The Torah in Parashat Ki-Tetzei presents the obligation to fulfill pledges made with regard to sacrificial offerings (23:22).In this context, the Torah also advises that we refrain from making pledges altogether: “But if you refrain from making vows, you will not bear sin” (23:23).As the Ramban discusses, the Torah here seeks to discourage people from making vows, and to dispel the misconception that pledging sacrifices is virtuous. People might have assumed that given the great value of sacrifices, and in light of the effectiveness of nedarim (vows) in motivating a person, pledging sacrificial offerings is to be encouraged. The Torah therefore warns that to the contrary, it is preferable not to make pledges.
The most obvious reason why the Torah discourages vows, it would seem, is the pragmatic concern of transgressing. One who makes a pledge runs the risk of forgetting or otherwise failing to fulfill his vow, which is deemed a grave violation. This is likely the Torah’s intent when it advises, “But if you refrain from making vows, you will not bear sin” – meaning, one who avoids vows avoids the possibility of violating them.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, however, in his commentary to Sefer Bereishit (28:20), offers an additional insight into the impropriety of vows:
The person who vows removes himself from his own existence in the present and projects himself into the future to a period of time that has not yet arrived, obligating himself regarding his actions at a later date. In transporting himself, in his mind, into the future which is unknown to him lies the sin of vowing. Man should rest content with directing his actions every moment of his present existence, living it as it should be lived. Whatever we will be called upon to do in the future constitutes our duty then, without undertaking it in the form of a vow.
Making vows diverts a person’s attention from his immediate responsibilities, and draws his focus instead onto the future, over which he has limited control. Of course, we need to have vision and plan for our future. But when a person takes a vow, making a commitment for the future, he assumes a weighty burden of responsibility that concerns a reality which as yet does not exist, diverting his attention away from his immediate obligations.
Rav Hirsch then mentions yet another insight into why the Torah discourages vows:
Whatever we are prohibited from doing, we shall in any case not be able to fulfill, even if we undertake it as a vow. This reduces the effective possibilities of vowing to matters of no significance. It is foolish therefore to invest such trivialities with the status of a sacred obligation...
Besides drawing a person’s attention away from the present, vows divert a person’s mind away from matters of urgency onto trivialities. Our most urgent obligations are those imposed upon us by the Torah. Assuming additional, unnecessary obligations could have the effect of diminishing from one’s focus on his primary responsibilities.
In this vein, we might suggest an additional interpretation of the verse herein Parashat Ki-Teitzei: “But if you refrain from making vows, you will not bear sin.” If a person avoids voluntary measures, then he is less likely to sin, to violate the obligatory laws of the Torah. Given our limits of time and energy, it is imperative that we carefully prioritize and ensure to first complete our basic obligations before assuming voluntary commitments.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il