If a person has taken a vow (neder) but later regrets having done so, he may approach a rabbi to have it annulled. The Hebrew word for annulment is hatarah. Some Rishonim explain that this is related to the word le-hatir, to untie. Undoing a vow is like untying a knot. Others explain that it is related to heter (permissible) as opposed to issur (forbidden). According to them, Hatarat Nedarim means permitting the behavior that had been forbidden by the vow.
There is a disagreement among the Tannaim as to the source for Hatarat Nedarim. Some say the source is the verse (Bamidbar 30:3), “He shall not break his pledge” (Lo yachel devaro). They expound: The one who undertook the vow cannot forgive (mochel) it, but someone else can forgive it for him. The other opinion is that Hatarat Nedarim has no basis in the written Torah at all. Rather, Moshe taught the people orally that when the verse says, “He shall not break his pledge,” it means one should not flippantly disregard his vow. Instead, if he truly regrets it and wishes to undo it, a rabbi can do it for him. The idea that there is no clear biblical source for Hatarat Nedarim is expressed in the Mishnah with the phrase “it is floating in the air” (Chagigah 1:8).
When a rabbi annuls a vow, the annulment takes effect retroactively. It is as if the person never made the vow at all. In contrast, when a husband cancels his wife’s vow (Hafarat Nedarim), it takes effect only from the time he becomes aware of the vow and cancels it.
How is a vow annulment actually done? The person who made the vow stands in front of one rabbi or three laymen. He explains that he regrets having made the vow, and would not have made it if he had realized all the consequences. They then say to him, “The vow is annulled,” “The vow is forgiven,” or anything similar. Some require that the phrase be recited three times, but this is just to make it feel more serious. According to the letter of the law, though, saying it once is sufficient.
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