Promises, promises

“Promises, promises.” Isn’t it sad that promises mean so little in our culture that just saying “promises, promises” means you think someone is going to disappoint you? What do we have left in any kind of relationship if we don’t have trust? The Torah says, “You shall not take up the name of HaShem your God to emptiness.” (Exodus 20:7)

This verse is one that has several layers of meaning. The one that people talk about most is how we use God’s name in conversation, or if we use it at all, but the instruction also involves taking an oath. The Mishna talks about several kinds of “empty” or “vain” oaths. If you swear to something that is obviously wrong, for instance, “If he said concerning a pillar of stone that it is made of gold…” Or if you swear to something that is impossible, “if I did not see a snake as thick as the beam of an olive press,” another kind of vain oath would be any kind of illegal oath, like if you swear as a witness without the support of other witnesses, or if you swear to break a commandment (Mishna, Shavuot 3:8).

These are considered “vain” oaths, because the Hebrew word translated “vain” literally means “empty.” They’re worthless even if some of them are true, and because our words are important we shouldn’t waste our credibility on things that are empty and worthless.

The Torah also says, “Whatever comes out of your mouth, keep it and do it, just as you swore to.” (Deuteronomy 23:24a) A strict, literal interpretation of this verse has been suggested by many rabbis, such as R. Israel Meir Kagan, z”tzl (The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, Positive Commandments 39), however, there is another point we should take away from the previous verse. “And if you refrain from taking an oath you will have no sin.” (Deuteronomy 23:23)

This idea is explained in the Mishna simply as “Say little and do much.” (Mishna, Pirkei Avot 1:15) And Ecclesiastes has the same thing to say in Ecclesiastes 5:1 and then it comes around to saying, “It is better that you should not swear than that you should swear and not fulfill it.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4)

I think we would all rather not be promised anything at all than have someone make a promise that they never intended to keep. “But I say to you, do not swear an oath, whether by Heaven, for it is the throne of God, nor by the earth, because it is His footstool…but let your word be ‘yes’ for yes, and ‘no’ for no. Anything beyond this is trouble.” (Matthew 5:33-37) According to R. Yeshua we should make a practice of being reliable, doing what we say we’re going to do so that we don’t even need to swear in order for anyone to believe us.