Yoreh De’ah 203, Vows To Fulfill a Mitzvah, Even HaEzer 129, Names in a Get
Nedarim 8a raises the question of an oath to observe a pre-existing mitzvah, recorded by AH in Yoreh De’ah 203; 13. Although a Jew cannot add an oath to an oath (this is true of prohibitions in general, a completely similar prohibition cannot be added to a pre-existing one), and all Jews are mushba ve-omed me-har Sinai, were already sworn at Sinai to fulfill the Torah, David HaMelech tells us he swore to observe God’s laws, and will fulfill the oath, Tehillim 119;106.
[I pause over mushba ve-omed, the idea each of us comes into this world committed to a set of rules and requirements. We have our childhoods to grow into them, but as Jews, we are supposed to know we are born with significant guidance/restrictions as to who we can turn out to be. Jewish history, and the current Orthodox world, show there is yet much freedom for personal development and input, but I worry the point is often lost or overlooked. We are mushba ve-omed me-har Sinai, bound by oath from Sinai.]
Rosh thinks the Gemara means to tell us such an oath is acceptable, we need not worry problems will arise in its fulfillment, although he also holds it is not valid, that the Gemara considered it a good way to spur oneself to greater alacrity. Halachically, this person has no more of an oath than before s/he took it, in Rosh’s view. Ran added another piece, the Gemara expects even those who avoid oath-taking to opt for this form of self-encouragement.
Oaths About Torah Study
Se’if fourteen takes up what might seem only a specific instance of the idea, when someone swears to study a particular section of the Torah. The Gemara calls it a neder gadol lElokei Yisrael, a great oath (Ran points out it’s really a shevu’ah, a vow, and says the Gemara frequently interchanges the two) to the God of Israel. Rosh indeed dismissed this as the same point, this is like a vow to give charity, despite the existing obligation.
AH thought Rosh could have thought the vow had no real affect, since Jews are required to learn all of Torah [a claim he discusses/debates in the next se’if, so his comment should surprise us; R. Moshe Feinstein said much the same, male Jews are really obligated to learn all of Torah, and AH himself tried to codify all halachah]. The value of such a neder lies in directing oneself more specifically.
Still, the Jew is mushba ve-omed, asked and answered. What is new here?
This Torah, Not That
The Gemara’s reply deepens our understanding of the obligation of Torah study. We could exempt ourselves by reciting Shema morning and evening (as another Talmudic passage says), so this oath takes full effect, this Jew now has an oath-obligation to study that section of Torah. AH says earlier authorities noted the commitment at Sinai did not specify what to learn, making this oath legally enforceable.
He also agreed with earlier writers who rejected the Gemara’s literal phrasing, since the recitation of Shema doesn’t obviously constitute Torah study. They say the Gemara intended to say the Jew could get away with some symbolic minimal piece of learning (such as the passages we say before birchot haShachar, the morning blessings that kick off communal prayer), with the same result, the vow to learn x creates a real vow.
AH is not satisfied, because there still is a pre-existing mitzvah to learn all of Torah, even if we are not told what to study when. He prefers an answer Ran gave in his commentary to Nedarim, the idea Jews must know all of Torah is inferred in Kiddushin 30a. The Torah writes ve-shinantam levanecha, and the Gemara took it to indicate we are to be fluent in all of Torah.
Oaths can take effect on what is inferred from Torah, said Ran, just not what is explicit.
Bringing Friends Along to Torah Study
Another kind of vow to study Torah can happen when one Jew says to another, let’s wake up early to learn together. The person who suggested the idea must be there first, said Nimmukei Yosef, even if he’s the teacher (and would ordinarily have the right to the respect of the students being sure to precede him), even if the whole point was for the student to learn to rise earlier.
