This week we read the Parsha of נדרים .it would be more fair if we name it פרשת נדרים ואסרים... please realize that the Torah repeats and differentiates 14 times between נדרים and אסרים .not ONCE does it say נדרים, without "אסרים".

the former, is fully described: "נדר לד"--every neder is actually ''promising to give something to hashem'' in the most simple form a Korban, animal bird or flour&oil.

it may also be a חרם ,as we had last week וידר ישראל נדר.. והחרמתי את עריהם in a חרם all spoil is taboo=nobody may derive any הנאה from it --it belongs to hashem.

In torah we find מוצא שפתיך תשמור ועשית כאשר נדרת ,according to Peshat,referring to various קרבנות that you were נודר in time of desperation ,you must bring them when you are saved--never do we find in torah a neder of Konam type.

when we learn מסכת נדרים,we find a wide extension that Chazal understood from the ''simple נדר" . namely:קונם שאני אוכל לך ,anything that i wish to eat from you i am declaring it as a Korban.We are using the idea of a קרבן לד , you may "give up to Hashem the pleasure of so and so" Please understand this fully.

the second type is called in its full form:שבועת אסר . an oath of restricting.as opposed to vows of שומרים etc. This is a " vow"-- you are placing all your happiness and success under a "curse" if i will/wont do so and so-- this is the real meaning of a vow,again ,every vow is in essence a curse שבועה בו ארור,וכן שבועת סוטה עיקרה ארור

התר נדרים פורחין באויר ואין להם על מה שיסמוכו(מתניתין חגיגה)סוף .One of the most striking things is the idea of התר נדרים .In פרשת נדרים we don't find any reference to it (don't confuse with הפרה בין בעל לאשתו ואב לבתו ) But we know that in תורה שבעל פה Hashem told משה the הלכות of התרה ע'פ חכם ,this was handed over generation after generation as a clear and undisputed fact. this was so well known and self understood,that in מסכת נדרים it is NOT MENTIONED!!! .See perek 9 for a discussion of which פתחים are OK and which not,but we don't have a Mishna :מתירין את הנדרים or התרת נדרים כיצד .Imagine you have a car manual telling you what your car insurance must cover,but not telling you the simple fact :you must get insurance (& the meaning of "insurance"...i am sure George Washington didn't know what this word means)

To sum up, one of the greatest "proofs" of תורה שבעל פה us in this פרשה .Klal Yisrael knew for ever--since Matan Torah--the concept of התרת נדרים although It wasn't written in the Torah