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<p>The following is from the commentary of RSRH on the Pasuk 30:4 in parashas Matos. </p>
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<p>4 But [as for] a woman, if she vows a vow to God and binds [herself]a bond in her father’s house in her youth, </p>
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<p>A man’s vow is binding on him from the outset. He can —<br>
and should (see ibid. 59a; cf. Commentary, Devarim 23:22ff.) — submit<br>
his vow to the national community and its representatives, so that they<br>
should examine the vow and decide on its fulfillment. Only in this way<br>
can a man dissolve his vow. For a man creates his position in life inde-</p>
<p>pendently, and if he binds himself with a vow that cannot be absolved,<br>
he introduces into his life a new element that is not ordinarily applicable.<br>
This element changes and individualizes his life, and, since he is independent,<br>
he is able to take this individuality into account when he shapes<br>
the conditions of his life.</p>
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Not so for a woman. The moral greatness of the woman’s calling<br>
requires that she enter a position in life created by another. The woman<br>
does not build for herself her own home. She enters the home provided<br>
by the man, and she manages it, bringing happiness to the home and<br>
nurturing everything inside the home in a spirit of sanctity and orientation<br>
toward God. The woman — even more than the man — must<br>
avoid the constraint of extraordinary guidelines in her life, for they are<br>
likely to be an impediment to her in the fulfillment of her calling.<br>
>From this standpoint, one can understand the prescriptions instituted<br>
here out of concern for the woman. The Word of God seeks to<br>
insure the vowing woman against the consequences of her own words,<br>
and therefore confers on the father and on the husband a limited<br>
right to annul vows — on the father, as regards vows of a youthful<br>
daughter still under his care; on the father and on the fiancé, as regards<br>
vows of a betrothed daughter; on the husband, as regards vows of his<br>
wife. </p>
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<p><em>b'nureha. </em>There is a deep psychological basis for the following halachah,<br>
which has no parallel anywhere in the Torah: The age of maturity<br>
for vows starts earlier than that for all the other mitzvos.<br>
In the case of the other mitzvos, this is the halachah: The male is<br>
considered an adult after his thirteenth year; the female is considered an<br>
adult after her twelfth year, for the Torah recognizes that her intelligence<br>
matures at an earlier age. Both are considered adults, only if — in addition<br>
— they have produced signs of puberty.</p>
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<p>The binding force of vows, however, begins one year earlier: in the<br>
thirteenth year for boys, and in the twelfth year for girls, provided that<br>
they know that it is to God that vows are made (Niddah 45b).</p>
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<p>In these years, the boy becomes a youth, and the girl becomes a<br>
maiden, and there is great significance to the resolutions that they vow<br>
in this period. These are resolutions uttered secretly, known only to God,<br>
but they are often decisive for a lifetime. The rich contents of the life of<br>
a noble man or noble woman are often only the ripened fruit of a resolution<br>
vowed to God in the dawn of youth. This would explain the loving<br>
seriousness with which God receives the vows of <em>narim </em>and <em>naros</em> who are<br>
maturing into His service.<br>
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