נדרים 54:1 — Soncino English Talmud

MISHNAH. HE WHO VOWS [TO ABSTAIN] FROM VEGETABLES IS PERMITTED GOURDS. R. AKIBA FORBIDS THEM. THE [SAGES] SAID TO HIM, BUT WHEN A MAN SAYS TO HIS AGENT 'FETCH ME VEGETABLES, HE REPLIES, I COULD OBTAIN ONLY GOURDS. HE ANSWERED, EXACTLY: BUT WOULD HE SAY, 'I COULD OBTAIN ONLY PULSE?' BUT THAT GOURDS ARE INCLUDED IN VEGETABLES, WHILST PULSE IS [DEFINITELY] NOT. HE IS [ALSO] FORBIDDEN FRESH EGYPTIAN BEANS. BUT PERMITTED THE DRY SPECIES]. GEMARA. HE WHO VOWS [TO ABSTAIN] FROM VEGETABLES etc. But he vowed [to abstain] from vegetables! — Said 'Ulla: This refers to one who vows. 'The vegetables of the pot [be forbidden] to me.' But perhaps he meant vegetables which are eaten [with food cooked] in a pot? — He said: 'Vegetables that are cooked in a pot [he forbidden] to me.' Wherein do they differ? — The Rabbis maintain: Whatever an agent must inquire about does not belong to the same species; but R. Akiba maintains, Whatever the agent needs inquire about is of the same species. Abaye said: R. Akiba admits in respect to punishment that he is not flagellated. We learnt elsewhere: If the agent carried out his commission, the principal is guilty of a trespass; if he did not carry out his commission, he himself is guilty of a trespass. With which Tanna does this agree? R. Hisda said: Our Mishnah does not agree with R. Akiba. For we learnt: Thus, if he said to him, 'Give the guests meat, and he gave them liver; '[give them] liver,' and he gave them meat, the agent is guilty of a trespass. But if this agrees with R. Akiba: did he not say. Whatever an agent must inquire about, belongs to that species? In that case, the principal, and not the agent, should be liable to a trespass-[offering]? Abaye said, This may agree even with R. Akiba:^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ

^ᵃnote:If only pulse were obtainable, he would simply report that vegetables were unobtainable.
^ᵇnote:These are two different species, the fresh regarded as a vegetable, the dry a cereal, because it is ground into flour.
^ᶜnote:Which gourds are certainly not.
^ᵈnote:And since gourds are boiled in pots, R. Akiba maintains that they are included.
^ᵉnote:E.g., onions, which are put in a pot for seasoning.
^ᶠnote:This most refer to something prepared for itself, and not mere seasoning.
^ᵍnote:A servant, being told to buy vegetables and finding only gourds, would ask his master whether these would do.
^ʰnote:For if not, he would reject them immediately.
^ⁱnote:For eating them. Though he forbids them, it is not certain that they are vegetables.
^ʲnote:Lit., 'householder'.
^ᵏnote:V. Me'il, 20a. The reference is to hekdesh (q.v. Glos.), which must not be appropriated for secular use; if it is (unwittingly), a trespass-offering must be brought, v. Lev. V, 14. Now, if one instructs his agent to do this, and his instructions are exactly carried out, he is responsible; if not, the agent is held to have acted of his own accord and is himself responsible.
^ˡnote:Continuing the Mishnah quoted.
^ᵐnote:It should be observed that by offering this hekdesh to the guests the agent has already misappropriated it by withdrawing it from sacred to secular ownership. The sacrifice is due for that withdrawal; hence when the guests eat it. It is no longer sacred, and no obligation rests upon them.
^ⁿnote:For if one is sent to buy meat and finds only liver, he should certainly consult his master about it. Therefore, if the servant gave liver when ordered to give meat, on R. Akiba's view he carried out his master's instructions.