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Kol Nidre /ˈkɔːl nɪˈdreɪ/ (also known as Kol Nidrei or Kol Nidrey;[1] Aramaic: כָּל נִדְרֵי kāl niḏrē) is an Aramaic declaration which begins Yom Kippur services in the synagogue. Strictly speaking, it is not a prayer, even though it is commonly spoken of as if it were a prayer. This declaration and its ceremonial accompaniment have been charged with emotional undertones since the medieval period, creating a dramatic introduction to Yom Kippur on what is often dubbed "Kol Nidrei night",[2] with the entire Yom Kippur evening service popularly called Kol Nidrei.[3]
The common text for Kol Nidrei is written mostly in Aramaic, with one Hebrew phrase. However, the earliest known text of Kol Nidrei ("Kol Nedarim"), as it appears in the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon, is in Hebrew; this text is used with minor changes by Italian rite and Romaniote Jews. Its name is taken from its opening words, which mean "all vows". The formula, depending on rite, either proactively annuls any personal or religious oaths or prohibitions which are made between oneself and God in the course of the next year, so as to preemptively avoid the sin of breaking vows which are made to God but are not or cannot be upheld, or annuls any vows taken in the preceding year.
Kol Nidrei has had an eventful history, both in itself and in its influence on the legal status of the Jews. Introduced into the liturgy despite the opposition of rabbinic authorities, repeatedly attacked in the course of time by many halakhists, and in the nineteenth century expunged from the prayer-book by many communities of western Europe, it has often been employed by Christians to support their assertion that the oath of a Jew can not be trusted.[4]
- ^ This last transliteration seems to be used almost exclusively for two musical arrangements, one by Max Bruch and the other by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
- ^ "Kol Nidre". The New Encyclopedia of Judaism (1st ed. 2002).
- ^ e.g., Scherman, Nosson, The Complete ArtScroll Machzor, Yom Kippur, Nusach Ashkenaz (1986, Brooklyn, Mesorah Publ'ns) pp. 52, 57.
- ^
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Kol Nidre". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
