Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Responsa for Nedarim 54:9

<big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> נודרין להרגין ולחרמין ולמוכסין שהיא תרומה אף על פי שאינו תרומה שהן של בית המלך אף על פי שאינן של בית המלך בית שמאי אומרים בכל נודרין

— Here it is different, because he had declared, 'These rights shall be void.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is a stronger declaration than e.g., 'I will not claim my rights'; hence it is valid. ');"><sup>9</sup></span> Now the law is: an <i>asmakta</i> does give a legal claim, providing that no unavoidable accident supervened and that a formal acquisition was made<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The conceding party formally ceded his rights. This was symbolically effected by one giving an article, e.g., a scarf, to the other. ');"><sup>10</sup></span> at an authoritative <i>Beth din</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rash and Maim.: an ordained Beth din; Ran: a Beth din with the power to enforce its decisions. ');"><sup>11</sup></span> <b><i>MISHNAH</i></b>. ONE MAY VOW TO MURDERERS,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., robbers who kill if their demands are not granted. ');"><sup>12</sup></span> ROBBERS,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rashi, Ran, Rosh and Tosaf. all interpret this as private robbers. Jast.: official oppressors. These are less desperate than murderers, and do not kill if their demands are refused. ');"><sup>13</sup></span> AND PUBLICANS THAT IT [THE PRODUCE WHICH THEY DEMAND] IS <i>TERUMAH</i>, EVEN IF IT IS NOT,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This vow is to save it from their hands, as terumah is forbidden to a zar, q.v. Glos. — It is remarkable that even murderers and robbers are assumed to respect the prohibition of terumah! ');"><sup>14</sup></span> OR THAT IT BELONGS TO THE ROYAL HOUSE, EVEN IF IT DOES NOT. BETH SHAMMAI MAINTAIN: ONE MAY MAKE ANY FORM OF VOW,

Teshuvot Maharam

Q. Certain Jews received permission from their overlord to imprison and torture their fellow Jews in order to extort money from them. They threw a few Jews into prison and, by threatening to kill them, made them bind themselves by a herem to pay a certain amount of money to their captors. Must the captives fulfil their promise after they are released?
A. No, the herem is not binding upon them since they accepted it under pressure, and since they probably thought that the threats of murder would not be carried out, that the overlord would probably not agree to murder, and that the captors themselves would be afraid to commit murder, a sin punishable by God and man. However, in order to be doubly certain, and for the sake of appearances, the captors should be asked to free the others from the herem; and knowing that the herem is not binding anyway, the captors should not hesitate to do so. But, if the captors refuse to free the captives of the herem, the latter are free from obligation anyway, and need not even seek absolution by a scholar.
SOURCES: Pr. 595, 938; Mord. Gitt. 395; Tesh. Maim. to Haflaah, 7; Agudah Sheb. 14. Cf. Weil, Responsa 53; Isserlein, Pesakim 73; ibid. 252.
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