יָבוֹא עָלַי אִם...

ביטוי (אנגלית)

May it come upon me if.../ may evil befall me if/ I swear that

הגדרה (אנגלית)

An oath formula meaning: "I swear that I will not..."

("There were seven sons to Kimchit, and all of them served as High Priest. The sages sent and asked her: What good deeds are in your hand? She said to them: May it come upon me if the beams of my house ever saw the braids of my hair" — Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 1:1; and likewise: "One who passes before the ark is forbidden to make communal requests until he sets himself right. There was an incident with Rabbi Akiva: when the hazzan called him in public to stand and read from the Torah, he did not stand. After they left the synagogue he began to appease the students. He said to them: May it come upon me if I did not refrain from standing and reading from the Torah out of arrogance." They said to him: "And why did the rabbi not stand?" He said to them: "Because I had not set myself right" — Yalkut Shimoni, Samuel II, remez 146.)