![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
The text of Kol Nidrei has been discomfiting for many communities throughout the years, and the Reform movement in pre-Shoah Germany developed many alternatives for the text. This variant, from the Hannover Community Synagogue in 1937, is written in Hebrew, unlike the normative Aramaic text of the passage. Unlike the traditional text, which asks for unfulfilled vows to be nullified, the Synagogen-Gemeinde Hannover text asks God to strengthen us to fulfill our vows!
When considering this unique text, it’s hard to avoid pondering the implications of the date and time it was published. Less than a month after Yom Kippur 1937, the Nazi Henricus Haltehoff was appointed Burghermeister of Hannover. The next year would see the expulsion of 484 Jews of Polish origin and the destruction of the Hannover community synagogue during Kristallnacht. In 1939 the Jewish community of Hannover was 2,271. At the end of the war it was 66.
One of the most common reasons for the plethora of altered versions of Kol Nidre was the idea that it could be used as ammunition for antisemites. Up until the 20th century many Jewish communities in Europe were required to take the humiliating “Oath More Judaico” before testifying in court. But none of these altered forms of the text stopped the fascists from destroying this and innumerable other Jewish communities across the continent. Those who hate us will hate us whether we appeal to them or not. Our liturgy is ours, not theirs.
TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (German) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|---|
כׇּל נִדְרֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֵמָה נֹדְרִים לְךָ, מַלְכֵּנוּ, לִשְׁמֹר אֶת דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָתֶךָ וְעֵדוֹתֶיךָ וּלְבִלְתִי סוּר מִן הַמִּצְוָה יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאל, מִיּוֹם כִּפּוּרִים זֶה עַד יוֹם כִּפּוּרִים הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה, כֻּלָם יַעֲלוּ וְיָבֹאוּ וְיַגִּיעוּ וְיֵרָאוּ לְפָנֶיךָ לְרַחֲמִים, וְתֵן בִּלְבָבָם לְאַהֲבָה וּלְיִרְאָה אֶת שִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא וְלֹא יֵבוֹשׁוּ לְעוֹלָם׃ |
Alle Gelübde der Kinder Israels, durch welche sie Dir, unserm Könige, gelobn, die Worte Deiner Lehre und Deiner Zeugnisse zu befolgen und von Deinen Geboten weder rechts noch links abzuweichen, von diesem Versöhnungstage an bis zum nächsten uns zum Heile kommenden: Mögen sie alle zu Dir emporsteigen und von Dir in Gnaden aufgenommen werden. Sende Du ihnen ins Herz, daß sie Deinen großen, gewaltigen Namen lieben und ehrfürchten — damit sie nie zu Schanden werden. |
First repetition: All the vows of the children of Israel, by which they vow to You, our King, to obey the words of Your teaching and Your testimonies, and to neither to the right nor to the left turn from Your commandments, from this Day of Atonement until the next (may it come with salvation to us!) — may they all rise up to You and be received by You in grace. Send it into their hearts that they love and revere Your great, mighty name, so that they will never be put to shame. |
כׇּל נִדְרֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֵמָה נֹדְרִים לְךָ, אָבִינוּ, לָלֶכֶת בְּדַרְכֵי הַצְּדָקָה וְהַחֶסֶד וְהָרַחֲמִים וּלְבִלְתִי אַמֵּץ אֶת לְבָבָם מֵאֲחֵיהֶם, מִיּוֹם כִּפּוּרִים זֶה עַד יוֹם כִּפּוּרִים הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה, כֻּלָם יַעֲלוּ וְיָבֹאוּ וְיַגִּיעוּ וְיֵרָאוּ לְפָנֶיךָ לְרַחֲמִים, וְכֹף אֶת יִצְרָם וְהַכְנַע אֶת עׇרְפָּם לָתֵת יָד לְפֹשְׁעִים וּמֵחַטָּאתָם יִטְהָרוּ׃ |
Alle Gelübde der Kinder Israels, durch welche sie Dir, unserm Vater, geloben, in des Wegen der Gerechtigkeit, der Liebe und des Erbarmens zu wandeln und ihr Herz nicht zu verhärten gegen ihre Brüder, von diesem Versöhnungstage an bis zum nächsten uns zum Heile kommenden: Mögen sie alle zu Dir emporsteigen und von Dir in Gnaden aufgenommen werden. Zwinge Du ihren Sinn, beuge Du ihre Hartnäckigkeit, daß sie zur Versöhnung die Hand reichen denen, welche sich gegen sie vergangen — auf daß sie von ihren Sünden rein werden. |
Second repetition: All the vows of the children of Israel, by which they vow to You, our Father, to walk in the way of righteousness, love, and compassion, and not to harden their hearts toward their brethren, from this Day of Atonement until the next (may it come with salvation to us!) — may they all rise up to You and be received by You in grace. May You force their minds, bend their obstinacy, to stretch out their hand in atonement to those who have transgressed against them, so that they may be cleansed from their sins. |
כׇּל נִדְרֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֵמָה נֹדְרִים לְךָ אֲדוֹנֵנוּ בְּנׇשְׂאָם עֵינֵיהֶם אֵילֶיךָ הַיֹּשְׁבִי בַּשָׁמַיִּם לָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ בְּכׇל לְבָבָם וּבְכׇל נַפְשָׁם מִיּוֹם כִּפּוּרִים זֶה עַד יוֹם כִּפּוּרִים הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה כֻּלָם יַעֲלוּ וְיָבֹאוּ וְיַגִּיעוּ וְיֵרָאוּ לְפָנֶיךָ לְרַחֲמִים, וְחַדֵּשׁ רוּחַ נָכוֹן בְּקִרְבָּם לְמַעַן יָסוּרוּ מִדַּרְכָּם הָרָעָה וְאַל יָשׁוּבוּ לְכִסְלָה׃ |
Alle Gelübde der Kinder Israels, durch welche sie Dir, unserm Herrn, geloben, indem sie ihre Augen zu Dir erherben, der Du im Himmel thronst, reuig zu Dir zurückzukehren aus vollem Herzen und mit ganzer Seele, von diesem Versöhnungstage an bis zum nächsten uns zum Heile kommenden: Mögen sie alle zu Dir emporsteigen und von Dir in Gnaden aufgenommen werden. Erneure Du einen festen Geist in ihnen — auf daß sie von ihrem bösen Wandel ablassen und nie wieder zur Torheit zurückkehren. |
Third repetition: All the vows of the children of Israel, by which they vow to You, our Lord, to lift their eyes to You enthroned in Heaven, to return to You with all their hearts and with all their souls, from this Day of Atonement until the next (may it come with salvation to us!) — may they all rise up to You and be received by You in grace. Renew a steadfast spirit within them, that they may desist from their wicked ways, and never return to folly. |
This is the Kol Nidrei as offered by the Hannover Community Synagogue on Yom Kippur in 1937 according to the text provided in a poster, “Agende für Kol-nidre und Seelenfeier in der Synagogen-Gemeinde Hannover” (10 September 1937). (Thank you to Shufra Judaica for providing digital images of the poster.) The text was likely composed by Rabbi Samuel Freund (1868-1939).
Source(s)
Agende für Kol-nidre und Seelenfeier in der Synaogen-Gemeinde Hannover (10 September 1937) recto Agende für Kol-nidre und Seelenfeier in der Synaogen-Gemeinde Hannover (10 September 1937) verso
“כׇּל נִדְרֵי | Alternative Kol Nidre from Synagogen-Gemeinde Hannover (1937)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Stable Link:
https://opensiddur.org/?p=47067
Associated Image:
(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)
Terms of Use:
Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:
- Properly attribute the work to Samuel Freund, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation).
- Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
- Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=47067>.
- Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)
Additional Notes:
- The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
- We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
- If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.
Support this work:
The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.
ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17
Comments, Corrections, and Queries