||| FROM JOHN GOTTMAN |||
The first communal prayer service of Yom Kippur takes place immediately prior to sunset on the evening of Yom Kippur. This service is called Kol Nidre (“All Vows”). These are the first words of a special legal formula that is recited at the beginning of this service and is chanted three times. This legal ritual is believed to have developed in early medieval times as a result of persecutions against the Jews. At various times in Jewish history, Jews were forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam upon pain of death.
However, after the danger had passed, many of these forced converts wanted to return to the Jewish community. However, this was complicated by the fact that they had been forced to swear vows of fealty to another religion. Because of the seriousness with which the Jewish tradition views verbal promises, the Kol Nidre legal formula was developed precisely in order to enable those forced converts to return and pray with the Jewish community, absolving them of the vows that they made under duress.
Yom Kippur is a yearly event in which Jews examine their conscience and ask people and God for forgiveness for their moral transgressions of the previous year. It is prescribed in the Old Testament, so it’s about 3,400 years old. Maybe older.
This event will take place on the evening of September 15 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Moran State Park, the Group Picnic Area. BRING FOOD FOR DINNER PRIOR TO SERVICES. People must have a state park pass displayed on their car.
We begin with a meal and then we fast and pray the following day. For our small gathering on Orcas Island we’ll convene at 5 p.m. for dinner and then pray until about 8 or 9 p.m. It will be in the small shelter in Moran State park by the lake.
Kol Nidre is the song we sing that night on the 15th, which is about the invalidity of forced conversions, which the Inquisition inflicted on our people in the 15th Century. You can listen to Max Bruch perform his cello concerto Kol Nidrei on the YouTube video below. It’s quite moving.
