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DAAT · LEVEL 3 — SYNTHESIS

Siman 220 — Synthesis: the mechanisms of time in a vow

Arranged by mechanism, with the master table in the order of the book

יורה דעה · סימן ר״כ

חילוק שבין קונם יין להיום או לזמן ודין הנודר על דבר שאינו קבוע

📝 Synthesis level · בינוני

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Twenty-three seifim are not revised from one to twenty-three: nothing is retained that way. This page takes them up by mechanism — what the word of time carries, where one counts from, how far one goes, what crosses the terminus and what stops at it, what has no fixed time, and the formulas bearing two termini at once. The master table keeps the order of the book: to find a seif, one goes through it.

Subject: The mechanisms of time in a vow
Source: שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן ר״כ (כ״ג סעיפים)

Compiled by: הרב יוסף חיים סממה
DAAT · daattorah.com

📑 Plan of the synthesis

1. The axiom: a word of time does two things, and never both at once

2. Mechanism A — the starting point: where one counts from

3. Mechanism B — the end point: where the terminus falls

4. Mechanism C — the crossing: stopping at the threshold, or passing through

5. Mechanism D — what has no fixed time: the crossing vanishes

6. Mechanism E — the language of men, which undoes both reckoning and category

7. Mechanism F — two words of time in one formula

8. Master table — the twenty-three seifim in the order of the book

9. The disputes left open

10. The vocabulary of the siman

11. Golden rules, mnemonic and classic pitfalls

1. The axiom: a word of time does two things, and never both at once

The whole siman rests on a single distinction, and if it is held, the twenty-three seifim follow almost of themselves. A word of time either names a terminus — the point at which the period under way ends — or counts a span from the instant the vow was spoken. The first looks at the calendar; the second at the clock.

The sign is grammatical. The demonstrative — זה, זו — and the article alone name a terminus. The numeral — אחד, אחת — and the bare word count a span. One point to keep: bare יום counts a span (seif 1), and so do bare שבוע, חדש, שנה, שמיטה. The bare word therefore follows the numeral, not the article.

« וְאִם אָמַר ״יוֹם אֶחָד״, ״שַׁבָּת אַחַת״, ״חֹדֶשׁ אֶחָד״, ״שָׁנָה אַחַת״, ״שָׁבוּעַ אֶחָד״ — אָסוּר מִיּוֹם לְיוֹם » (נדרים ס׳ ע״א)

⚠️ Mind the article. The Chakh rules at ס״ק ט that השבוע, החדש, השנה with the article behave like שבוע זה — that is, as a terminus — exactly as היום does at seif 1. The Bah held otherwise for השנה, and the Chakh refutes him at ס״ק ט״ו.

2. Mechanism A — the starting point: where one counts from

When the word counts a span, one must know from when. The answer is constant throughout the siman and the Chakh repeats it three times: from the hour of the vow, not from the morning, not from the evening.

« מעל״ע. מאותה שעה שנדר » (ש״ך יו״ד ר״כ ס״ק א)

« אסור מעל״ע. כלומר שבעה ימים מעל״ע משעה שנדר » (ש״ך יו״ד ר״כ ס״ק י״א)

« שֶׁאֵינִי טוֹעֵם יוֹם אֶחָד אָסוּר מֵעֵת לְעֵת מִשְּׁעַת נִדְרו » (רמב״ם הלכות נדרים פרק י׳ הלכה א׳)

One thing alone moves with the scale: the length. A day = 24 hours; a week = 7 days; a month = from date to date; a year = 12 months, 13 if intercalated; a shemitta = 7 years. The starting point never moves.

3. Mechanism B — the end point: where the terminus falls

When the word names a terminus, one must know where it falls. The siman says so for each scale, and it is not always what one would expect. Two points to learn by heart: the Shabbat is inside the week, the seventh year is inside the shemitta — but Rosh Hodesh is outside the month and Rosh Hashana outside the year.

Scale	The terminus falls	Included or excluded
שבוע זה	At the end of the Shabbat that closes the week	The Shabbat is included
חדש זה	At Rosh Hodesh	Rosh Hodesh is excluded, even a two-day one
השנה זו	At Rosh Hashana	Rosh Hashana is excluded; 29 Elul suffices
שמיטה זו	At the end of the seventh year	The seventh year is included

The reason for the asymmetry is simple and worth seeing: the Shabbat and the seventh year are the last members of their period; Rosh Hodesh and Rosh Hashana are the first members of the next one. The vow runs to the end of the period under way, and not a day beyond.

4. Mechanism C — the crossing: stopping at the threshold, or passing through

The siman’s second axis, and it is independent of the first. Once the terminus is identified, another question arises: does the vow stop at its entry or at its exit? It arises only for a terminus with a duration — a festival, a season — and the answer is read off the verbal form.

« זֶה הַכְּלָל כָּל שֶׁזְּמַנּוֹ קָבוּעַ וְנָדַר עָדָיו אֵין אָסוּר אֶלָּא עַד שֶׁיַּגִּיעַ. וְאִם נָדַר עַד שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הֲרֵי זֶה אָסוּר עַד שֶׁיֵּצֵא » (רמב״ם הלכות נדרים פרק י׳ הלכה ח׳)

Formula	Reach	Seif
עד הפסח	Until the festival enters	יא
עד שיהיה הפסח	Until the festival goes out	יא
עד פני הפסח	Disputed: entry for the Mehaber, exit for the יש אומרים	יא
עד שיפסקו הגשמים	Until Pesah has passed	יט

Is a שאלה required after a vow that stops at the entry? The Bah says yes, everywhere, for the same motive as at seif 1. The Taz refuses: a decree does not extend by reasoning. The Baer Hetev reports the Bah without contradicting him. In practice one asks for the שאלה, but one who did not has transgressed nothing according to the Taz.

5. Mechanism D — what has no fixed time: the crossing vanishes

This is the second matter announced by the siman’s heading, and the rule is unusually clean. As soon as the named terminus has no date, the distinction of mechanism C vanishes: every formula, without exception, stops at arrival.

« שכל דבר שאין זמנו ידוע בכל לשון שיאמר אינו אסור אלא עד שיגיע » (שו״ע יו״ד ר״כ:יב)

« דלא מחית אינש נפשיה לאסור בספיקא הן אין ידוע התחלה הן אין ידוע משך הזמן כמה יהיה כ״כ הר״ן » (ט״ז יו״ד ר״כ ס״ק ו)

The uncertainty can bear on two things, and they must be distinguished. On the beginning: the harvest has no date. Or on the length: the rains begin at a known date but no one knows how long they last. The Taz shows at ס״ק י״ג that the second suffices — which is why עד שיהיו הגשמים does not extend.

It remains to say, for each season, what “arrival” means. The siman does so by observable facts, never by dates — and the Chakh’s two precisions are worth keeping: the harvest in fact, not the season of harvest.

« הקצירה בפועל לא עד שיגיע זמן הקצירה ואין קוצרים » (ש״ך יו״ד ר״כ ס״ק כ״א)

Terminus	When it arrives	Where
עד הקציר	When wheat reaping begins — barley if the town is mostly barley	יב · יד
עד הקיץ	When the fig harvest is heavy and they are brought in in baskets	טז
עד שיעבור הקיץ	When the fig-knives are put away	יז
עד הגשם	At a date: Rosh Hodesh Kislev in the Land of Israel; or from 17 Marheshvan if rain fell	יח
עד הגשמים	When rain actually falls, from the second revi‘a	יח

And the place? That of the vow, at the time of the vow, whatever happens afterwards — for better and for worse. One who moves to a region that reaps earlier is not released earlier; one who goes to a later region is not bound longer. The Chakh repeats the rule for the rains at ס״ק ל״ג: והכל לפי המקום שנדר בו.

6. Mechanism E — the language of men, which undoes both reckoning and category

Twice in the siman a technically unanswerable argument is overturned by the plain observation of how people speak. This is no concession: it is the founding principle of the law of vows, and it should be seen at work in both places.

The reckoning says	Usage says	Result
The first of the two days of Rosh Hodesh is the 30th of the month gone by	It is called Rosh Hodesh	It is outside the vow “this month” (seif 4)
Shemini Atseret is a distinct festival — פז״ר קש״ב	It is called “the festival”	It is inside the vow “during the festival” (seif 20)

« אף על גב דהוא חג בפני עצמו לענין פז״ר קש״ב מ״מ בלשון בני אדם הוא בכלל החג » (ש״ך יו״ד ר״כ ס״ק ל״ד)

The same principle has a stringent consequence, and it is the one that gets forgotten: the Chakh shows at ס״ק י״ב that one who vows on the first day of Rosh Hodesh saying “this month” is bound for the whole coming month — since in the language of men he is already inside it. The principle leans neither to leniency nor to stringency: it follows usage wherever it leads.

7. Mechanism F — two words of time in one formula

The last three seifim set two words of time to work together. The question is no longer what each carries, but what each qualifies — and, when they do not end together, what becomes of the interval.

Seif 21 — the place in the sentence. “What you make is קונם … until Pesah”: the word bounds the benefit, hence permitted after Pesah. “What you make until Pesah is קונם …”: it bounds the work, hence forbidden forever. One shift, two opposite regimes.

Seifim 22 and 23 — the prohibition and the condition. Both seifim share one construction and exchange the two termini. At seif 22 the condition runs longer than the prohibition; at seif 23 the prohibition runs longer than the condition. In both we forbid at once, and for the same reason.

« דאדם נזהר בנדר ואינו נזהר בתנאי נדר עכ״ל פרישה » (ש״ך יו״ד ר״כ ס״ק ל״ח)

Seif	Prohibition until	Condition until	What follows
כב	פסח	החג	Forbidden from the first day, even if she does not go; but permitted after Pesah, even if she went
כג	החג	פסח	Forbidden from the first day; lashes if he gives her benefit before Pesah; the journey is free again from Pesah

⚠️ A textual difficulty to flag and not to decide: at seif 22 the vow is framed on what she derives from him (שאת נהנית לי), but the conclusion speaks of benefit from her (ליהנות ממנה). Seif 23 and the Rambam in chapter 10 write in the feminine, אסורה ליהנות. We copy the source as it stands.

8. Master table — the twenty-three seifim in the order of the book

The mechanisms above rearrange the siman; this table restores it to the order of the Shulhan Arukh. The last column points to the mechanism where the rule was set out.

Seif	Formula	What is decided	Mechanism
Seif 1	היום · יום אחד · יום	Nightfall / 24 h from the vow; a שאלה for the first, save mitzva and fast	A · B
Seif 2	ביום שאעשה … · אותו היום ולמחרתו	Like “today”; over two days the night between is included	B
Seif 3	שבוע זה · שבוע אחד	End of the week, Shabbat included, no שאלה / seven days from hour to hour	A · B
Seif 4	חדש זה	Until Rosh Hodesh, even a two-day one — לשון בני אדם	B · E
Seif 5	חדש אחד · חדש	From date to date; a defective month suffices (Chakh)	A
Seif 6	השנה זו	Until Rosh Hashana; the year is counted from Tishrei	B
Seif 7	שנה אחת · שנה זו במעוברת	12 months, 13 if intercalated; “this year” does not pass Tishrei	A · B
Seif 8	עד ר״ח אדר · עד סוף אדר	Adar I / end of Adar II; the Rambam reads Adar II if he knew	B · E
Seif 9	שמיטה זו	The whole cycle, seventh year included	B
Seif 10	שמיטה אחת · שמיטה	Seven years from hour to hour	A
Seif 11	עד הפסח · עד שיהיה · עד פני	Entry / exit / disputed	C
Seif 12	עד הקציר · עד שיהיה הקציר	Arrival in both — the time is not fixed	D
Seif 13	לפי המקום	The place of the vow at its hour, to stringency and leniency	D
Seif 14	קציר סתם	Wheat, save a majority local usage	D · E
Seif 15	עד זמן משתה בנו	Doubt as to fixity, stringency; the Rama makes him wait even after a death (the Chakh dissents)	C · D
Seif 16	עד הקיץ	When figs are brought in in baskets	D
Seif 17	עד שיעבור הקיץ	When the fig-knives are put away	D
Seif 18	עד הגשם · עד הגשמים	A date, rain or not / actual rain from the second revi‘a	C · D
Seif 19	עד שיפסקו הגשמים	Until Pesah has passed	C
Seif 20	בחג	The last festival day is in — לשון בני אדם	E
Seif 21	מה שאת עושה … עד הפסח	By the word’s place: benefit bounded, or work forbidden forever	F
Seif 22	עד פסח … עד החג	Forbidden at once from retroactive fear; does not outlast Pesah	F
Seif 23	עד החג … עד הפסח	Forbidden at once; lashes if the condition is met; journey free from Pesah	F

9. The disputes left open

Where	The question	Left open because
סעיף ג · ס״ק י	Is a שאלה needed after “this week”?	The Rama and the Taz say no; the Bah with the Raf and the Bartenura say yes
ט״ז ס״ק ב · נקה״כ א	Does a vernacular word for “week” include the Shabbat?	The Taz excludes it save in numeric use; the Nekudot HaKesef always include it, save where the object of the vow shows otherwise
סעיף ח · ס״ק י״ז	“Until Adar” when the year is intercalated	The Mehaber reads Adar I, the Rambam Adar II if he knew; the Chakh inclines to stringency and proposes יחלוקו for documents
סעיף טו · ס״ק כ״ז	The feast of the son who died before the date	The Rama makes him wait; the Chakh holds the vow fallen and ends on צ״ע; the Taz recalls that the Terumat HaDeshen concluded permissively
סעיף יח · ס״ק ל״א	The date of the first revi‘a	The Rambam and the Mehaber say 17 Marheshvan, the Rosh, Tur, Rashi and Raavad the 7th; the Chakh objects to the Rambam from his own Hilkhot Tefila and ends on צ״ע
סעיף כג · ט״ז ס״ק כ	Who takes the lashes	The Ran says the wife, by לא יחל; the Rambam says the husband who gives her benefit; the Pit’hei Teshuva refers to the Mishkenot Yaakov

These six points are not decided on a page. A real case is put to a Rav.

10. The vocabulary of the siman

מעת לעת — 24 hours from the hour of the vow

מיום ליום — From date to date

זמנו קבוע — A terminus with a date

אין זמנו ידוע — A terminus with no date: harvest, summer, rains

עד שיגיע — To stop at the entry

עד שיצא — To pass through to the exit

רביעה — The rain that “settles” on the earth; three dates

שאלה לחכם · פתח — The release, and the opening that grounds it

לשון בני אדם — Usage, which overrides reckoning and category

פז״ר קש״ב — The six titles by which Shemini Atseret is a separate festival

סתם אדר — “Adar” unqualified in a thirteen-month year

לא יחל — The prohibition of profaning one’s word — transgressed at seif 23

11. Golden rules, mnemonic and classic pitfalls

Mnemonic. This points at a point; one counts a course. And for crossing: עד = the door, עד שיהיה = the house — unless the house has no address, and then one always stops at the door.

Thinking that היום lasts a day. It lasts until nightfall and not a minute longer — even if spoken a minute before.
Forgetting the שאלה after a vow of היום that is already over. The vow is spent; the request remains required.
Counting מעת לעת from the morning. It is from the hour of the vow (Chakh ס״ק א).
Treating the article as nothing. השנה behaves like שנה זו, not like שנה (Chakh ס״ק ט).
Thinking the language of men only ever lightens. At ס״ק י״ב it tightens: one who vows on the first day of Rosh Hodesh is bound for the whole new month.
Applying the עד / עד שיהיה distinction to the harvest or the rains. It does not operate there: the time is not fixed.
Thinking “until the harvest” is read off a calendar. It is the harvest in fact, at the place of the vow (Chakh ס״ק כ״א; seif 13).
Confusing the two constructions of seifim 22 and 23. The first has a short prohibition and a long condition; the second the reverse — and the journey is free only in the second.

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DAAT · הרב יוסף חיים סממה
תלמיד חכם · מעביר שיעורים בהלכה ובחסידות
סימן ר״כ · Level 3 — Synthesis · חילוק שבין קונם יין להיום או לזמן ודין הנודר על דבר שאינו קבוע
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