Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Kol Nidrei: Its Origin, Development & Significance, by Stuart Weinberg Gershon. 1977

Talmudic Origins of KOL NIDREI. Medieval Jews Did Understand KOL NIDREI in Relation to Vows Before Courts and Governments, Not Just Vows Before God

My review is based on the 1994 edition. This work is filled with fascinating information, some of which I now discuss, especially the application of Kol Nidre vows to humans.

HISTORICAL ASPECTS OF KOL NIDREI

It is not always easy for the modern reader to appreciate this subject, because, as sagely pointed out by the author, “We live in a society where words are cheap and the volume of litigation is unprecedented.” (p. 142). In pre-modern times, words were sacred.

There is no provision in the Hebrew Bible for the nullification for vows, and so it is strictly a postbiblical phenomenon. (p. 120). Rabbi Stuart Gershon, first of all, debunks the notion that KOL NIDREI was something invented during the Spanish Inquisition in order to enable Jews to release themselves from forced conversions, wherein Jews had been compelled, under threat of torture and death, to make vows that they did not mean. KOL NIDREI dates back at least to the 8th century, and probably originated in Babylonia. (p. 134). It also has deep Talmudic roots (p. 22-25), especially Bavli Nedarim 23b (p. 121), which includes the practice of anticipatory invalidation of future vows. (p. 24). This, in turn, led to long-term Jewish concerns that it would lead the general population to treat their vows lightly. (p. 25). The ethics behind KOL NIDREI were also problematic. (p. 105).

Owing to the fact that neither the sage nor the BET DIN has the power to revoke a vow that had already been made (p. 23), the KOL NIDRE came into use. It is a legal fiction that treats the vow, after the fact, as if it never had been made in the first place. (p. 23, 121, 134). The KOL NIDRE allows for blanket nullification of vows, even those that had intentionally been violated. (p. 121).

Earlier usages of KOL NIDRE may or may not have treated it essentially as a magical incantation. (pp. 58-59). In any case, the rabbinical authorities were not averse to magic and incantations, if only as a necessary concession to popular folkways. (p. 74).

KOL NIDREI is not a prayer. It does not ask God for forgiveness or absolution. (p. 134). Instead, as pointed out by Gershon, “The people arrogate to themselves the authority to nullify their vows.” (p. 121).

CONTROVERSIAL ASPECTS OF KOL NIDRE

Some authors make distinctions between Jewish oaths and Jewish vows, and Gershon brings up AGGADAH and PETACHIM. (p. 22). However, what matters most is not the technicalities, but the practical usage of KOL NIDRE. That is what I examine in the remaining part of my review.

[As a Judeorealist, I criticize Jews when such criticism is merited because of its pertinence to issues involving Polish-Jewish and Christian-Jewish relations, but am careful to avoid making false or groundless accusations against Jews. I have never seen convincing evidence that Jews use KOL NIDREI to lie to gentiles, at least not in modern societies. For this reason, I do not support such accusations.]

However, the apologetic argument that KOL NIDREI applies only to promises made to God, and not promises made to humans, was not true in practice. Gershon comments, “As the center of Jewry shifted from Babylonia to Europe, its original meaning was no longer understood. Instead, a new controversy came to the fore. Did KOL NIDREI have authority to nullify interpersonal vows? Or was it limited to vows one makes with God and imposes upon oneself?” (p. 136).

Gerson makes it clear that, whatever the rabbinic controversy, popular practice took over the practice of KOL NIDRE, He comments, “Despite the protests of their POSKIM, the Jewish public in the Middle Ages commonly ascribed to KOL NIDREI the power to annul both vows to God and vows made to others–INCLUDING VOWS MADE BEFORE A COURT OR TO THE GOVERNMENT. This assumption was not lost upon the Gentile European society in which the Jews lived. Considering the oath of a Jew to be untrustworthy, Christians compelled Jews throughout the Middle Ages to take a special Jewish oath (MORE JUDAICO) declaring that the oaths they swore in Christian courts would not be annulled by KOL NIDREI or by a Jewish court.” (p. 97; Emphasis added. See also p. 137 and p. 139).

For more on the fact that Kol Nidre does apply to vows made to humans, and not only vows made to God, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/spanish-inquisition-undemonized-hoffman/