Lawrence A. Hoffman 
All These Vows [EPUB ebook] 

Acknowledgments ix

PART I KOL NIDRE AND HISTORY
Morality, Meaning, and the Ritual Search for the Sacred 3
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D
The Heavenly Assembly 22
Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler
What’s in a Bowl? Babylonian Magic Spells and the Origins of Kol Nidre 26
Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph D
Sermons and History: The ‘Marrano’ Connection to Kol Nidre 31
Rabbi Marc Saperstein, Ph D
The Magic of the Moment: Kol Nidre in Progressive Judaism 39
Dr. Annette M. Boeckler
The Music of Kol Nidre 67
Dr. Mark Kligman

PART II KOL NIDRE AND JEWISH LAW
Kol Nidre: A Halakhic History and Analysis 73
Dr. Eliezer Diamond
Choice, Commitment, Cancellation: Vows and Oaths in Jewish Law 80
Rabbi Daniel Landes
PART III KOL NIDRE: TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY 87
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D

PART IV KOL NIDRE AND THE TESTIMONY OF PRAYERBOOK EDITORS
Kol Nidre from Union Prayer Book to Gates of Repentance 99
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D
Memories of the Past, Guidelines for the Future 109
Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, Ph D
What If Cleverness Is Foolishness and Righteousness an Illusion? 114
Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, Ph D
Words of Wisdom or Legalese? 119
Rabbi Charles H. Middleburgh, Ph D
Two Torah Scrolls and Kol Nidre: The Earthly Court Below 123
Rabbi David A. Teutsch, Ph D

PART V KOL NIDRE AND INTERPRETATIONS FOR TODAY
At Least Credit Me with Being Compassionate 129
Rabbi Tony Bayfield, CBE, DD
Filling the Void 133
Dr. Erica Brown
Words Mean Everything, Words Mean Nothing —Both Are True 137
Rabbi Ruth Durchslag, Psy D
‘Woe Is Me That I Have Sworn’: The Power to Annul God’s Vows 142
Rachel Farbiarz and Ruth Messinger
The Tyranny of Perfection 146
Rabbi Edward Feinstein
Disruption, Disorientation, and Restarting:
The Kol Nidre Road to Return 150
Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
Lifting the Curtain: The Theatrical Kol Nidre 155
Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur
“It’s Rather Hard to Understand”: Approaching God through Sound, Not Translation 159
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
The Sound and Pageantry: Willingness, Aspiration, and Discernment 163
Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar
Is Kol Nidre Typical? 168
Dr. Reuven Kimelman
All Bets Are Off 174
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
The Room with No Back, Only Forward 178
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Imagining Nothing 182
Liz Lerman
A Vote of No Confidence 187
Catherine Madsen
Over-Promise, Under-Deliver … and Then Forgive 191
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
Courting Inversion: Kol Nidre as Legal Drama 194
Rabbi Aaron Panken, Ph D
The Kol Nidre Mirror to Our Soul 200
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
Release beyond Words: Kol Nidre Even on a Violin 205
Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin
Night Vision: A Gift of Sacred Uncertainty 209
Rabbi David Stern
Ritualizing Kol Nidre: The Power of Three 214
Dr. Ellen M. Umansky
All Vows? No! Then, Which Vows? 218
Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, DD
How Is Kol Nidre Like a Dodgers Game? 224
Dr. Ron Wolfson
We Are the Image of God That God Leaves Behind for History to Know 228
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel
The Oath, or My Family Story 232
Dr. Wendy Zierler

Notes 237
Glossary 255

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D, has served for more than three decades as professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is a world-renowned liturgist and holder of the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. His work combines research in Jewish ritual, worship and spirituality with a passion for the spiritual renewal of contemporary Judaism.He has written and edited many books, including All the World: Universalism, Particularism and the High Holy Days; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un’taneh Tokef and All These Vows—Kol Nidre, the first five volumes in the Prayers of Awe series; the My People’s Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and he is coeditor of My People’s Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries (all Jewish Lights), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.Rabbi Hoffman is a developer of Synagogue 3000, a transdenominational project designed to envision and implement the ideal synagogue of the spirit for the twenty-first century.Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D, is available to speak on the following topics:A Day of Wine and Moses: The Passover Haggadah and the Seder You Have Always Wanted Preparing for the High Holy Days: How to Appreciate the Liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur The Essence of Jewish Prayer: The Prayer Book in Context and Worship in Our Time Beyond Ethnicity: The Coming Project for North American Jewish Identity Synagogue Change: Transforming Synagogues as Spiritual and Moral Centers for the Twenty-First Century Click here to contact the author.