Kol Nidre: Promises and the Book of Joshua

Tonight, we began with Kol Nidre.

And it brings attention to promises.

There are a few things.

more powerful than a promise.

Two people stand beneath a chuppah, they make promises to one another, and somehow the future is changed by words spoken in the present.

A parent tells a child, I'll be there.

And the child stops worrying.

A friend says, you can count on me.

Doctor says, we're going to take care of you.

A community says, you belong here.

Nothing tangible has necessarily changed.

No problem has been solved.

But a promise allows us to trust in something that has not happened yet.

And perhaps it is exactly for this reason that promises are so dangerous.