Editing Kol Nidre (section)

===Change of the Kol Nidre's tense from past to future===
An important alteration of the wording of the ''Kol Nidre'' was made by [[Rashi]]'s son-in-law, Rabbi [[Meir ben Samuel]] (early 12th century), who changed the original phrase "from the last Day of Atonement until this one" to "from this Day of Atonement until the next". Thus, the dispensation was not [[a posteriori]] and concerning the unfulfilled obligations of the past year, but it was ''[[A priori and a posteriori|a priori]]'', making reference to vows which one might not be able to fulfill or vows which one might forget to observe during the ensuing year. Meir ben Samuel likewise added the words "we do repent of them all", since real repentance is a condition of dispensation. The reasons  for this change were that an "[[ex post facto]]" annulment of a vow was meaningless and, furthermore, that no one might grant to himself a dispensation, which might only be given by a board of three laymen or a competent judge. Additionally, the [[Talmud]]ic discussion of the annulment of vows speaks of the negation of vows which will be made in the future.<ref>Scherman, Nosson, ''The Complete ArtScroll Machzor, Yom Kippur, Nusach Ashkenaz'' (1986, Brooklyn, Mesorah Publ'ns) p. 54; Nulman, Macy, ''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer'' (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) p. 204; Davidson, Israel, "Kol Nidre", ''The American Jewish Year Book 5684'' (1923, NY) pp. 183–184.</ref> Finally, there was the distinct probability that a person would die with unfulfilled vows having been made since the previous Day of Atonement, so annulling these vows in advance might diminish the weight such unkept vows imposed on him at his death.

It was [[Rabbeinu Tam]], however, who accounted for the alteration which was made by his father, as already stated, and he also tried to change the [[Perfect (grammar)|perfect tense]] of the verbs ("which we have vowed", "have sworn", etc.) to the imperfect. Whether the old text was already too deeply rooted, or whether Rabbeinu Tam did not correct these verbal forms consistently and grammatically, the old perfect forms are still retained at the beginning of the formula, but a future meaning is given to them.<ref>''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1904, NY) s.v. Kol Nidre, vol. 7 pp. 540–541; Davidson, Israel, "Kol Nidre", ''The American Jewish Year Book 5684'' (1923, NY) p. 184; Bloch, Abraham P., ''The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies'' (1980, NY, KTAV Publ'g House) page 173; Steiner. Richard, ''Kol Nidre: Past, present and future'', Jewish Studies - an Internet Journal, vol. 12 pages 9-13 (Bar-Ilan Univ., 2013).</ref>

The alteration which was made by Meïr ben Samuel, who concurred with Isaac ibn Ghayyat's view, was accepted in the German, northern French, and Polish rituals as well as in those rituals which were dependent on them, but it was not accepted in the Spanish, Roman, and Provençal rituals.<ref>Nulman, Macy, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer'' (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) p. 203.</ref> The old version is, therefore, usually called the "Sephardic". The old and new versions are sometimes found side by side.<ref>''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1904, NY) s.v. Kol Nidre, vol. 7 p. 541.</ref> Because it is traditional to recite the Kol Nidrei three times, some Sephardic communities and even some Ashkenazic communities (especially in Israel) make a point of reciting both versions (usually referring to the previous Yom Kippur in the first two iterations and usually referring to the next Yom Kippur in the third),<ref>Nulman, Macy, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer'' (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) p. 203; Toledano, Eliezer, ''The Orot Sephardic Yom Kippur Mahazor'' (1997, Lakewood, NJ, Orot) p. 78.</ref> with some reciting both versions one after the other each of the three times.