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However oath is a terrible thing for us, it’s not like raising your hand and saying [in Romanian] ‘...spun adevarul, si numai adevarul, nu ascund nimic din ceea ce stiu....’ [‘... I tell the truth and only the truth, I keep nothing from what I know...’], this is a tale. For us, Jews an oath is a terrible thing.
They light two huge candles, the person who has to take an oath is dressed in a snow-white gown and white socks, they take out the Bible, the Torah scroll, they put it on the table where they recite the preceding prayers, they open the Torah scroll, there is a part he has to read.
And he has to recite the prayer, which is written down there, and if takes it on, the rabbi administers an oath to him. ‘If you feel you are telling the truth, do you dare swearing an oath for it?’ He answered yes. [Editor’s note: The biblical texts often mention oaths and pledges, the rabbinic tradition (Mishnah, Tractate Nedarim) controls already their use, and the later tradition is dead against this custom even if it doesn’t prohibit it explicitly.
The reason for this is that when taking of the oath one summons the name of God, as if he would call Him to bear witness to his truth – see the biblical formula starting with ‘Khai Hasem’ (“The Lord lives”). In turn this is contrary to the Torah commandment “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God”. Rarely though calling the name of God is permitted in case of a strong reason.
But the person taking of the oath is dressed in white, that is in the mourning color according to the Jewish tradition, which is also the color of Yom Kippur recalling the divine judgment, they take off his shoes also according to mourning customs, and they put before him the Torah to remind him the emphasis of his action, and to the consequences in case of a false oath.
According to the Halakhic rules the person taking of the oath doesn’t have to read from the Torah. The oath is being taken of in the presence of the rabbi.]
They ask him three times: ‘Have you considered it thoroughly, whether you wanted to swear an oath or not?’ My husband said that it had been terrible even to see him in that large white gown – it had been embroidered – and white stockings, white cap on his head, those two candles, and he had said in front of the Torah what he had had to say, everybody had shuddered, if he had told a lie, a great misfortune could have occurred. And that’s what it happened.
They light two huge candles, the person who has to take an oath is dressed in a snow-white gown and white socks, they take out the Bible, the Torah scroll, they put it on the table where they recite the preceding prayers, they open the Torah scroll, there is a part he has to read.
And he has to recite the prayer, which is written down there, and if takes it on, the rabbi administers an oath to him. ‘If you feel you are telling the truth, do you dare swearing an oath for it?’ He answered yes. [Editor’s note: The biblical texts often mention oaths and pledges, the rabbinic tradition (Mishnah, Tractate Nedarim) controls already their use, and the later tradition is dead against this custom even if it doesn’t prohibit it explicitly.
The reason for this is that when taking of the oath one summons the name of God, as if he would call Him to bear witness to his truth – see the biblical formula starting with ‘Khai Hasem’ (“The Lord lives”). In turn this is contrary to the Torah commandment “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God”. Rarely though calling the name of God is permitted in case of a strong reason.
But the person taking of the oath is dressed in white, that is in the mourning color according to the Jewish tradition, which is also the color of Yom Kippur recalling the divine judgment, they take off his shoes also according to mourning customs, and they put before him the Torah to remind him the emphasis of his action, and to the consequences in case of a false oath.
According to the Halakhic rules the person taking of the oath doesn’t have to read from the Torah. The oath is being taken of in the presence of the rabbi.]
They ask him three times: ‘Have you considered it thoroughly, whether you wanted to swear an oath or not?’ My husband said that it had been terrible even to see him in that large white gown – it had been embroidered – and white stockings, white cap on his head, those two candles, and he had said in front of the Torah what he had had to say, everybody had shuddered, if he had told a lie, a great misfortune could have occurred. And that’s what it happened.
Location
Romania
Interview
Golda Salamon