(a) An Erech (endowment valuation) refers to a special form of vow. If a person declares, "Erech Ploni Alai" - "I accept upon myself to give the endowment value of so-and-so [to Hekdesh]," he must give the specific value that the Torah designates for the person's gender and age group as stated in Vayikra 27:1-8 (see below, (b)). It makes no difference at all whether the person is healthy or sick, strong or weak.

(b) The Erech that the Torah specifies for children between the ages of one month and five years is five Shekalim for males and three Shekalim for females (Vayikra 27:6). For youths and young adults between the ages of five years and twenty years, the Erech that the Torah specifies is twenty Shekalim for males and ten Shekalim for females (Vayikra 27:5). For adults between the ages of twenty years and sixty years, the Erech that the Torah specifies is fifty Shekalim for males and thirty Shekalim for females (Vayikra 27:3-4). For adults over sixty years of age, the Erech that the Torah specifies is fifteen Shekalim for males and ten Shekalim for females (Vayikra 27:7).

The Torah equates a woman with a man with regard to all of the punishments in the Torah. Although there is a rule that women are exempt from time-related positive Mitzvos ("Mitzvos Aseh sheha'Zeman Gerama"), with regard to negative Mitzvos (Mitzvos Lo Sa'aseh) women have the same degree of liability as men. Just as men are liable for all Mitzvos Lo Sa'aseh, so, too, are women.