Siman 233 — the age from which a child’s vows bind (יורה דעה רל״ג)
The text, its translation, and the four apparatus entries
יורה דעה · סימן רל״ג
עונת נדרים לזכר ולנקבה
🌱 Foundation level · מתחילים
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A siman of a single seif, and three periods in a child’s life: before, when his word has no grip even if he understands; the year of examination, when it binds if he knows in whose name he vowed; and after, when it binds even if he does not.
Subject: The age from which a child’s vows bind Source: שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן רל״ג (1 seif)
Compiled by: הרב יוסף חיים סממה DAAT · daattorah.com
Plan of study
1. The principle — עונת נדרים, the year before majority
2. The text of the Shulḥan Arukh, clause by clause
3. The vocabulary: עונת נדרים · מופלא סמוך לאיש · בדיקה · שתי שערות
4. Where it comes from: the mishnah in נדה, the Rambam, the Tur
5. The apparatus, entry by entry — and two absences
6. The revision table
7. Three real situations
8. Check yourself
1. The principle — the year that precedes majority
The siman bears a heading of a single term: “ עונת נדרים לזכר ולנקבה ” (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א) — “the season of vows, for the male and for the female”. It is not about majority, nor about liability to punishment: it is about one year, the one that precedes majority, during which a child’s word can already bind.
The siman in one sentence. A boy of twelve years and a day, a girl of eleven years and a day: their vows hold if they know in whose name they vowed. They are examined, and examined throughout that whole year, every time. Before that age, even if they know, the vow does not hold. After majority — thirteen years and a day, twelve years and a day — the vow holds even if they do not know.
2. The text of the Shulḥan Arukh
The siman has a single seif. Here it is in full, with its opening line, and then clause by clause.
Single seif — the three periods of a child’s life as regards vows
עונת נדרים לזכר ולנקבה. ובו סעיף אחד: קטן בן י״ב שנה ויום אחד וקטנה בת י״א שנה ויום אחד אם יודעים לשם מי נדרו ונשבעו נדריהם נדר ושבועתם שבועה אע״פ שלא הביאו ב׳ שערות ובודקין שנת י״ג לזכר ושנת י״ב לנקיבה וקודם שיש י״ב לזכר וי״א לנקיבה אפילו יודעים לשם מי נודרים אינו נדר: הגה וגוערים בהם ומכין אותן שלא ילמדו לשונם בנדרים ושבועות ואם הוא דבר קטן וקל ואין בו עינוי נפש אומרים להם שיעמדו בנדרם ושבועתם כדי שלא ירגילו עצמם בזה. (רמב״ם פי״ב מהל׳ שבועות סמ״ג וכל בו): ומי״ג ויום אחד ואילך לזכר ומי״ב ויום אחד לנקיבה אע״פ שאין יודעים לשם מי נודרים נדריהם נדר:
« קטן בן י״ב שנה ויום אחד וקטנה בת י״א שנה ויום אחד אם יודעים לשם מי נדרו ונשבעו נדריהם נדר ושבועתם שבועה » (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
A boy of twelve years and one day, and a girl of eleven years and one day: if they know in whose name they vowed and swore, their vows are vows and their oaths are oaths
Three things to note. One: the year’s difference between boy and girl tracks exactly the difference in their majority — thirteen and twelve. In each case it is the preceding year. Two: the condition is not general intelligence but one precise piece of knowledge — לשם מי, in whose name. Three: the seif puts vows and oaths on the same footing.
« אע״פ שלא הביאו ב׳ שערות » (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
even though they have not produced two hairs
The שתי שערות are the physical sign of majority. The seif therefore says expressly that this regime does not depend on them: it is a regime prior to majority, not an anticipation of its signs.
« ובודקין שנת י״ג לזכר ושנת י״ב לנקיבה » (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
and one examines [during] the thirteenth year for the boy and the twelfth for the girl
The examination is not an event but a state: it runs through the whole year. The Shakh will draw from this the practical consequence of the siman — see section 5.
« וקודם שיש י״ב לזכר וי״א לנקיבה אפילו יודעים לשם מי נודרים אינו נדר » (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
and before the boy is twelve and the girl eleven, even if they know in whose name they vow, it is not a vow
The lower boundary is absolute, and the word אפילו underlines it: knowledge does not substitute for age. Below it, a child’s word has no grip, however mature he may be.
« וגוערים בהם ומכין אותן שלא ילמדו לשונם בנדרים ושבועות » (רמ״א יו״ד רל״ג:א)
And one rebukes them and strikes them, so that they do not accustom their tongue to vows and oaths
The Rama moves from law to education, and does so precisely where the law stops: the vow does not bind, but the habit of vowing is acquired. His source is named at the end of the gloss: “ רמב״ם פי״ב מהל׳ שבועות סמ״ג וכל בו ” (רמ״א יו״ד רל״ג:א).
« ואם הוא דבר קטן וקל ואין בו עינוי נפש אומרים להם שיעמדו בנדרם ושבועתם כדי שלא ירגילו עצמם בזה » (רמ״א יו״ד רל״ג:א)
and if it is a small and light matter, in which there is no affliction of the soul, one tells them to stand by their vow and their oath, so that they do not accustom themselves to this
The reasoning is that of ḥinukh, and it is deliberately inverted. They are made to keep a word that does not bind them, so that they learn that a word binds. The limit is set in advance: אין בו עינוי נפש, nothing that causes the child distress.
« ומי״ג ויום אחד ואילך לזכר ומי״ב ויום אחד לנקיבה אע״פ שאין יודעים לשם מי נודרים נדריהם נדר » (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
And from thirteen years and a day onward for the boy, and from twelve years and a day for the girl, even though they do not know in whose name they vow, their vows are vows.
The third period, and it reverses the condition. Before majority it is knowledge that makes the vow. After it, it is age — and knowledge is no longer tested. Note that the seif ends where many would think it begins.
3. The vocabulary of the siman
עונת נדרים — “the season of vows”. It is the technical name of the year preceding majority, during which a child’s vows can bind. The Rambam says so expressly: “ וְזוֹ הִיא עוֹנַת נְדָרִים הָאֲמוּרָה בְּכָל מָקוֹם ” (רמב״ם הלכות נדרים פרק י״א הלכה ג׳).
מופלא הסמוך לאיש — literally “the discerning one, close to manhood”. It is the classic designation of the child in that year. The Rambam makes it an institution of the Torah itself — see section 4.
בדיקה — the examination. It is not about general intelligence but about one question: does he know in whose name he vowed? And it is repeated, as the Shakh says, at every vow.
שתי שערות — the two hairs, physical sign of majority. The seif sets them aside where it makes the vow depend on knowledge, and the Shakh ס״ק ב extends that exemption to the last period: before majority knowledge counts, after it age does.
עינוי נפש — affliction of the soul. It is the limit the Rama sets on ḥinukh: a child is held to a light word, never to one that causes him suffering.
The mishnah gives the three periods, in the same order as our seif. It uses two words the Shulḥan Arukh has fused into one: נבדקין — “their vows are examined” — for the year of examination, and קיימין — “they stand” — for the age of majority. The Meḥaber rendered the first by the condition “אם יודעים” and the second by “אע״פ שאין יודעים”.
The Rambam sets the examination down as an act — בודקין אותן ושואלין אותן, they are examined and questioned — and at once gives its temporal reach. His halakha ב is exactly what the Shakh will take up here at ס״ק א.
« וְדָבָר זֶה מִדִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָה שֶׁהַמֻּפְלָא הַסָּמוּךְ לְאִישׁ הֶקְדֵּשׁוֹ וְנִדְרוֹ נֵדֶר » (רמב״ם הלכות נדרים פרק י״א הלכה ד׳)
Two assertions, and they do not pull the same way. The first makes the מופלא הסמוך לאיש an institution of the Torah. The second says he is not flogged if he transgresses. The connection between them is the material of level 2.
The Rambam — הלכות שבועות פרק י״ב, the source of the Rama’s gloss
« וְאִם הָיָה הַדָּבָר שֶׁנִּשְׁבְּעוּ עָלָיו דָּבָר שֶׁאֵין הַקָּטָן יָכוֹל לַעֲמֹד בּוֹ אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן נִזָּק » (רמב״ם הלכות שבועות פרק י״ב הלכה ז׳)
« מַכֶּה אוֹתוֹ אָבִיו אוֹ רַבּוֹ וְגוֹעֵר בּוֹ וּמַרְאִין לוֹ שֶׁהֻתְּרָה שְׁבוּעָתוֹ כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה רָגִיל לְהָקֵל רֹאשׁ בִּשְׁבוּעוֹת » (רמב״ם הלכות שבועות פרק י״ב הלכה ז׳)
« צָרִיךְ לְהִזָּהֵר בַּקְּטַנִּים הַרְבֵּה וּלְלַמֵּד לְשׁוֹנָם דִּבְרֵי אֱמֶת בְּלֹא שְׁבוּעָה כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיוּ רְגִילִים לְהִשָּׁבַע תָּמִיד » (רמב״ם הלכות שבועות פרק י״ב הלכה ח׳)
Compare with the Rama’s gloss, and the divergence shows. The Rambam attaches the compulsion to keep one’s word to the ordinary case, and the blows to the case of a vow the child cannot keep without harm. The Rama attaches the blows to the habit of vowing, and the compulsion to keep one’s word to the light case. It is not the same distribution — and that is the subject of the fourth question in level 2.
The Tur — and a clause the Shulḥan Arukh did not carry over
« ומיהו אינן לוקין אם חללו נדרן ועבדו על שבועתן עד שיגדלו » (טור יורה דעה רל״ג)
The Tur adds here what the Rambam also says: the child is not flogged before his majority. The Shulḥan Arukh omitted this clause, although it follows the Tur almost word for word for everything else. We flag it without settling it. And a digitisation typo is to be noted: the electronic edition of the Tur prints ועבדו where ועברו is evidently meant. We copy without restoring.
5. The apparatus, entry by entry
This siman carries four entries: two of the Shakh, one of the Ba’er Hetev, one of the Pitḥei Teshuva.
The Shakh — two entries
ס״ק א, on “ ובודקין שנת י״ג לזכר ושנת י״ב לנקיבה ” (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א). And here is what it brings:
« שאפילו בדקם בתחלת השנה ונמצאו שיודעים לשם מי נדרו אם נדרו אחר כך בסוף שנה אינו נדר עד שיבדקם פעם אחרת טור ועב״י » (ש״ך יו״ד רל״ג ס״ק א)
In other words: a child examined in Tishrei and found to know is not thereby examined for the year. If he vows again in Nisan, the examination must be repeated. The Shakh names his sources — the Tur, and see the Beit Yosef — and this is exactly the Rambam’s halakha ב quoted above.
ס״ק ב, on the last clause of the seif:
« ומי״ג ויום א׳ ואילך כו׳. אע״פ שלא הביאו ב׳ שערות » (ש״ך יו״ד רל״ג ס״ק ב)
The Meḥaber had placed “אע״פ שלא הביאו ב׳ שערות” at the first period; the Shakh applies it to the third as well. That is consistent: after majority of age, neither knowledge nor signs are required.
The Ba’er Hetev — one entry
« יודעים. אע״פ שלא הביאו שתי שערות. ש״ך » (באר היטב יו״ד רל״ג ס״ק א)
The Ba’er Hetev reports the Shakh, and names him. His lemma is יודעים, the word of the seif’s last clause — that is, the same place as the Shakh’s ס״ק ב.
The Pitḥei Teshuva — one entry
« עב״ה ועיין בספר לח״מ ומל״מ פי״א מהלכות נדרים ועיין בתשובות משכנות יעקב סימן נ״ז מ״ש בזה » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד רל״ג ס״ק א)
The Pitḥei Teshuva adds no halakha: he opens a library. He refers to the Ba’er Hetev, then to the Leḥem Mishneh and the Mishneh LaMelekh on chapter 11 of the Rambam’s הלכות נדרים, and finally to the responsa Mishkenot Yaakov 57. It is there, and not in our siman, that the status of the מופלא הסמוך לאיש is argued — see level 2.
Two works with no entry on this siman
The Taz and the Nekudot HaKesef have no entry here. Nothing about the halakha follows: the siman is brief and the Shakh says all there is. The Taz is present in force close by — seventeen entries at siman 229, thirty-four at siman 232, sixty-six at siman 234 — and the Nekudot HaKesef, which are the Shakh’s reply to the Taz, by their nature have nothing to write where the Taz is silent. Not one entry has been manufactured here to fill a column.
6. Table — each clause and its sense
Author
Text
Sense
Meḥaber
“ קטן בן י״ב שנה ויום אחד וקטנה בת י״א שנה ויום אחד אם יודעים לשם מי נדרו ונשבעו נדריהם נדר ושבועתם שבועה ” (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
Boy 12+1, girl 11+1: the vow holds if they know.
Meḥaber
“ אע״פ שלא הביאו ב׳ שערות ” (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
The signs of majority are not required.
Meḥaber
“ ובודקין שנת י״ג לזכר ושנת י״ב לנקיבה ” (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
The examination runs through the whole year.
Meḥaber
“ וקודם שיש י״ב לזכר וי״א לנקיבה אפילו יודעים לשם מי נודרים אינו נדר ” (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
Below that, knowledge does not substitute for age.
Rama
“ ואם הוא דבר קטן וקל ואין בו עינוי נפש אומרים להם שיעמדו בנדרם ושבועתם כדי שלא ירגילו עצמם בזה ” (רמ״א יו״ד רל״ג:א)
Ḥinukh, with its limit: nothing that afflicts.
Meḥaber
“ ומי״ג ויום אחד ואילך לזכר ומי״ב ויום אחד לנקיבה אע״פ שאין יודעים לשם מי נודרים נדריהם נדר ” (שו״ע יו״ד רל״ג:א)
After majority, age suffices.
Shakh
“ שאפילו בדקם בתחלת השנה ונמצאו שיודעים לשם מי נדרו אם נדרו אחר כך בסוף שנה אינו נדר עד שיבדקם פעם אחרת טור ועב״י ” (ש״ך יו״ד רל״ג ס״ק א)
The examination is repeated at every vow.
7. Practical cases
A boy of twelve and a half vows to fast
He is in the year of examination. His vow may hold — but only if he knows in whose name he vowed, and that knowledge must be ascertained, not assumed. And has he just been examined for another vow? That does not suffice: the Shakh at ס״ק א says the examination must be repeated. The matter is brought before a Rav.
A girl of ten vows to give her tzedaka every week
She is below the boundary, and the seif is categorical: אפילו יודעים… אינו נדר. There is no vow, and so nothing to release. What remains is the educational question of the Rama — and its limit: אין בו עינוי נפש.
A boy of thirteen years and a day, without signs of majority, swore in anger
He is in the third period. The seif says his oath holds even if he does not know in whose name he swore, and the Shakh at ס״ק ב specifies that the physical signs are not required. The oath stands, and to undo it the route of siman 228 is required.
8. Questions for review
Why twelve for the boy and eleven for the girl? Connect that gap to the gap in their majority.
What exactly is the question put at the בדיקה? Find the words of the seif that frame it.
The seif sets the שתי שערות aside at one end, and knowledge at the other. State the difference between the two exemptions, and say where the one that is not in the seif comes from.
At ס״ק א the Shakh draws a practical consequence from “ובודקין שנת י״ג”. Which, and from where?
The Rama says to hold the child to a vow that does not bind him. Why? And what limit does he set?
The Tur adds a clause the Shulḥan Arukh did not carry over. Which?
The Taz writes nothing here. What may be concluded — and what may not?
Going further
The vows of a girl under her father’s or her husband’s authority belong to הפרה, not to התרה: that is siman 234. Release by a sage is at siman 228, and the question of who may release at siman 231. A vow made on a mistaken belief is at siman 232.
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