Kol Nidre

Kol Nidre (Aramaic, “All vows ...”), a Jewish legal formula recited three times at the outset of the worship service on the eve of Yom Kippur. As a prologue to the penitential liturgy that will follow during the next 24 hours, the Kol Nidre declares null and void all vows made rashly by members of the community during the past year (in a later version of the text, all rash vows that might be made during the coming year). It applies only to vows made between humans and God, not between humans. The custom of reciting Kol Nidre is the subject of some controversy in rabbinic literature. First mentioned in the 9th century, it was derided by some authorities as a “foolish custom.” The rabbis generally discouraged the making of vows, and in this vein hedged with restrictions the efficacy of the Kol Nidre formula. Among Ashkenazic Jews (see Ashkenazim) the formula is chanted to a poignant melody, which has heightened its liturgical importance. See also Judaism.