Question of the Week: Pope Gregory I (590-604) intro-
duced an edict that said what?

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loo!sAucl jo pup Auo WOJi SAAGF PGTOJd of pe4o6No ejeM
SUDIISIE.19 Toy pros papa
'pup' s1! lo
au' uwinsuy

Promises,

Prornis

All about the mysterious

Nidrei.

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

As a system of laws, Judaism takes
sk most people how Yom Kippur
the matter of making promises very seri-
begins, and they'll say it starts with
1 ously. In fact, the Talmud devotes three
Kol Nidrei. Ask most people to
tractates (Nedarim, Nazir, Shevuot) to
define Kol Nidrei, and they're stumped.
it (Shevuot should not be confused with
Many would be surprised to learn that Kol
Nidrei has little, if anything, to do with repen- I the holiday of Shavuot).
1 The vows covered by Kol Nidrei,
t tance. But that is the main theme of Yom Kip-
however, are only those that a person
: pur. The text of Kol Nidrei is not even
imposes on himself as a private matter.
i Hebrew, but Aramaic. Through the ages,
I Kol Nidrei does not cancel promises to
many rabbis have been opposed to its recita-
pay a debt, meet a work-related dead-
1 tion. In a Jewish legal sense, its value is ques-
tionable.
! line, keep an appointment, get married
The solemnity of prayer at the Western Wall during the
Although many theories abound as to the or j _ I or any other situation that directly
High Holy Days.
1 involves another. Nonetheless, the vow
gin of Kol Nidrei, no one is quite sure when
chatarat nedarim ("annulment of vows"), the
and where it began.
1 a person takes upon himself ultimately may
person appears before a beit din, a "reli-
1 affect others (think of a man who vows to call
Treated with great solemnity, Kol Nidrei is
gious court" composed of three rabbis or
his mother once a week).
not a prayer, nor is it part of the Maariv, or
evening, service (it is recit-
other knowledgeable adults. This court has
Nullifying Vows
e ed before sunset).
the authority to annul the obligation retroac-
Pti Af"'
z : a . Z: N
-
A
According to Halachah
tively. The annulment applies only to vows
Kol Nidrei is a separate
Uewish law), a vow has
that
Jewish law allows to be annulled, for
unit. The text proclaims that
w ,w. a: AA M 6 '.0
legal status and breaking
which there is a valid legal reason to annul
all vows and other types of
a vow constitutes a sin
It is most famous as the
and which involve oneself only.
personal commitments to
(see Numbers 30:3). The
opening for Yom Kippur,
be made during the corn-
The timing of Kol Nidrei also is curious. The
majority talmudic view is
yet Kol Nidrei has nothing
Talmud speaks of nullifying vows prior to Rosh
: ing year should be consid-
that it is better not to
to do with repentence.
ered null and void.
Hashanah. The general opinion is that it is best
make vows altogether
Throughout the genera-
to approach the Day of Judgment and the new
Nonetheless, people
year unencumbered by the violations of vows.
: tions, the question of why
do make them, of course, and sometimes
1
How this idea became transferred to the eve of
we should make such a declaration, and why
wish to be released from these.
Yom Kippur probably has something to do with
we should make it on Yom Kippur, have given
There is a halachic device to nullify vows
I the highly emotional nature of Yom Kippur as
rise to much discussion.
for the individual. In a procedure called
the Day of Atonement.

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10/6
2000

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