daf bit: Nedarim 46

[cellio]

Precision matters. If one makes a vow of abstinence to his neighbor, vowing not to enter "your house" or benefit from "your field", and then the neighbor dies or sells the house or field, then the vow no longer applies (it's no longer "your" property). If, on the other hand, one vows concerning "this house" or "this field", that's forever. So says the mishna, and the g'mara here does not conclude otherwise. (46a)

I don't see any discussion here about whether "your house" (etc) follows the owner -- if you make such a vow and then your neighbor moves, are you forbidden to enter his new home (since you are no longer barred from the old one)? Or does a vow only apply when the object of said vow was known at the time it was made?

Comments

[eub.livejournal.com]

I don't see any discussion here about whether "your house" (etc) follows the owner -- if you make such a vow and then your neighbor moves, are you forbidden to enter his new home (since you are no longer barred from the old one)? Or does a vow only apply when the object of said vow was known at the time it was made?

You, sir, are a computer programmer and a specifier of language semantics.

[cellio]

Indeed. :-) Sometimes the rabbis behave that way too; they don't always consider all cases, but when they do, the level of analytical precision can get quite high.