Vows, Oaths and the Drama of Words: Kol Nidrei through Theater of the Oppressed

(17) And he was afraid, and said: ‘How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ (18) And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. (19) And he called the name of that place Beth-el, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. (20) And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, (21) so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the LORD be my God, (22) and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.’

(30) And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said: ‘If Thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, (31) then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.’ (32) So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hand... (34) And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. (35) And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said: ‘Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art become my troubler; for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.’ (36) And she said unto him: ‘My father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD; do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.’... (39) And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed; and she had not known man. And it was a custom in Israel.

(9) So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk—now Eli the priest sat upon his seat by the door-post of the temple of the LORD; (10) and she was in bitterness of soul—and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. (11) And she vowed a vow, and said: ‘O LORD of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thy handmaid, but wilt give unto Thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.’

(2) And Moses spoke unto the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded. (3) When a man voweth a vow unto the LORD, or sweareth an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

One who desires that his/her vows made during the year should be considered invalid must stand at the beginning of the year and say "Every vow which I may make in the future let it be annulled." [This person's vows are then considered annulled]- only if this person remembers that at the time of the vow. But if this person does remember, hasn't this person uprooted it [the declaration] and re-affirmed the conditions of his/her [new] vow? Abaye answered: "It is taught: as long as this person does not remember at the time of his/her [new] vow." Raba said "It is just as we said at the beginning: the circumstances are that one makes this stipulation at the beginning of the year, but does not know [yet] in reference to what. Now [during the year] this person vows. If this person remembers [the stipulation] at the time of his/her [new] vow and says "I make this vow in accordance with my original intention" then this vow bares no reality. But if this person does not make such a declaration, he/she has canceled his stipulation and confirmed his [new] vow.

All substitutes for [the formulas of] vows have the validity of vows. The substitutes for proscriptive vows substitute for proscriptive vows, those for oaths substitute for oaths, and those for the Nazir substitute for those of the Nazir. If one says to one's neighbor "I am ostracized by you by a vow" or "I am separated from you" or "I am removed from you such that I may eat of that which is yours or taste of that which is yours" then that person is prohibited. If one were to say "I am banned to you" then Rabbi Akiba was inclined to be stringent.

Rav Papa asked: Is there an abbreviation [that is valid] in the case of betrothing for marriage or not? If one said to a woman "Behold you are betrothed to me" and then said to her neighbor "and you too", it is obvious that this is an actual betrothal. However, what about in the case where one says to a woman "Behold you are betrothed to me" and then said to her neighbor "and you", do we say that this meant "and you too" and so the second one is also betrothed? or perhaps it was said to her "and you witnessed it?" and so she is not betrothed?...[Rav Papa asked]: is there an abbreviation [that is valid] in the case of pe'ah [leaving the corners of one's fields for the poor] or not? If there was one who said "Let this furrow serve for the pe'ah and this one too for pe'ah." The problem arises if the person said "and this" without adding "too."... From where do we learn that if a person desires to offer his/her entire field as pe'ah that he/she can do so? From the verse (Leviticus 19:9): "And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap by leave the corners of your field." Do we say that there is a direct parallel to the sacrifices in that just as abbreviations are binding in the case of sacrifices, so in the case of pe'ah too? Or perhaps the injunction comes from "you shall not delay", for the analogy can be found in the verse, as it is taught:

"When you shall vow a vow unto the Lord your God you shall not delay to pay it, for the Lord will surely require it of you"- this refers to gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and pe'ah. Are abbreviations binding in the case of charity or not? Shall we say "This zuz is for charity, and this one too", this is a self-understood statement of charity. But if one had said "And this" and omitted "too", what then did this person mean? "And this too for charity" or "and this is for my personal spending?" This statement is incomplete. Do we say that there is an analogy to sacrifices, as it is written (Deuteronomy 23:24): "That which has gone out of your lips you shalt keep and perform, even a free-will offering..."- this refers to charity. Therefore, just as abbreviations are valid for sacrifices, so with charity...

But an objection was raised: Which ban [that one takes upon ones' self] that is said such as thus can be derived from the Torah: "Behold I will not eat meat or drink wine such as the day on which my father died, such as on the day my teacher died, such as on the day that Gedaliah ben Achikam was slain, such as on the day that I saw Jerusalem being destroyed"? Samuel said that as long as the person vowed regarding that very day, then the vow still stands. For instance, on the very Sunday that his/her father died, and even though there may have been many a permitted Sunday [i.e.- in which to eat meat and drink wine], it is taught that it is forbidden. Thus Samuel taught this essential point: the vow stands if it was uttered on that very day and was uninterrupted...