent family, the man does not want the Kidushin to take effect at all if she has any Nedarim because he wants to retain the right to marry her immediate relatives (and if the Kidushin takes effect and he must divorce her, he will be prohibited to her relatives).

What does Rashi mean? If the woman annulled her Nedarim, there is no reason for him not to want to be married to her. He should not be bothered that he is prohibited to her relatives, just as he was not bothered by it at the time that he was Mekadesh her! On the other hand, if the fact that she had Nedarim which she annulled does not satisfy his stipulation because he is afraid that she will continue to make Nedarim in the future, the same concern should apply to any woman, even to one who is not an Ishah Chashuvah, and thus the Kidushin should not take effect with any woman who has Nedarim since the stipulation was not fully fulfilled! (TOSFOS HA'ROSH)

(a) The TOSFOS HA'ROSH explains that when a man makes a stipulation that the Kidushin will take effect only if the woman has no Nedarim, there is a doubt about what his intentions are. He certainly does not want her to have a Neder upon her at the time of the marriage. However, he might also not want her to be the type of woman who has a tendency to make Nedarim even if, at the present moment, she has no Nedarim upon her. This second intention is subject to doubt; there is a doubt whether he has this intent in mind when he marries her.

Therefore, in the case of a woman who is not from a prominent family, the man is required to give her a Get when she annulled her present Nedarim because she might make Nedarim in the future and he might have intended not to marry such a woman. In the case of an Ishah Chashuvah, however, it may be assumed that he has full intention not to marry her if she is the type of woman who will make Nedarim (whether she annuls her present Nedarim or not) because any excuse or imperfection he sees in her will discourage him from marrying her so that he does not become prohibited to her relatives if he finds it necessary to divorce her. His stipulation, therefore, is interpreted to mean that he does not want to marry her if she now has Nedarim even if she later annuls them.

(b) The AVNEI MILU'IM (EH 39:5) rejects this explanation. Even in the case of a woman who is not Chashuvah, he argues, the husband should want the Kidushin not to take effect if the woman has any imperfection, so that he avoid at all costs having to divorce her and pay her the Kesuvah.

The Avnei Milu'im explains instead that Rava must follow the view of the Yerushalmi. The Yerushalmi rules that even when a man marries a woman on condition that she has no Nedarim and he discovers later that she has Nedarim, he still is required mid'Rabanan to give her a Get so that if she later annuls her Nedarim she will not become an Eshes Ish retroactively (by fulfilling the Tenai and having the Kidushin take effect retroactively). (TOSFOS to 74b, DH Chacham, explains that the Bavli disagrees and maintains that it is not considered a fulfillment of the Tenai if she annuls her Nedarim after the husband finds out about them.)

In the case of a woman who is not from a prominent family, the man does not mind the fact that he must give her a Get if she is found to have Nedarim, even though he becomes forbidden to marry her relatives. In contrast, in the case of an Ishah Chashuvah, he wants to avoid giving her a Get if it turns out that she has Nedarim. Therefore, he marries her on condition that even if she annuls her Nedarim he still does not want her to be his wife. In that way he will not have to give her a Get if she does have Nedarim since it will not help for her to annul them afterwards, and the Yerushalmi's concern will not apply.