נדרים ח׳:ה׳ — עד הגשמים

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Until the Rains — Pesach as an Endpoint for Vows

עַד הַגְּשָׁמִים — פֶּסַח כְּנְקֻדַּת סִיּוּם

Nedarim 8:5

עַד הַגְּשָׁמִים, עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ הַגְּשָׁמִים, עַד שֶׁתֵּרֵד רְבִיעָה שְׁנִיָּה. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, עַד שֶׁיַּגִּיעַ זְמַנָּהּ שֶׁל רְבִיעָה.

עַד שֶׁיִּפָּסְקוּ גְשָׁמִים — עַד שֶׁיֵּצֵא נִיסָן כֻּלּוֹ, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, עַד שֶׁיַּעֲבֹר הַפֶּסַח.

קוֹנָם יַיִן שֶׁאֵינִי טוֹעֵם הַשָּׁנָה — נִתְעַבְּרָה הַשָּׁנָה, אָסוּר בָּהּ וּבְעִבּוּרָהּ. עַד רֹאשׁ אֲדָר — עַד רֹאשׁ אֲדָר הָרִאשׁוֹן. עַד סוֹף אֲדָר — עַד סוֹף אֲדָר הָרִאשׁוֹן.

רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, קוֹנָם יַיִן שֶׁאֵינִי טוֹעֵם עַד שֶׁיְּהֵא הַפֶּסַח — אֵינוֹ אָסוּר אֶלָּא עַד לֵיל הַפֶּסַח, שֶׁלֹּא נִתְכַּוֵּן זֶה אֶלָּא עַד שָׁעָה שֶׁדֶּרֶךְ בְּנֵי אָדָם לִשְׁתּוֹת יָיִן.

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נֶדֶר הַגְּשָׁמִים: Vows Tied to the Rain Season

Three phrases for the start of rain — and a dispute on when rains are considered to have ended

Vows Referencing the Arrival of Rain

עַד הַגְּשָׁמִים / עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ הַגְּשָׁמִים

Both phrases mean: until the second rainfall (רְבִיעָה שְׁנִיָּה) arrives. The second rain is the halachic threshold for the rainy season having properly begun.

עַד שֶׁתֵּרֵד רְבִיעָה שְׁנִיָּה

Explicitly until the second rainfall — Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: until the time of the second rainfall arrives, even if it has not yet actually fallen.

Dispute: When Do the Rains "End"?

רַבִּי מֵאִיר

עַד שֶׁיֵּצֵא נִיסָן כֻּלּוֹ

Until all of Nissan has passed — the entire month of Nissan is considered rain season. Even if no rain has fallen, the season legally continues through 30 Nissan.

רַבִּי יְהוּדָה

עַד שֶׁיַּעֲבֹר הַפֶּסַח

Until Pesach passes — Pesach marks the end of the rain season. Once the festival ends, rains are no longer expected and the vow expires.

🔗 Connection: Taanis 1:3

R. Yehudah's ruling here — that Pesach marks the end of the rain season — is the mirror image of Taanis 1:3, where Rabban Gamliel anchors the beginning of rain prayers to 7 Cheshvan. Both mishnayot use the festivals as the outer boundaries of the rain calendar: Sukkos opens it, Pesach closes it.

נֶדֶר יַיִן: The Wine Vow and the Leap Year Problem

What happens when someone vows to abstain from wine "this year" — and the year is then declared a leap year?

קוֹנָם יַיִן שֶׁאֵינִי טוֹעֵם הַשָּׁנָה — The Annual Wine Vow

קוֹנָם יַיִן שֶׁאֵינִי טוֹעֵם הַשָּׁנָה — נִתְעַבְּרָה הַשָּׁנָה — אָסוּר בָּהּ וּבְעִבּוּרָהּ

Someone vows: "Wine is forbidden to me this year." The year is then declared a leap year — he is forbidden for the original year AND the added month. The intercalated Adar II is legally part of "this year."

The vow is interpreted at the moment it was made — the person said "this year," and the year turned out to be 13 months. The extended year is still the same "year" he vowed about.

הַשָּׁנָה — בָּהּ וּבְעִבּוּרָהּ
The year includes its extension

Adar Vows in a Leap Year

עַד רֹאשׁ אֲדָר

In a leap year: until Rosh Chodesh Adar I — the first Adar. The vow expires at the first occurrence of the named month.

עַד סוֹף אֲדָר

In a leap year: until the end of Adar I — not Adar II. The default reading is the first Adar unless specified otherwise.

רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: קוֹנָם יַיִן שֶׁאֵינִי טוֹעֵם עַד שֶׁיְּהֵא הַפֶּסַח — אֵינוֹ אָסוּר אֶלָּא עַד לֵיל הַפֶּסַח, שֶׁלֹּא נִתְכַּוֵּן זֶה אֶלָּא עַד שָׁעָה שֶׁדֶּרֶךְ בְּנֵי אָדָם לִשְׁתּוֹת יָיִן

R. Yehudah's remarkable ruling: "until Pesach has been" for a wine vow means only until Pesach night — because the vow-maker's intent was to abstain until the time when people customarily drink wine. Pesach night is that time. Intent overrides literal language.

הַמַּסְקָנָה — Pesach at the Center of the Calendar

Nedarim 8:5 uses Pesach as a natural endpoint in three distinct contexts: the close of the rain season (R. Yehudah), the annual wine vow that spans a leap year, and R. Yehudah's intent-based reading that Pesach night is when people drink wine. In each case, Pesach is not a religious technicality but a lived social reality — everyone knows when it is, what it means, and how people behave around it. Together with Nedarim 8:2, this mishnah shows that Pesach functions as the calendar's most reliable fixed point: farmers, vow-makers, and courts all orient themselves by it.