We live in a world in which people make promises - but don't promise to keep them! This is a deep-set problem in society which has its roots in early childhood. Our leaders ought to serve as a personal example and restore credibility and integrity to the public agenda.
In the generations following the sealing of the Talmud, there was a genuine concern about the terrible price to be paid for not keeping vows and great effort was made to annul and expropriate them before they were even made. It was customary to hold a general annulment of all vows on erev Rosh Hashana and the 'Kol Nidrei' declaration was universally accepted as the opening of Yom Kippur prayers. Although the halakhic validity of these ceremonies and declarations is debatable, their educational value is clear – they are meant to reduce the significance and value of vows in our lives. For this reason, many people add the disclaimer 'bli neder' (no vow intended) when making a promise to do something.
However, there is also an inherently negative message of not taking responsibility for one's words when one has the possibility to automatically break commitments by annulling them on erev Rosh Hashana or by saying 'Kol Nidrei' on Yom Kippur. The principle of keeping to one's word has become less important, the validity of a promise has become less concrete. Today, people make promises and then jokingly shrug them off by saying that although they made a promise, they did not promise to keep it. This is a chronic sickness. Educational experts explain that the seeds of this sickness are sown in childhood - parents who make a promise to give their child a candy or any other trivial matter and do not keep their word. This may seem insignificant to the parents, but for the child it is a missed opportunity, a dream that has been trampled on by the very people he considers to be the most important in the world. Thus, from an early age, the child learns that words have no value and in adulthood, he will scatter empty words.
Unfortunately, our leaders, the princes of the tribes, our modern-day politicians are known for their habit of promising the earth to potential voters during election campaigns, forgetting them as soon as they are elected, and shaking off any responsibility for keeping their pledges.
This is a new insight into why the Torah addresses the heads of the tribes in particular. They are expected to serve as a personal example to the entire community. A public figure's word is his bond. If our leaders' words can be trusted, then the people will follow suit. If the opposite is true, then society as a whole loses its credibility and integrity.