Editing Kol Nidre (section)

===Use by anti-semites===
The ''Kol Nidrei'' prayer has been used by non-Jews as a basis for asserting that an oath taken by a Jew may not be trusted.<ref>The Jewish encyclopedia cites the following references:
* Wagenseil, ''Tela Ignea, Disputatio R. Jechielis''. p. 23
* Eisenmenger, ''Entdecktes Judenthum'', vol. ii., ch. ix., pp. 489 et seq. Königsberg, 1711
* Bodenschatz, ''Kirchliche Verfassung der Heutigen Juden'', part ii., ch. v., § 10, Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1748
* Rohling, ''Der Talmudjude'', pp. 80 et seq., Münster, 1877</ref>
Historically, this accusation was leveled so often and so persistently that many non-Jewish legislators considered it necessary to have a special form of oath administered to Jews ("[[Oath More Judaico]]"), and many judges refused to allow them to take a supplementary oath, basing their objections chiefly on this prayer. As early as 1240 in the [[Disputation]] of Paris, [[Yechiel of Paris]] was obliged to defend ''Kol Nidrei'' against these charges.<ref name=JE/> The Russian government, in 1857, decreed that the prayerbooks must include, as an introduction to Kol Nidrei, a Hebrew explanation to the readers of the limited nature of the vows that could be released by this ceremony.<ref>''The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1942, NY) s.v. Kol Nidre, vol. 6, p. 441; Jacobson, Bernhard S., ''Days of Awe'' (orig. 1936, Engl. trans. 1978, Tel Aviv, Sinai Publ'g) p. 117.</ref>

As Prof. [[Ismar Elbogen]] said in his monumental study of Jewish Liturgy:<blockquote>It is well known how many baseless accusations the text of [''Kol Nidre''] has aroused against Jews in the course of centuries. But nowhere in the sources can any interpretation of a morally offensive nature be found, for the [rabbinic] authorities agree unanimously that the text has in view only obligations undertaken by an individual toward himself or ''obligations respecting cultic regulations of the community''.<ref>Elbogen, Ismar, ''Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History'' (1913, German edition, page 154; Engl.transl. 1993, Philadelphia, Jewish Publ'n Soc.) page 128, ''emphasis added''.</ref></blockquote>