NUM359 It is a positive commandment to deal with cases of nullifying vows and oaths as Scripture says, When a man vows a vow to Hashem, etc. [this verse]. This means that if one who made the vow regrets it and is sorry for what has happened, he is to come to an expert scholar, or to three ordinary persons if there is no learned expert there; and he says, "I swore, or vowed, about this-and-that, and I have come to regret it. Had I known that I would suffer about the matter to such an extent, or that this would happen to me, I would not have taken the vow, or the oath." Then the scholar or the three ordinary man tell him, "Have you already been sorry for it?" Whereupon he answers, "Yes." At that they may say to him, "It is allowed for you," or "It is forgiven you," or "It is permissible for you.