All These Vows -- Kol Nidre

by Hoffman, Lawrence A.

• ISBN13: 9781580234306
• ISBN10: 1580234305
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-08-31
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Pub

Summary

People who attend no other services go out of their way to be present on Yom Kippur eve just to hear Kol Nidre chanted. Yet the prayer is in medieval Aramaic, which no one understands, and may not even have a translation supplied, since the prayer¿s content defies moral logic. Kol Nidre is a blanket request that God hold us guiltless for vows we make and do not honor! Judaism demands, however, just the reverse. We must honor promises we make. How then did this prayer come into being? Why was it retained? How did it attract the most haunting chant in all of Jewish tradition? All These Vows¿Kol Nidre examines the prayer¿s theology, authorship and history through a set of lively essays, all written in accessible language by over thirty contributors who span three continents and all major Jewish denominations. They are men and women, scholars and rabbis, artists and poets. Introductory essays trace the actual history of the prayer and attempts through the ages to emend it, downplay it and even do away with it¿all in vain. Kol Nidre remains despite them all, an annual liturgical highlight that is regularly attended even by Jews who disbelieve everything the prayer says.