The neder may consist of performing some act in the future (either once or regularly) or abstaining from a particular type of activity of the person's choice.
[7][8] The latter case forbids the object's benefit to the person making the neder, and obligates him to bring it to its new "owner."
"[7] In contrast, the type of shevu`ah mentioned above (referred to by the Sages as shevu'at bitui, שבעת ביטוי) (and distinct from "oath" in testimony and jurisprudence, also called shevu`ah)[9] is a declaration wherein a person makes a statement obligating himself to perform a positive act or to refrain from doing something, either regarding past events or future ones.
[13] Some Jews in times of desperation have made nedarim in hopes that God will answer their prayers in exchange for making a commitment.
[15] The Nazirite is required to refrain from consuming alcoholic beverages or grape products, cutting one's hair, or exposure to dead bodies, including one's closest relatives.
A neder may be annulled by either a beit din (court of Jewish law, composed of at least three adult men), or singlehandedly by a Talmid chacham (Torah scholar).
[17] The fact that a neder by a woman can so easily be invalidated by a man has been criticized by some contemporary feminists, though others see it as a kindness in Judaism toward women.
Under the latter view, in a marriage, it is a means of keeping marital partners in harmony by requiring women to discuss a neder with her husband before taking it on.
[18] Traditionally, around the High Holidays, all nedarim are annulled in order to free all persons of the liability in the event they are not fulfilled.
First the individual asks for annulment of every vow or pledge or prohibition that he swore "while I was awake or dreaming", "whether they were matters relating to money, or to the body, or to the soul"....
The individual then concludes with a brief statement: "I cancel from this time onward all vows and all oaths ... that I will accept upon myself, whether while awake or in a dream .... from this moment I preemptively regret them and declare of all of them they shall be utterly null and void...."[23]