OATH OF OFFICE

QUESTION:

The Governor of Pennsylvania is a Jew. It is said that he did not take his oath of office with his hand on the Bible, but with his hand on a volume of the Talmud. Is there any traditional justification for this action? (Asked by Rabbi Frederic Pomerantz.)

ANSWER:

THERE IS no such thing as an oath of office in Jewish law. The only instance where there is something like an oath of office is found in the Mishnah, Yoma 1:5, in which on Yom Kippur the High Priest swears that he will not make any variation in the proper ritual. The Talmud explains that this oath was needed to prove that the High Priest was not a Sadducee; but there was no such thing as an oath of office other than this one incident of the High Priest.

The regular oaths that Jewish law knows are the oaths between litigants, and usually it is the defendant who makes the oath. These litigation oaths were not taken with any special object like a Bible touched by the hand, etc. Such ceremonies involving Bibles, etc., were introduced by the Christian authorities to degrade the Jews. Jewish law knows nothing of holding a Bible or any other book, when the litigant takes the oath.

Please see Responsa Literature, p. 140 ff., where there is a description of the answer given by Ezekiel Landau (1713-1793) Rabbi of Prague, to a question relevant to this inquiry. He was asked officially by the imperial officer in charge of such matters to refute the charge that some Jews feel religiously justified in giving a false oath in the Government Courts because when they take the oath, the Sefer Torah which they hold is a spoiled one (posul), i.e., unfit for synagogue use.

Landau answered that we Jews are commanded not to swear falsely even if we do not hold a Sefer Torah in our hand. The holding of the book has nothing to do with the validity of the oath. He then lists the various oaths listed in Scripture and shows that in no case is there any mention that it is necessary to grasp a Torah or any book while taking the oath.

However, in the case of the present inquiry, it would have aroused unfavorable comment, or at least surprise, if the Governor took the oath of office without the Bible. These unfavorable comments can easily be avoided, since it is a fairly well-established custom that men being sworn into public office bring their own home Bible for the ceremony. In that case, the Governor-elect can bring either a Hebrew Bible, or the Jewish Publication Society translation. But actually, according to the Jewish tradition and conscience, the absence or presence of a book at the taking of an oath makes no difference at all.