Hattarat Nedarim, 5776
Please use the following as part of your Rosh HaShanah preparations. The court session to annul vows is typically done on erev Rosh HaShanah which is Sunday, Sept 13th, 2015 before sunset.
Hattarat Nedarim / The Release Of Vows
Based upon the Traditional Formula
Shared with us by Reb Zalman (ztzvk’l)
(Edited for 5776 by Gabbai Seth Fishman)
Petitioner:
My friends, please serve as judges of a court you convene with the authority to release me from vows. Will you please serve for me in this capacity?
The Judges:
We will now convene and we are ready to hear you.
Petitioner:
First, let me state that I have no intention in the declaration that now follows to cancel any promises I have made to individuals, for only the ones to whom I have made those promises can release me from them.
Having stated this, l now affirm that from time to time during the year that is now ending, I made some vows, sometimes speaking them aloud, sometimes only in silence with an intention, a resolution, to change something of my actions, of my behaviors, of my attitudes, whether in relation to parts just of myself, my body, my mind, or my soul, or whether dealing with my conduct with others, or, most importantly, dealing with my relation to God: These vows I have from time to time made.
Or, at times, I didn’t say them out loud, nor did I just take them on in silence with a resolution, but rather, through my actions, I took on a behavior which I did three or more times. Although I have since either willingly or unwillingly abandoned the practice for these, just as in the prior case, these, too, have the power of a vow.
And there were times when I asked for prayers for some, either prayers for healing, or for blessing, or for the repose of souls departed, in which the formula included a statement that it should happen “Because I am going to contribute to tzedakah,” but then, I might have forgotten to do that or might not have been aware that I was making this promise. I ask you to release me from these too.
All of these, I regret. Please recognize my regret and release me from these vows.
The Judges:
Hearing your regret, we release you.
All is forgiven, all is released.
May it be that just as we here below release you from these vows and obligations, so may you be released from the same by the court above, the Yeshivah shel Maalah.
Petitioner:
As I stand here, aware that it is in my nature to, at times, be careless or thoughtless with regard to matters of vows, promises, and resolutions, I hereby declare that for the year which is about to begin, if I happen to make vows, promises or resolutions which I subsequently negate repeatedly through my actions, may such vows which I will be making be of no effect and not binding on me. Now, at this moment, I regret them, in advance, and I ask you to annul their power as vows.
The Judges:
We have heard your declaration and consider it licit and legal.
May you be blessed with a good year, inscribed in the book of life and sealed for good.