HALACHA OF THE WEEK: Kol Nidre
This Wednesday night, we will usher in the holiest day of the year with an unusual legal procedure that annuls the vows of all the congregants, known as Kol Nidre
While there are authorities that write that Kol Nidre dates back more than 2000 years to the time of the Anshei Jnesset HaGedolah [Shita Mekubetzet, Nedarim 23b] the earliest recorded source for Kol Nidrei is found in the 9th century siddur of Rav Amram Gaon, where Kol Nidre served to annul vows of the previous year. However, in the 12th century, Rabbeinu Tam [Tosafot, Nedarim 23b s.v. V'At] questions the efficacy of this practice for three reasons.
1. To annul a vow a person must regret having taken the vow in the first place. But, in Kol Nidre of Rav Amram there was no mention of regret.
2. The Talmud [Bechorot 36b] requires a beit din of three, or a "yachid mumcheh" [an expert in the laws of vows] to annul a vow. Kol Nidre, as practiced, doesn't have a beit din or an expert.
3. The Talmud, [Gittin 35a] debates whether the annulment of vows requires one to specify the vows to be annulled. Halachically, we rule that it does require a person to specify the vows. Kol Nidre is a generic pronouncement and makes no reference to specific vows.
Therefore, Rabbeinu Tam ruled that Kol Nidre should be modified to serve, not, as an annulment of past vows, but to preempt future vows that might be made without proper forethought from taking effect. The basis for this is a mishna [Nedarim 23a] which states that if one wishes to preempt his vows from taking effect that year, he should state on Rosh HaShanah "all vows that I take this year should be considered void." (The reason we would do this on Yom Kippur and not as the mishna and subsequent Talmudic ruling [ibid. 23b] suggests on Rosh Hashana is because more people are in attendance on Yom Kippur.)
As a result, Rabbeinu Tam changed the text of Kol Nidrei in two ways:
1. He referred not to the vows "from the previous Yom Kippur to this Yom Kippur" but to the vows "from this Yom Kippur until next Yom Kippur." and
2. Verbs were transposed to future tense rather than past tense.
In opposition to Rabbeinu Tam, to Rosh (14th century) in his commentary to Yoma [8:28], defended the original version of Kol Nidrei. He notes, that: a. if there is clear regret it does not have to be stated explicitly; b. that the congregation constitutes a beit din, and that the chazan can be considered the "yachid mumcheh"; and c. that the requirement to specify vows only applies to vows that the beit din might try to discourage the person from annulling. Since Kol Nidrei, annuls vows that have been violated, a beit din would not do such a thing.
While the Mishna Berurah [619:2], tules that the text of Kol Nidrei should follow the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam and refer to vows "from this Yom Kippur until next Yom Kippur," many siddurim try to satisfy both opinions by referring to vows "from the previous Yom Kippur until this Yom Kippur," and "from this Yom Kippur until next Yom Kippur."
It is very important to note, that Kol Nidrei, whether referring to the past or to the future vows, does not give us the right to break our word. Rather, Kol Nidrei is valid only for additional obligations or personal restrictions that we may undertake of our own volition.
For example, people who adopt customs which they are not obligated to practice, such as reciting Tehilim daily, could rely on Kol Nidre to absolve themselves of this practice [Mishna Berura ibid. note 5]
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DVAR TORAH
Our Sages teach that the happiest days on the Jewish calendar are the Fifteenth of the month of Av and Yom Kippur.
But how is Yom Kippur a happy day? To the contrary, Yom Kippur would seem to be a somber day, even a dreadful day!
The answer may be found in a teaching of Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of modern Israel. Over the course of Yom Kippur, we recite the confession of “Ashamnu” ten times, each time singing the words to an almost joyous tune. Why is a tune appropriate?
The answer he suggested is that both a confession, i.e., an acceptance of responsibility, and a self-rebuke which emanates from deep within one’s soul and says, “I do not want this sin.” Thus, “Ashamnu” is uplifting, even joyous. Its purpose is not so that one will wallow in sin, but, to the contrary, to liberate oneself from them.
As long as one has not confessed, the halachic principle of “shetikah k’hodaah” [lit. “silence is acquiescence”] is operative, and one is considered as if accepting of one’s sins. But once we recite the “Ashamnu” it is as if we stand before G-d and reject the past and look forward to a better future.
Certainly, confession has the painful aspect of recognizing our shortcomings and errors. But it also is joyous, for it expresses one’s inner purity and liberates one from the heavy burden of sin [Orot Ha’Teshuvah Im Be’ur by Rabbi Reuven Sasson p. 367].
