Q&A: Whether and When a Practice Becomes a Vow
Whether and When a Practice Becomes a Vow
Question
Hi Rabbi Michi, how are you? What is the source for the idea that every good custom becomes a vow after three times (and therefore requires annulment)? Is this a binding source?
If so, does this apply to every good practice? For example, if someone has the practice of reciting the prayer “Aleinu Leshabe’ach” three times a day, would he need annulment if he wants to cut back?
Another question: does the requirement for annulment apply when dealing with something that is subject to dispute? For example, if a person has until now not used a Sabbath elevator and now wants to begin using one. Or in that case, since the truth is one way or the other, then either way it is not a vow: if it is forbidden then it cannot be annulled, and if it is permitted then there is no need to annul it.
Many thanks,
Idan.
Answer
It is indeed a strange and questionable rule (if it is one at all). See, for example, here:
Discussion on Answer
Indeed.
Thank you very much, but one still has to ask whether with every ordinary practice (like “Aleinu Leshabe’ach” mentioned above), one is obligated to keep it as a vow, since presumably he intends to keep doing it all his life. If so, that really makes life much harder, and the public is not aware of it either—just practically speaking, not that this is a halakhic claim of course.
Again, someone who thought that this was the Jewish law and now understands that it is not, may stop without annulment. Beyond that, it was correctly written here that there is the annulment done on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and one can rely on it at least for the rule of a custom done three times.
In practice, most people make a declaration before Rosh Hashanah and cancel any vows they may later make. When someone makes an actual vow, you can say that by doing so he shows himself that he is canceling the declaration. In my opinion, this is a dispute between Maimonides and other medieval authorities (Rishonim) about how to interpret the Talmudic passage on the matter. But in the case of a custom, it is obvious that if you asked him what he thinks, he would say that he does not want it to count as a vow—so why shouldn’t the declaration take effect?