What one must have in mind before uttering a commitment
יורה דעה · סימן ר״ג
איזה דברים משובחים ואיזה הם מגונים
✨ Synthesis level · חזרה
✦ ❖ ✦
This level tells nothing new: it orders. The seven seifim in one table, the three degrees of the vow, the remedy and its two exceptions, charity step by step, the positions on the debated points, and the pitfalls one falls into twice.
Subject:
שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן ר״ג
הרב יוסף חיים סממה DAAT · daattorah.com
1. The siman in one sentence
A vow is blamed for what it adds: where it adds a prohibition to the Torah’s own, it is despicable even when kept; where it merely supports what is already owed, it is permitted, even a mitzvah; where it mends a flaw in the one who takes it, it is praiseworthy — without becoming a habit.
2. Master table — the seven seifim
Seif
What it says
Key word
א
Do not make a habit of vows; whoever vows, even fulfilling it, is racha and chote.
רשע וחוטא
ב
He who delayed his vow — his ledger is opened.
פנקסו נפתחת
ג
The private altar; better to seek release. But vows of consecration are fulfilled; and an oath, like them, is released only under duress.
כאילו בנה במה
ד
Vow nothing, even for charity. If the money is there, give; if not, wait; and pledge saying “without a vow”.
יאמר בלא נדר
ה
In a time of distress it is permitted to vow.
בעת צרה
ו
Vowing to bind oneself is permitted; vowing or swearing to guard from transgression is a mitzvah.
לזרוזי נפשיה
ז
Vowing to correct a trait: diligent and praiseworthy — but without multiplying or growing used to it.
סייג לפרישות
3. The three degrees of the vow
Degree
When
Seif
Despicable — racha, chote, the private altar
A vow that adds a prohibition, even fulfilled, even for charity
א · ב · ג · ד
Permitted
In a time of distress; and to bind oneself to what one already owes
ה · ו
A mitzvah
When it guards from a transgression one fears to commit
ו
Diligent and praiseworthy
When it corrects a trait of character — not multiplied, not made a habit
ז
4. The remedy — and its two exceptions
The remedy is release. Seif 3 points to it — it is better that he seek release from his vow — and the Rambam, more firmly, makes it a mitzvah for a vow of prohibition. Release is a sage’s business, not the vower’s.
Two exceptions, and they are in the same seif.One — vows of consecration: they are fulfilled, and release is sought only under duress. Two — an oath: the gloss applies the same restraint, and the Shach gives the reason — of an oath it is written לא ינקה.
5. Charity, step by step
The money is available. Give at once, and vow nothing. The vow adds nothing but a risk.
The money is not available. Vow nothing, and do not even undertake for later. Wait until you have it, then give without a vow.
A public collection, and one must pledge. Pledge, but saying expressly בלי נדר.
Pledging without saying anything. That is not abstaining: the Shach writes it in the name of the Prisha — a pledge made without qualification is a vow.
6. The positions on the points debated
Point debated
The views
Reference
Why two words of blame?
Taz: racha if he has an opening and does not use it; chote as long as the vow rests on him.
ט״ז יו״ד ר״ג ס״ק א
The meaning of the private altar
Rashi: an altar of idolatry. Rosh and Ran: a private altar when they are forbidden.
בית יוסף יו״ד ר״ג
Why does the ledger open?
Shach: his deeds are examined closely. Taz: it is the ledger where his transgressions are recorded.
ש״ך יו״ד ר״ג ס״ק א
“until he has it”
Beit Yosef and Taz: temporal — wait, then give without a vow. Bach: no conditional vow.
ט״ז יו״ד ר״ג ס״ק ד
The release of an oath
Shach: some are stringent. Taz: certain Geonim. The substance is at siman 230.
ש״ך יו״ד ר״ג ס״ק ג
“I shall study this chapter”
Shach: the sentence alone already binds. Pitchei Teshuva: and for an abstention? — an open question.
ש״ך יו״ד ר״ג ס״ק ה
Swearing on a matter of mitzvah
Shach: the oath does not take effect, yet one may spur himself.
ש״ך יו״ד ר״ג ס״ק ו
7. The vocabulary
נדר — vow — the utterance that makes a thing forbidden to the one who speaks it, by attaching it to something already forbidden. The whole siman speaks of it.
שבועה — oath — the utterance that binds the person himself. The gloss of seif 3 applies to it the same restraint as to a vow, and the Shach at ס״ק ג gives the reason: of an oath it is written לא ינקה.
נדרי הקדש — vows of consecration — those that dedicate property to the Temple or to charity. Seif 3 sets them apart: they are fulfilled, and release is sought from them only under duress.
נשאל על נדרו — to seek release from one’s vow — to come before a sage who, finding an “opening”, undoes the vow from its root. The Rambam makes this a mitzvah for vows of prohibition.
בלא נדר — “without a vow” — the formula of seif 4, to be said expressly. The Shach at ס״ק ד insists: pledging in silence does not suffice; to pledge without saying anything is already a vow.
לזרוזי נפשיה — to spur himself — the motive that makes the vow permitted in seif 6, and a mitzvah when it guards from transgression. The Shach at ס״ק ו maintains it even where an oath would not take effect, on a matter of mitzvah.
סייג לפרישות — a fence for abstinence — Rabbi Akiva’s phrase in Avot, which the Rambam and seif 7 take up. It is the only praise the siman grants the vow, and it is at once bounded.
פנקס — ledger — the image of seif 2. The Shach at ס״ק א: from heaven the ledger of his deeds is opened and they are examined closely. The Taz at ס״ק ב explains that it is the ledger in which his transgressions are recorded.
8. The golden rules
The blame is not on failing but on the very act of vowing. Seif 1 says it in a word: even if he fulfils it.
Delay has its own charge. Seif 2 no longer speaks of the vow but of the postponement.
Two words settle almost the whole of practice: בלי נדר — and they are said, not merely thought.
A sentence of commitment needs no word “vow” to bind. “I shall study”, “I shall give”, “I shall no longer do”: the Shach says it of the first, and prudence extends it to the rest.
If the money is in hand, give; if it is not, wait. One vows in neither case.
A vow once uttered is undone by a sage, not by oneself. And for a vow of consecration or an oath, one comes to that only under duress.
The vow is permitted when it supports an existing obligation, and a mitzvah when it guards from a transgression.
The vow is praiseworthy when it corrects a flaw — and the same sentence that praises it forbids making it a habit.
9. The classic pitfalls
Thinking the blame is aimed at one who breaks his word. It is aimed at one who gives it. Seif 1 adds expressly even if he fulfils it.
Thinking “without a vow” instead of saying it. The Shach rejects that reading at ס״ק ד: pledging in silence is a vow.
Thinking a promise “when I am able” is more prudent. That is exactly what the Taz rejects at ס״ק ד, against a reasoning that came naturally.
Taking seif 7 for a general invitation. It praises the vow that corrects a trait — and the same sentence forbids multiplying and growing used to it.
Releasing oneself. Release belongs to a sage. And for a vow of consecration or an oath, one comes to it only under duress.
Forgetting that “I shall study” binds. The Shach at ס״ק ה says it with no formula of vow — and the Pitchei Teshuva leaves the question of abstention open.
10. Revision questions
Which seifim blame the vow, which permit it, which praises it? And what distinguishes the three?
Two words of blame in seif 1: what distinction does the Taz set between them, and why does it matter at seif 3?
Cite the two exceptions of seif 3 to the rule of release, and the source of each.
Four situations for charity, four courses of conduct. Set them out in order.
Where does seif 6 pass from permitted to a mitzvah, and what remark of the Shach changes its reach?
Seif 7 praises and bounds in the same sentence. Cite both halves.
To go further
The other levels of this siman:
📖 Level 1 — Base: the text of the seven seifim, their translation, and the twenty entries of the apparatus
📚 Level 2 — Lamdan: the hakira, the disputes and what remains open
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ DAAT · הרב יוסף חיים סממה
תלמיד חכם · מעביר שיעורים בהלכה ובחסידות סימן ר״ג · Level 3 — Synthesis · איזה דברים משובחים ואיזה הם מגונים daattorah.com