Are mitzvot de facto nedarim (or some other form of oath) that we have previously agreed ("we do and we hear") to carry out and are just awaiting for the correct circumstances in which to perform the previously accepted oath/mitzvot (this came to mind in the "tearing-of-the-clothes). If so, is every missed mitzvah a broken oath? If so, even more so we should not make oaths outside the mitzvot!
Kevin (Chaim Kalman) Minerley, Red Hook, NY 12571 USA
There definitely is some truth to the statement that not doing a mitzvah (one is commanded to do) is considered transgressing an oath from Har Sinai (see the Teshuvos ha' Rashba 1:64 who says that if someone who is suspected of eating treif swears that something is not treif we do not believe him, as he is already accustomed to making bad oaths like the one he made not to eat treif at Har Sinai). Additionally, every Mitzvah has had forty-eight covenants attached to it (see Sotah 37a) and according to many, transgressing any Mitzvah also transgresses the Pasuk "Cursed is someone who will not uphold the Torah" (see Teshuvos Binyamin Zev #303). It definitely means that we should not take Mitzvos, and generally not make vows unless we have to (time of danger, etc.). As you pointed out, we have enough vows on our hands as it is. [The exact parameters of this oath are not so clear. See Teshuvos ha'Radach #22 who discusses whether or not this oath applies to eating a "chatzi shiur."]
All the best,
Yaakov Montrose