Promises, Promises

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“When you make a vow to the Lord, your God, you shall not delay in paying it… [if you do, it will be counted as] a sin.  But if you shall refrain from making vows, you will have no sin. Observe and do what is emitted from your lips just as you have pledged to the Lord, your God, as a donation, which you have spoken with your mouth.” (Devarim 23:22-24.)

The verses above refer to offerings committed to the temple and donations pledged to Tzedakah, (charity).  But in a broader sense, it applies to every vow and promise that we make.  We learn the importance of keeping our word, but are also instructed not to make vows in the first place.  You may have heard me and others say “Bli neder” – meaning “without a vow” when making a commitment.  This does not give us a free pass to ignore our commitments, but it does not bind our commitment with a vow.  

A vow implies a special commitment to Hashem.  A person does not actually have to say “I vow” for their statement to be considered a vow.  Rambam says that if someone said “I will come to the synagogue or study hall to study tomorrow morning at 6 am,” that is a vow that must be kept.  The same applies to a pledge to Tzedakah.  While we are normally obligated to fulfill any such promise, a vow is considered all the more serious.  

People throw around words like I swear or I’ll be there, I’ll do that.  The Torah tells us that words are very important, especially these words, and we should never take them lightly.

There is a famous joke about a priest who gets a call in the middle of the night from the police: Your church has been broken into and the safe is open.  He comes running and says: Oh no, a million dollars’ worth of icons have been stolen.  The next week the minister gets the same call, and sees that a million dollars of cash collections was stolen.  The next week the Rabbi gets a call from the police.  He runs to the synagogue and says: A million dollars was stolen!...  – in pledges.

The month of Elul is a time for us to increase our commitment to Torah in preparation for the great Divine revelations of the coming new year.  Many people give large amounts of tzedakah during this time, and commit to additional Torah study and observance of other Mitzvot.  Any pledges that we make should always be made with the statement “Bli Neder.”  It is even better to go ahead and do it rather than just make promises.  This way there are no unmet commitments, and the practice is a fact, not just a hope.  The best way to ensure that a new year’s resolution is kept is by starting to do it in Elul.

May you have a sweet and successful year.

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