Rosh Hashanah: Nullification of the Vows

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A spoken word possesses tremendous power. Speech has the ability to arouse many forces that can influence our lives. For example, if we verbalize a promise, a vow, or a statement in which we commit ourselves to any kind of action, large or small, these words create a Vessel, a space. Our follow-through actions are supposed to fill that space with Light. When we fail to put our words into action, this space remains empty. All kinds of negative forces are then free to fill this void. For spiritual Light to be revealed there must be a receiver, a Vessel, to actualize this Light. For example, consider sunlight: In space, there is complete darkness all around the Earth, even though the sun’s rays shine brightly. Only the Earth illuminates and reveals the light of the sun. The reason is that the Earth acts as a vessel and reflects the light. In space, however, there is no vessel, no object to reflect and manifest the sunlight. There is only the empty vacuum and so the result is darkness. When our words of commitment remain dormant and inactive we create empty spaces and vacuums that are filled with darkness. According to the ancient kabbalists, these vacuums of darkness bring chaos into every area of our lives. Reciting the Nullification of the Vows can eradicate all the darkness and negativity that are contained in the empty spaces of our lives so they cannot cause us any harm in the year to come.