Every year, around ten weeks before Kol Nidre, we read a strange foreshadowing of this night in the Torah, in Parshat Matot. Parshat Matot begins with a discussion of vows, in which we hear the precise language of Kol Nidre. “When a man makes a vow to God or swears an oath which is binding on his soul, all vows and all bonds on his soul shall stand [cal nidareyah vcal isar asher asrah al nafshah yakum].” I always get a chill of fear in my spine when we read this. It’s the first distant echo of the High Holidays, of Kol Nidre. What will I do this year?
