✦ ❖ ✦ Level 3 — Synthesis / Revision ✦ ❖ ✦
Siman 230 — synthesis and revision (יורה דעה ר״ל)
מתירין שבועות ונדרים
A one-line siman, laid out for revision
שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן ר״ל (1 seif)
ש״ך (ד) · ט״ז (א) · באר היטב (ב) · פתחי תשובה (ב)
DAAT · הרב יוסף חיים סממה
1. The rule, in one sentence
Oaths and vows are released — including one sworn with mention of the Name. The power is entire; its use is bounded: not a priori, and never where the release reopens a transgression.
A note on the edition. This siman carries no heading in this edition: its first segment begins straight away with “ ובו סעיף אחד: ” (שו״ע יו״ד ר״ל:א). The title of this page is our own wording, and the Hebrew descriptor beside it is simply the opening words of the seif.
2. The mechanism
A man has sworn, or vowed — even on the Name
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The sage’s power reaches that far: מתירין שבועות ונדרים
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But one does not resort to it a priori: מדוחק, or for a צורך מצוה (Shakh ס״ק ב)
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And never if the release carries a נדנוד עבירה
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Standing apart: the act done in breach of an oath — a money question, hence a beit din question
3. Where it comes from
The rule — נדרים כ״ב ע״ב, where it is laid down as הלכתא. Its classic formulation — the Rambam, הלכות שבועות פרק ו׳. Its legitimacy contested and then restored — the Tur, reporting the Rif and Rav Hai Gaon, then the Rosh’s decision. The closing clause — the Mordechai, in the glosses on Shevuot, reported by the Rama.
4. The nine apparatus entries
| Entry | On | What it contributes |
|---|
| ש״ך ס״ק א | מתירין | The Maharam Mintz: impose a fast or a sum for a mitzvah, “according to the man and according to the vow”, so that vows are not taken lightly. Conclusion: “וכן נכון לעשות”. |
| ש״ך ס״ק ב | אלא מדוחק | “או לצורך מצוה” — in the name of the Rivash in the name of the Ramban. |
| ש״ך ס״ק ג | נדנוד עבירה | A cross-reference to siman 228:15, where the rule is developed. |
| ש״ך ס״ק ד | י״א | The survey of positions (Ḥoshen Mishpat 208, Sma, Baḥ) and the Rosh’s distinction between what can be undone and what cannot. Conclusion: ספיקא דדינא, the claimant bears the burden. |
| ט״ז ס״ק א | יש אומרים | The reason behind the opinion — אי עביד לא מהני — and the observation that it was not adopted. |
| באר היטב ס״ק א | בהזכרת | Reports the Maharam Mintz after the Shakh. |
| באר היטב ס״ק ב | כלום | Condenses the Ḥoshen Mishpat debate (naming siman ר״א). |
| פתחי תשובה ס״ק א | שלא למכור | The Noda BiYehuda: absolute oath against conditional oath; the second leaves the sale valid. |
| פתחי תשובה ס״ק ב | כלום | The responsa literature on the question. |
The Nekudot HaKesef have no entry on this siman. They are the Shakh’s reply to the Taz, and the Taz writes only one line here. They are found at simanim 229 and 232, four entries each. Nothing has been manufactured here to fill a column.
5. The seif, clause by clause
| Author | Text | Reach |
|---|
| Meḥaber | “ מתירין שבועות ונדרים ” (שו״ע יו״ד ר״ל:א) | The power exists. |
| Meḥaber | “ אפילו נשבע בהזכרת השם ” (שו״ע יו״ד ר״ל:א) | It covers the gravest case. |
| Rama | “ ומ״מ לא ישאל עליו לכתחלה אלא מדוחק ועיין לעיל סימן ר״ג ” (רמ״א יו״ד ר״ל:א) | Its use is exceptional. |
| Rama | “ כל נדר שיש בהתרתו נדנוד עבירה אין להתירו ” (רמ״א יו״ד ר״ל:א) | It must not reopen a transgression. |
| Rama | “ י״א כל מי שנשבע שלא לעשות איזה דבר כגון שנשבע שלא למכור חפץ פלוני ועבר ומכרו אין במכירתו כלום הואיל ועבר על שבועתו ” (רמ״א יו״ד ר״ל:א) | An opinion on the act done despite the oath. |
6. What remains open
Does the sale hold? The Rama reports here an opinion voiding it; in Ḥoshen Mishpat he writes the opposite without qualification. The Sma rules as here, the Taz says the halakha was not fixed that way, the Baḥ concludes it is a doubt in law, and the Shakh writes “ אבל הב״ח שם פסק דספיקא דדינא הוי והמע״ה וכן עיקר ” (ש״ך יו״ד ר״ל ס״ק ד). A matter for a beit din.
Which oath are we speaking of? The Pitḥei Teshuva, in the name of the Noda BiYehuda, distinguishes the absolute oath — “ הרי גוף המקח נעשה באיסור ” (פתחי תשובה יו״ד ר״ל ס״ק א) — from the conditional oath, where the sale could have been permissible. The exact wording of what was sworn decides.
What is a דוחק? Neither the Rama nor the Shakh defines it, and deliberately so: the measure is “according to the man and according to the vow”. It is weighed before a Rav.
7. Vocabulary
התרת נדרים — the release, which uproots the vow from its origin. · הזכרת השם — the gravest degree of oath. · מדוחק — under pressure. · נדנוד עבירה — the shadow of a transgression in the release itself. · אי עביד לא מהני — is an act done against the Torah’s word also void? · ספיקא דדינא — a doubt about the rule, not about the facts: in money matters, the holder keeps.
8. Recapitulation
מ for מתירין: the power exists, entire. — ד for מדוחק: but it is not resorted to for nothing. — נ for נדנוד: and never to reopen a transgression. Three letters, three stages, the whole siman.
Golden rules. (1) The power to release is not in question — its use is. (2) Always ask what the vow guarded before asking to have it released. (3) Never confuse “did he transgress?” with “does the act hold?”: these are two questions, and the second is a money question.
The line of psak
An oath or vow may be released, even one sworn on the Name; but one does not go to the sage for convenience. There must be a דוחק, or a need of a mitzvah on the Shakh’s view at ס״ק ב. A vow that guarded against a transgression is not released. And where someone has already acted against his oath, the validity of his act is a money dispute, belonging before a beit din and not before his own conscience alone. All these questions are put to a Rav.
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DAAT · הרב יוסף חיים סממה
תלמיד חכם · מעביר שיעורים בהלכה ובחסידות
סימן ר״ל · Level 3 — Synthesis · מתירין שבועות ונדרים
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