Kol Nidrei - Listen

The intense emotion and spiritual energy that can be generated by a Yom Kippur eve Kol Nidrei service is demonstrated by the story of the German Jewish philosopher, Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929). Rosenzweig grew up like many European Jews of his generation: his home was nominally Jewish and his religious education minimal. As a young man, he decided to convert to Christianity, as many of his contemporaries had done. He further decided that he must become a Christian not as "a pagan" but "as a Jew," i.e., not by rejecting his Jewish origin but by re-enacting what he saw as the culmination of Judaism in Christianity.

On Yom Kippur in 1913, he attended Kol Nidrei Services at a small orthodox synagogue in Berlin. Something dramatic happened to Rosenzweig that evening; while he never discussed the experience, he was clearly transformed by it. Not long after Yom Kippur, Rosenzweig wrote to a friend, "After prolonged, and I believe thorough, self-examination, I have reversed my decision. It no longer seems necessary to me, and therefore being what I am, no longer possible. I will remain a Jew."

The evening service on the Eve of Yom Kippur is preceded by the chanting of Kol Nidrei ("All vows"), a formal annulment of vows. The worshipers proclaim that all personal vows and oaths made between themselves and God during the year that not have not been fulfilled should be considered null and void. In Jewish tradition, the nullification of vows can only be performed a religious court, which always consists of at least three judges and is convened only on weekdays. The recitation of Kol Nidrei is therefore begun before sunset; two distinguished congregants, holding Torah scrolls, stand next to the Cantor in order to constitute a court.

Continue reading and also listen to clips of Kol Nidrei from different traditions.