Nedarim 145

— Here too it means that he said, 'When I hear of it, annul it.' But when he hears it, let him annul it himself? — He fears, I may then be busily occupied.

Rami b. Hama propounded: Can a deaf man disallow [the vows of] his wife? Now, should you rule that a husband can annul without hearing, that is because he is capable of hearing; but a deaf man, who is incapable of hearing, falls within R. Zera's dictum, viz., That which is eligible for mixing, [the lack of] mixing does not hinder its validity; whilst that which is not eligible for mixing, [the lack of] mixing hinders its validity?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The reference is to a meal-offering, in which the flour was mixed with oil. Not more than sixty 'esronim ('isaron, pl. 'esronim, is the tenth part of an ephah) could be thoroughly mixed with oil in the vessels used for that purpose. Hence, if a person vowed a meal-offering of sixty-one 'esronim, sixty were brought in one vessel, and one in another. Whereon R. Zera observed, though the meal-offering is in fact valid even if not mixed with oil at all, it must be capable of being mixed, and therefore sixty-one esronim in one utensil would be invalid. So here too, though it may be unnecessary for the husband actually to hear the vow, he must be physically able to hear it. ');">¹</span>

Or perhaps, 'and her husband heard it'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the hearing of the husband. ');">²</span>

is not indispensable? — Said Raba, Come and hear: 'And her husband heard', — this excludes the wife of a deaf man. This proves it.

The scholars propounded: Can a husband disallow [the vows of] his two wives simultaneously: is the word 'her' particularly stated, or not?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XXX, 9, 'but if her husband disallow her'. I.e., when Scripture uses the singular 'her' in this connection, does it expressly teach that only one wife can be disallowed at a time, or is no particular emphasis to be laid thereon, the singular being the usual mode of expression? ');">³</span>

— Said Rabina, Come and hear: Two suspected wives are not made to drink<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Num. V, 2 ff. ');">⁴</span>

simultaneously, because each is emboldened<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'her heart swells'. ');">⁵</span> by her companion.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The consciousness that another is undergoing the same ordeal emboldens each not to confess. ');">⁶</span> R. Judah said: It is not [forbidden] on that score, but because it is written, and he shall make her drink.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 74; In Tosef. Neg. the verse quoted is, and the Priest shall bring her near, ibid. 16. [MS.M. reads: because it is written 'her', the reference either to verse 16 or 19, 'The priest shall cause her to swear'. V. Sot. (Sonc. ed.) p. 32. n. 2.] ');">⁷</span> implying, her alone.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence the same applies to vows: in R. Judah's view, two wives cannot have their vows disallowed simultaneously; in the opinion of the first Tanna, they can. ');">⁸</span>