Zichru Daf Simanim
Nedarim - Daf 42
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  • If fruit forbidden by neder become permitted in shemittah

Rav and Shmuel taught about one who said "נכסים אלו עליך" – “these possessions are forbidden to you,” his field and its produce are prohibited to that person and remain so even after the advent of shemittah. However, if he made the neder during shemittah, the subject of the neder may take fruit which he can reach without entering the field. Reish Lakish and Rebbe Yochanan taught about one who said "נכסי עליך" – “my possessions are forbidden to you,” that the accessible fruit becomes permitted to that person as soon as shemittah begins. The Gemara initially assumes that they are disagreeing about if אדם אוסר דבר שברשותו אפילו לכשיצא מרשותו – a person may forbid something in his domain for even after it leaves his domain. Rav and Shmuel hold that one can, therefore the fruit remains prohibited in shemittah although he does not own it then. Reish Lakish and Rebbe Yochanan hold he cannot, so the fruit becomes permitted at the time of shemittah. The Gemara objects, saying that if this was the position of Reish Lakish and Rebbe Yochanan, they should have spoken explicitly about a case of “these possessions are forbidden to you,” instead of discussing a case of “my possessions are forbidden to you,” which carries the implication that the neder itself was limited to the time of his ownership. The Gemara therefore rejects this interpretation.

  • If a neder of “my possessions” becomes permitted when it leaves his ownership

The Gemara suggests a second interpretation of the machlokes: All would agree that if he said, “These possessions are forbidden to you,” then they remain forbidden in shemittah. The argument is where he said, “My possessions are forbidden to you.” Rav and Shmuel hold that even in this case the fruit remains forbidden in shemittah, and Reish Lakish and Rebbe Yochanan hold that he only intended to prohibit the property while it was under his ownership. The Gemara challenges this explanation as well, based on a Mishnah which states: האומר לחבירו קונם לתוך ביתך שאני נכנס, שדך שאני לוקח – One who says to his friend, “Konam my entering your house,” or “my purchasing your field,” מת או שמכרו לאחר מותר – if [the owner] died or sold it to another, it is permitted to the vower. If he said, “my entering this house,” it would remain forbidden. We see that using the possessive form limits the neder to the duration of his possession, so we cannot say Rav and Shmuel hold otherwise. Therefore, the Gemara concludes that there is no machlokes at all. Rav and Shmuel spoke of a case where he said, “these possessions are forbidden to you,” so they remain forbidden even during shemittah, and Reish Lakish and Rebbe Yochanan spoke of a case where he said, “my possessions are forbidden to you,” so they become permitted during shemittah.

  • Why one may not enter a forbidden property during shemittah to pick fruit

The Mishnah had taught that [when the neder is made] during shemittah, he may not enter the field forbidden by neder, but he may eat fruit from trees hanging outside of the property (that he can obtain without entering). The Gemara asks, just as he may take the fruit within reach because they are hefker and the vower cannot forbid them, so too the land itself is hefker, insofar as he needs to enter it to obtain the hefker fruit. Ulla answered: בעומדין אילנות על הגבולים – the Mishnah is speaking about trees which are standing on the border. Their fruit can be reached without entering the property, and for them the property is not hefker for entering. But he may indeed enter the property to reach otherwise inaccessible fruit. Rebbe Shimon ben Elyakim said: גזירה שמא ישהא בעמידה – It is a Rabbinical decree lest he delay while standing. The Rabbis, out of a concern that he may stay longer than necessary for procuring fruit (which is forbidden by his neder), forbade him from entering altogether.

Siman – Mobster. The mobster who insisted that produce he made assur to a competing crime family remained assur during shemittah, finally conceded that the produce became mutar to them because he said, "my possessions" and not "these possessions," but he sent them a warning that they better not enter his field since the trees were on the border.

Rabbi Avraham Goldhar

Rabbi Avraham Goldhar has been designing and teaching Jewish literacy courses for over thirty years. His knowledge frameworks for Biblical mastery, Jewish History, Talmudic Law & Jewish Holidays enable students of all backgrounds to better integrate Jewish concepts and learn systematically. After serving as the Educational Director of Aish HaTorah New York, Avraham launched GoldharSchool.com, Home of Big Picture Jewish Education, featuring Jewish literacy content for schools and individuals. He is the developer of the Goldhar Method, a revolutionary learning system that integrates memory into the learning process and has trained over 80,000 students, teachers and professionals. He lectures internationally on the topic of academic mastery and the solutions required to raise the bar in education. Avraham learned in Aish HaTorah, Mir, and Chaim Berlin and received his ordination under the tutelage of Rabbi Yitzchok Berkovits in Jerusalem.