Yom Kippur

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Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur

Teshuva

Repentance (teshuva) is the theme of Yom Kippur. While our sins alienate us from God, our repentance reconciles us with God. On Yom Kippur, we ask for God to forgive us for our sins.

The first Yom Kippur occurred when Moses descended Mount Sinai with the second set of Tablets, a symbol of the renegotiated covenant between God and the Jewish People. The Israelites alienated God by worshipping the golden calf. Moses ascended Mount Sinai to ask God for forgiveness. The Israelites repented by fasting during the day while Moses was on the mountain. On the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (Yom Kippur), Moses descended Mount Sinai with the second Tablets.

God decreed the tenth day of the month of Tishrei as a day of atonement:

Let it be a statute for you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall starve your vital energies and do no manner of work.... For on this day it shall bring atonement upon you, to purify you, before God shall you become pure of all your aberrations.

(Vayikra/Leviticus 16: 29-30)

Just as the Israelites alienated God with their unfaithful behavior, some of our behavior during the year has also alienated us from God. Just as the Israelites repented for their sins, we also repent for our sins. If the main reason for our sins is our quest for physical gratification, the way to atone for our sins is to elevate ourselves above the physical and into the spiritual realm. Praying, fasting, and abstaining from work and physical pleasures, enables us to envision the divine image that lives in each of us, denounce our bad deeds, and aim to do good deeds. Just as God forgave the Israelites on the tenth of Tishrei, it is our hope that God will forgive us on Yom Kippur.

The Israelites were able to go from the depth of worshipping a golden calf to the heights of receiving the Torah. We believe God is merciful. We hope that if we repent for our sins, then God will forgive us and grant us a good signing (chatima tova) in the Book of Life.

Licensed by Lisa Katz

Kaparot

Kaparot is an ancient and mystical custom connected to the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. It can be performed anytime between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, but most often it is performed just after dawn on the day before Yom Kippur.

An ultra-orthodox women from Mea Shaarim, Jerusalem tries to convince her son to go into a store selling chickens for kaparot.

Photo by David Samson (Reut, Israel)

The original form of the kaparot ceremony involves taking a chicken (a white rooster for a male, hen for a female) and and waving it over one’s head while reciting this prayer: "This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. This chicken will go to it's death while I will enter and proceed to a good long life, and peace." Then the chicken is slaughtered and it (or its cash value) is given to the poor.

Today, however, most Jews perform kaparot by waving money wrapped in a white cloth napkin over their head, reciting the prayer and then giving the money to charity following the ceremony.

Kaparot is supposed to imbue people with a feeling that their very lives are at stake as Yom Kippur approaches. The kaparot ceremony is meant to symbolically express our recognition that we have sinned and are no longer deserving of life (like the chicken), but we can be saved from the penalty we deserve if we repent, perform good deeds, and give charity.

All About Yom Kippur

What is Yom Kippur?

Yom Kippur, literally "Day of Atonement," is the holiest day of the Jewish year.

When was the first Yom Kippur?
An ultra-orthodox women from Mea Shaarim, Jerusalem tries to convince her son to go into a store selling chickens for kaparot. Photo by David Samson (Reut, Israel) After the Israelites alienated God by worshipping the golden calf, Moses ascended Mount Sinai to ask God for forgiveness. While Moses was on the mountain, the Israelites repented by fasting. On the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (Yom Kippur), Moses descended Mount Sinai with the second Tablets. Thus, on the first Yom Kippur (approximately 3,500 years ago), the Israelites succeeded to atone for their sins and renegotiate their covenant with God.

Yom Kippur in the Holy Temple

At the time of the Temple, the high priest (Kohen HaGadol) performed a ritual of atonement for all the children of Israel on Yom Kippur. It was the only time that the high priest entered the Temple's "Holy of Holies." Leviticus (chapter 16) describes this ritual in detail.

Yom Kippur Prayers

Prayer services on Yom Kippur are lengthy and solemn. The level of public solemnity on Yom Kippur surpasses that of any other festival, including Rosh Hashanah. We pray for forgiveness for sins between ourselves and God, and we correct wrongful actions between ourselves and other people.

Most of the holiday is spent in prayer in the synagogue. A machzor prayer book is used to lead us through the special prayer service. We pray Kol Nidrei and Maariv on the evening of Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur day we recite Shacharit, the Torah Reding, Yizkor, and Musaf. After a short break, we meet again to pray Mincha and Neilah. After Maariv, we can break the fast.

Fasting on Yom Kippur Experience a Healthy Fast

Yom Kippur is the only fast day decreed in the Bible. Abstaining from the pleasure of food is meant to improve one's ability to focus on repentance. The Yom Kippur fast is a 25-hour fast that begins before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ends after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur.

Why fast on Yom Kippur?

Spiritual elevation is a pre-requisite for true repentance. One way to achieve spiritual elevation is to abstain from the physical. Five physical activities are forbidden on Yom Kippur:

1. eating and drinking
2. marital relations
3. washing
4. wearing leather shoes
5. applying lotions