Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement

Contrary to popular belief, Yom Kippur is not a sad day. Sephardic Jews (Jews of Spanish, Portuguese and North African descent) refer to this holiday as "the White Fast".

 

In the Hebrew calendar Yom Kippur begins at nightfall starting the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (which falls in September/October), and continues until the next nightfall. It is always observed as a one day holiday, both inside and outside the boundaries of the land of Israel, in contrast with many other holidays, which are observed for two days in the Diaspora.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown on the night before the following dates in the next few years:

2006: October 2
2007: September 22
2008: October 9
2009: September 28
2010: September 18

Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of repentance, considered to be the holiest and most solemn day of the year. Its central theme is atonement and reconciliation. Eating, drinking, washing, cosmetics, wearing leather shoes, and conjugal relations are prohibited (Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:1). Fasting - total abstention from all food and drink - usually begins a half an hour before sundown (called "tosefet Yom Kippur", the "addition" of fasting a bit of the previous day is required by Jewish law), and ends after nightfall the following day.

Contrary to popular belief, Yom Kippur is not a sad day. Sephardic Jews (Jews of Spanish, Portuguese and North African descent) refer to this holiday as "the White Fast". Consequently, many Jews have the custom of wearing only white clothing on this day, to symbolize their "white" purity from sin, akin to angels.

Observances among secular Jews
Yom Kippur is considered the most holy of Jewish holidays and its observance is held even among the majority of secular Jews who may not strictly observe other holidays. Many secular Jews will fast and attend synagogue on Yom Kippur, and attendance on Yom Kippur can be double, triple or even more than the normal number of worshippers. In Israel, public non-observance (such as eating or driving a motor vehicle) is taboo. Yom Kippur there has the nickname "Festival of Bicycles," referring to children's practice of freely riding their bicycles in the streets without motor vehicles presenting danger. In Israel on Yom Kippur there is no broadcast television, no public transportation and the airports are closed. There is no commerce of any kind in the Jewish areas.

The eve of Yom Kippur
There is a commandment to eat a large and festive meal before Yom Kippur starts after the mincha prayer. Traditional foods consumed during that meal include kreplach and rice. Many others also have a custom to eat another meal before that, consuming fish. Also, all Orthodox men immerse themselves in a mikvah close to mincha.

Prayer services
Men don a Tallit (four-cornered prayer garment) for evening prayers, the only evening service of the year in which this is done, and many married men also wear a kittel, or white shroud. Prayer services begin with the prayer known as "Kol Nidre", which must be recited before sunset, and follows with the regular evening prayers (ma'ariv or arvith).

The morning prayer service is preceded by litanies and petitions of forgiveness called selichot; on Yom Kippur, many selichot are woven into the liturgy. The morning prayers are followed by an added prayer (mussaf) as on all other holidays, followed by mincha (the afternoon prayer) and the added ne'ilah prayer specific for Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur comes to an end with a recitation of Shema Yisrael and the blowing of the shofar, which marks the conclusion of the fast.

The Torah is read during the morning and afternoon prayers (Leviticus 16 and 18, respectively); the book of Jonah is read as the haftarah in the afternoon. Depending on the nusach (version) of the prayers, some communities pray continuously from morning until nightfall, while some include a short break. Every prayer includes the vidduy (confession); see below for more information.

Atonement

Forgiveness and vidduy
According to the Talmud, God opens three books on the first day of the year; one for the thoroughly wicked, another for the thoroughly pious, and the third for the large intermediate class. The fate of the thoroughly wicked and the thoroughly pious is determined on the spot; the destiny of the intermediate class is suspended until Yom Kippur, when the fate of everyone is sealed. The liturgical piece Unetanneh Tokef (attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz) states:

God, seated on His throne to judge the world, at the same time Judge, Pleader, Expert, and Witness, opens the Book of Records. It is read, every man's signature being found therein. The great trumpet is sounded; a still, small voice is heard; the angels shudder, saying, "this is the day of judgment": for God's very ministers are not pure before God. As a shepherd musters his flock, causing them to pass under his rod, so does God cause every living soul to pass before Him, to fix the limit of every creature's life and to ordain its destiny. On New-Year's Day the decree is written; on the Day of Atonement it is sealed; who shall live and who are to die....But penitence, prayer, and charity may avert the harsh decree."
According to Maimonides, "all depends on whether a man's merits outweigh the demerits put to his account", so it is therefore desirable to multiply good deeds before the final account on the Day of Atonement (Yad, Laws of Repentance 3:4). Those that are found worthy by God are said to be entered in the Book of Life, hence the prayer: "Enter us in the Book of Life". Hence also the greeting "May you be sealed [in the Book of Life] for a happy year" ("Gemar Chatima Tovah"). In letters written between New-Year and the Day of Atonement, the writer usually concludes by wishing the recipient that God may seal his fate for happiness.

Penitent confession was a requisite for expiation through capital or corporal punishment. On Yom Kippur, every prayer (whether silent or communal) includes the vidduy, a standardised confession. It consists of the short vidduy and the long vidduy (the latter is omitted in the ne'ilah service). Both are arranged alphabetically, probably to aid the public in memorizing it.

Reconciliation with others
"The Day of Atonement absolves from sins against God, but not from sins against a fellow man unless the pardon of the offended person be secured" (Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:9). Hence the custom of terminating on the eve of the fastday (or in the 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) all feuds and disputes. Even the souls of the dead are included in the community of those pardoned on the Day of Atonement. It is customary for children to have public mention made in the synagogue of their departed parents, and to make charitable gifts on behalf of their souls.

The Temple service
The sacrificial service of the Temple in Jerusalem features prominently in both the liturgy and the religious thought of the holiday. Specifically, the avodah ("service") in the mussaf prayer recounts the sacrificial ceremonies in great detail.

The most distinctive ceremony was the offering of the "emissary goats", or "scapegoats" (Leviticus 16:8-10), one of which was offered on the altar and another was sent into the desert to "Azazel"; the goats were identical, and the fate of each goat was decided by lots. Commentators differ as to the exact meaning of this offering; it is generally presumed that the goats are each symbols for people, modes of behavior or other subjects.

The kohen gadol (high priest) performed most of the service himself, including sin offerings for himself and his family, all the priests and finally the whole Jewish people. During the confessions made for each offering he pronounced the ineffable name, the only instance when this was permitted.