Why Do We Recite Hataras Nedarim?

Photo by Hennie Stander on Unsplash

Sometimes, tasks we think of as endlessly complicated might not take more than a few seconds. For example, I’ve long maintained that 95 percent of the laws of lashon harah could be covered by a single sentence:

Never unnecessarily say anything about someone else that could cause harm.

That’s certainly not to say we should ignore the Chafetz Chaim’s important books on the subject, but that sometimes the quickest and simplest solution is the most appropriate.

The hataras nedarim that’s become popular before Rosh Hashana is one practice in particular that, to me at least, feels overly complex and time-consuming.

For one thing, until the Shela (1558-1630), there’s no record of any such minhag. So it’s obviously not something that the Torah or Chazal felt was important. The Gemara (Nedarim 23:) does mention the possibility of annulling your vows in advance at the start of a new year but says nothing about seeking the removal of previous vows.

But I’m aware of no halachic reason for this pro forma attempt to annul previous vows. In fact, the text of hataras nedarim itself acknowledges that it can’t work:

וְהִנֵּה מִצַּד הַדִּין הַמִּתְחָרֵט וְהַמְבַקֵּשׁ הַתָּרָה צָרִיךְ לִפְרֹט הַנֶּדֶר

And the long and repetitive text that’s currently popular is particularly perplexing. Consider how - assuming the effort had halachic standing - annulling vows should require nothing more than:

I would like to annul all vows I might have made over the past year

That’ll actually work better in English because the English word “vow” covers נדרים ושבועות וקונמות and so on.

The inclusion of נידוי (excommunication) is curious because, in nearly all cases, even a real niduy annulment won’t work if it’s not preceded by the required teshuva. But if you’re not even aware of what you might have done to “deserve” the niduy, then that’s not possible.

Also, if you even once said the מוסר מודעא paragraph (where you annul future vows up-front), then you should be fine for life - the text has no deadline.

From what I can see, at best the modern popular practice takes up time that could be more productively used for learning Torah or doing mitzvos. But, as we’ve seen, it also seems to misrepresent halacha on many levels.

So then why do so many people do it? I think the explanation is tied up with the practice’s origins. The Shela made no secret of his desire to incorporate as many kabbalistic practices into popular halacha as he could. That, according to his sons, was a primary driver of his literary choices.

As I’ve written elsewhere, the post-Tzfas kabbalists saw mitzva observance as a theurgic exercise. Reciting the correct prayer formulations or performing the correct rituals could influence cosmic events and force positive outcomes. This, according to at least R’ S.R. Hirsch (letters 10 and 18 from The Nineteen Letters), was a corruption of authentic Judaism and not unlike paganism.

But given that mindset, it makes sense that long, ritualized recitations like hataras nedarim would be important even if they have no halachic meaning. Following that tradition, there’s no reason not to stick with the practice.

But for Hirschians and other traditionalists, it might be best to opt out.