Talmud - Nedarim 73a נדרים ע״ג א׳

The Gemara rejects this conclusion as well: Here too, it is a case in which the husband says to the steward: When I hear the vow, then it will be nullified for her. The Gemara asks: Let him nullify the vows for her when he actually hears them. Why do so earlier? The Gemara answers: He reasons: Perhaps I will be preoccupied at that moment and will forget to nullify them. The question pertaining to nullification of vows without hearing them is left unresolved.

§ Rami bar Ḥama asks: With regard to a deaf man, what is the halakha with regard to his nullifying vows for his wife? If you say that a husband who is not deaf can nullify a vow without hearing it, then perhaps this is because he is capable of hearing. But with regard to a deaf man, who is not capable of hearing, perhaps this is an application of the principle derived from the statement of Rabbi Zeira.

As Rabbi Zeira said: For any amount of flour suitable for mingling with oil in a meal-offering, mingling is not indispensable for it. Even though it is a mitzva to mingle the flour and oil ab initio, if they were not mingled, the meal-offering is still valid. But for any amount of flour not suitable for mingling, mingling is indispensable for it, and such a meal-offering is invalid. The principle is: Ab initio requirements prevent the fulfillment of a mitzva in situations where they are not merely absent but impossible. In this case, the deaf man does not merely not hear the vow, it is impossible for him to do so.

Or perhaps the phrase “and her husband hears it” (Numbers 30:8) does not mean that hearing is indispensable to the nullification of a vow, so that even a deaf man can nullify his wife’s vows. Rava said: Come and hear a baraita interpreting that verse: “And her husband hears it”; this excludes the wife of a deaf man. The Gemara concludes: Learn from this baraita that a deaf man cannot nullify his wife’s vows.

§ A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Concerning a husband, what is the halakha with regard to nullifying vows for his two wives simultaneously? Do the words “but if her husband disallows her on the day that he hears it, and he nullifies her vow which is upon her” (Numbers 30:9), stated in the singular, refer specifically to one wife? Or, perhaps it does not refer specifically to one wife, and a husband can nullify the vows of more than one wife simultaneously.

Ravina said: Come and hear a baraita: In the sota ritual, performed by women suspected by their husbands of having committed adultery, two sota women are not given to drink the bitter waters as one. This is because the heart of each becomes emboldened [gas] in the presence of the other woman, and if one is guilty she will lack the humility to confess.

Rabbi Yehuda says: This is not for that reason [lo min hashem hu zeh], but because it is stated: “And he shall make her drink” (Numbers 5:27), which indicates her by herself. Similarly, the words “disallows her” (Numbers 30:9) should be read as referring specifically to a single woman, indicating that a man cannot nullify the vows of two wives simultaneously.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Nedarim 73a explores whether a husband can annul his wife’s vows without hearing them, and whether a deaf husband retains this power.