Mattot 5771: Vows, Vengeance and Valor

On the subject of vows I should mention:

People were so concerned about the possibility that they might not be able to completely fulfill vows they made tt that in later years the Kol Nidrei prayer was created to annul vows. This was highly controversial among the Jewish people.  The rabbis were concerned that people might be more inclined to make vows that they had no intention of keeping.  Others feared that people wouldn't trust the word of Jews if they thought that they could nullify a vow on Yom Kippur through the Kol Nidrei.  For more information on Kol Nidrei and vows see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kol_Nidre

Yitro 5771: Conversion, Courts and Commandments

Please see the "extras" for the PDF of the 10 commandments in Hebrew and English as they appear in this week's parasha.

"Nedarim" is the Hebrew word for vows and is a tractate of the Talmud.  For more information on the importance of vows see: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ethics/Talk_and_Gossip/Types_of_Speech/Vows_and_Oaths.shtml.

For more information about seeing the text through a feminist lens consider these books:

New Jewish Feminism
Probing the Past, Forging the Future

Edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein
Foreword by Anita Diamant, author of The Red Tent

ReVisions
Seeing Torah through a Feminist Lens

Rabbi Elyse Goldstein

The Women's Haftarah Commentary
New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Haftarah Portions, the 5 Megillot & Special Shabbatot

Edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein

The Women's Torah Commentary
New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions

Edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein

Standing Again at Sinai:  Judaism from a Feminist Perspective Judith Plaskow