Revere the Eternal, your God, serve Him, cling to Him, and swear by His name.
—Deuteronomy 10:20
In a small town lived two neighbors. Both were poor,
though one made an honest living, and the other… well, let’s say his profession
wasn’t exactly above board.
One eked out a living as a woodchopper.
The other was a thief.
Both had daughters, but that’s where the similarities
ended. The woodchopper had somehow managed to save enough to provide a proper
dowry for his girls, while the thief, despite his daily endeavors, struggled to
scrape together enough for even a decent pair of shoes.
One day, the thief, scratching his head, asked, “I don’t
get it. We’re both poor. How did you manage to save up for a dowry to marry off
your daughters?”
The woodchopper smiled. “It’s simple. Whenever a child was
born, I made a wooden box and locked it up. Every day, I put a coin in it. By
the time they were ready to marry, the box was full, and there was enough to
cover the wedding, plus a little extra for the young couple to start their
life.”
The thief raised an eyebrow. “You did this for each
child?”
“Yes,” the woodchopper replied proudly. “You should have
done the same.”
The thief burst out laughing. “Well, that method works for
you. You’ll never open that box, even when times are tough and you need the
money.”
He grinned sheepishly. “But me? I’m a thief by trade. I
open other people’s locks. How long do you think my own box would stay locked
if I needed a little extra cash?”
Who May Make a Vow?
Moses told the people, “Revere God, serve Him, cling to
Him, and swear by His name.”
The Midrash explains that Moses wasn’t just granting
permission to make vows; he was setting boundaries. To swear by God’s name, one
must first possess certain qualities: awe, reverence, sincere devotion, and a
genuine will to serve Him. Without these qualities, even a truthful vow is best
avoided.
Why the caution?
A vow is like a lock, a promise that secures something to
be sacred and set apart. Those who carefully observe the Torah’s
prohibitions—who respect what has been “locked away”—are trusted to make vows.
They understand the weight of their words and the responsibility they carry.
But someone who disregards the Torah’s “locks,” how can
they be trusted to honor their own vows? They are like a thief who can’t resist
a locked box. Just as a thief would break into his own savings, so would such a
person break his own promises.
Only those who are truly God-fearing, who have the
self-discipline to protect what is sacred, can be trusted to keep their word
and honor what they have vowed.
