Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Our teaching today comes from Rabbi Tsvi Hersch Bonhardt, a German-born rabbi who became a prominent maggid, or preacher in Wodzisław, Poland in the early 1700s. Rabbi Tsvi Hersch was the father of the better-known Hasidic master Rabbi Simcha Bunim Bonhardt of Peshiskha.

He comments on verse 3 of this week’s Torah reading: “If a man takes a vow to God or swears an oath… according to whatever comes from his mouth, he shall do.” (Numbers 30:3)

Rabbi Tsvi Hersch observes: if a person takes a vow or swears an oath, of course he must fulfill it. Why, then, does the Torah command him to do what he is already obligated to do? Rather, he explains, this is the meaning of the phrase “according to whatever comes from his mouth, he shall do”: the fulfillment of a vow should be carried out with the same burning desire and enthusiasm that were present when the vow was first made. Many vows are made with passion and deep emotion, but when the time comes to fulfill them, they are often performed reluctantly, as though forced. The verse teaches that we should fulfill our commitments with the same gusto with which we made them.

May we strive to bring not only integrity, but also renewed enthusiasm, to the promises we make and the commitments we carry out.

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