For the source text click/tap here: Nedarim 89
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We learn a new Mishna: Nine young women’s vows are upheld and cannot be nullified. She must have taken these vows:
1) As a grown woman and an orphan
2) As an orphan
3) As a young woman who has reached majority and an orphan
4) As a young woman you has not reached majority and is an orphan
5) As a grown woman whose father has died
6) As a young woman whose father died and then she reached majority
7) As a grown woman and father is alive
8) As a young woman who became a grown woman and her father is alive
9) As added by Rabbi Yeduda: as a minor daughter who was widowed/divorced and returned to her father while she is still a young woman by age.
The rabbis clarify: three young women cannot have their vows nullified: a grown woman, an orphan, and an orphan in her father’s lifetime.
We explore the mythology of the nine sisters and the fascinating speculation of St Michael’s line running from Ireland to Haifa (ley lines) by John Mitchell.