A notable difference (Shev. 20)

I always thought Kol Nidre was like the Kaddish, a bunch of indistinguishable synonyms. As much as we try, there's not a notable difference between works like l'hitpaar, l'hitnasei, l'hithadar, and l'hitallel. They are all word to that essentially mean to praise. That's why translations of the Kaddish often come out as weird sounding.

I always thought that Kol Nidre was doing the same thing. In it we declare that all vows that we have made during the previous year should be annulled. However, in the prayer we find a lot of words for vow. The Hebrew of the first line is:

Kol Nidrei, Ve'esarei, Ush'vuei, Vacharamei, Vekonamei, Vekinusei, Vechinuyei. D'indarna, Ud'ishtabana, Ud'acharimna, Ud'assarna Al nafshatana

Oddly, most translations won't translate every word. A neder is usually translated as an vow, a shevuah is usually translated as an oath, an isur is usually translated as a prohibition. I never used to worry about which was which because I thought this prayer was like the Kaddish, just synonyms for the same idea, promises one makes to God.

I wasn't wrong to think this. In fact, all of these words are indeed promises. But each matters! Yesterday I learned one of example of how these differ. According to tradition a neder (vow) is made when one changes the status of an object. He says "I vow that this bread is forbidden to me." In essence, the bread changes status--it is now forbidden--however the speaker is no different for having made this vow. A shevuah (oath) on the other hand is the opposite. The speaker changes. Therefore, when he makes an oath "I will not eat this bread" he is the one who has changed, not the bread.

The reason it is important to have these two synonyms in the text is very different than the Kaddish's reason for its synonyms. It is not so that one can get lost in the rhythm of the many words for oath (as some have argued is the case for the many words for praise) or to show just how many kinds of oaths there are. Rather it is to cover one's bases. Disavowing an oath does nothing for a vow and visa versa. Practically if I make the vow "I vow that this bread is forbidden to me" and then say that all oaths are nullified I have made sure that my status resorts back to it proper place, but I have done nothing to the status of the bread; it is still forbidden to me.

Therefore, the Kol Nidre prayer, on top of annulling our vows, oaths, and other carefully chosen legal terms, also reminds us of an important theme in the High Holy Day season: that one should be careful with each and every word he uses and see the power in the difference between one word and the next.