Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”LTo sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.comNullification of Vows. Avenging Midian.Nullification of VowsWhen Moshe would teach different parts of Torah, he would teach the Princes of the tribes first (as well as the very learned people who were like leaders) to honor them and only afterwards the rest of the nation.At the start of today’s Chumash, Moshe is instructed to teach them the laws regarding the nullification of vows.A vow is when someone says that they take upon themselves not to eat or do a certain thing. Sometimes the thing they are not eating or doing is called a “konam” which is another word for sacrifice. As if to say that they are abstaining from that thing the way they are abstaining from eating an offering which is indeed forbidden to eat.A person may vow to abstain from something which is allowed however one may not vow to do or eat something which is forbidden (eg. to eat a neviela (an animal which was not ritually slaughtered).Ideally vows must be nullified by someone who is an expert however if no expert is around, it can be done by three common people.When a sage revokes a vow, the language he uses is that the thing which was vowed against is not permitted, however if a husband revokes the vow of his wife, the language used is that the vow is nullified. This language is very particular and if the sage and/or husband reverse what they are supposed to say, the revocation of the vow does not hold.If a man makes a vow he is bound to it.If a woman makes a vow, it depends.If she is a minor, her vows are not binding.If she is at least 11 years old, her vow is examined and if she realized Whom she was vowing to (i.e. to G-d), then her vow is binding, however if she did not, then it is not.If she is 12 years old or older, there is no need to investigate her vows in this manner and her vows are binding.If she is at least 12 years old and has developed certain signs of puberty, she is considered to be under the authority of her father (she doesn’t necessarily need to be living in his house), she is what is called a Na’arah (literally “youth”) and while she is obligated in all the commandments, there are some laws in which she is still considered to be within her father’s domain. Vows are one of these.A girl becomes an adult (i.e a bogert) 1/2 year after being a n’eara and at that point she is no longer considered to be under her father’s authority.If she is as such considered to be under her father’s authority, if her father does not hold her back from making her vow, her vow stands, however if he nullifies her vow for her, it is considered nullified.If a woman is what is called an arusah, meaning that she went through the first stage of marriage (kiddushin or erusin – where the groom gives the bride a ring or some other object of value and she is not allowed to any other man however she does not yet live with the groom but rather in her father’s house) then both her groom and father need to nullify her vows.If the father was not aware of her vow, it is not able to be nullified.If the father nullified the vow before the erusin, the husband cannot then change the status of this vow.If a married woman takes a vow of nezirus, if the husband lets it be then the vow stands however if he nullifies it then it is nullified. If her husband nullifies it but the woman doesn’t realize that he had nullified it and she violates her vow by drinking wine, she requires forgiveness for her intent to break the vow, but G-d forgives her.A widow or divorcee (from erusin) to a man then returns to being under her father’s authority. However if she is a widow or divorcee from a full marriage (nisuin) she is under her own authority.A husband may only nullify vows of personal affliction for his wife and he may only nullify it up until nightfall of the day he hears the vow.If a husband deceives his wife into thinking that he nullifed her vow even though he upheld it, and she violates it, the sin is on him.Revenge on MidianG-d tells Moshe to take revenge on the Midianites for Him. Rashi explains here that the revenge is against G-d since anyone who fights Israel it is as if they fought G-d.There are several possibilities as to why He does not instruct him to take revenge on the Moabites though they were also part of the sin:The Moabites got involved out of fear that the Israelites would steal from them or alternatively because of the two “fine young doves” which came from them, namely Ruth (from Moav) and Na’ama (from Ammon – she married ...
