Promises, Promises by Nicola Feuchtwang
Rabbi Nicola Feuchtwang is a student rabbi, this piece first appeared on the Leo Baeck College website.
As Rabbi Sacks stressed at the end of his essay:
‘Words create moral obligations….Moral obligations, undertaken responsibly and honoured faithfully, create the possibility of a free society’
And as we repeat to ourselves at the end of every Amidah:
‘God – keep my tongue from causing harm and my lips from telling lies.’