Yom Kippur

What

Yom Kippur

When

9/15/2021

Where

Jewish

The tenth day of the month of Tishrei - is the Jewish Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Hebrew calendar. The primary observance of the day is fasting from one evening to the next for the full duration of the holiday. Fasting involves abstaining completely from food and drink; also forbidden are wearing leather, washing oneself, anointing with perfumes or lotions, and engaging in marital intimacy. During services, it is customary for married Ashkenazi men to wear a type of burial garment known as a Kittl or a Sargenes. Prior to the evening service on the night of Yom Kippur, a passage in the form of an Aramaic legal statement is chanted. This passage, known as Kol Nidrei, absolves all vows the congregants have taken upon themselves, but find themselves unable or unwilling to sustain. While Kol Nidrei does not undo vows made to another person, it releases one from personal oaths made before the divine. To begin Yom Kippur in this way is to provide a clean slate on promises made to the self and God and to clear the way for an intense day of self-examination. One very moving part of the day’s liturgy describes the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur in the days when the Temples stood in Jerusalem. The Priest’s service included many ritual immersions and sacrifices, but it all culminated in one grand event. The High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and speak the explicit Name of God aloud. If he and the Israelites were deemed fit, the Priest would emerge in peace with a radiant countenance and the nation would be considered absolved of its sins.

The Yom Kippur liturgy concludes with the Neilah service that includes numerous Piyyutim - liturgical poems - on the subject of repentance and awe of the divine. At the end of the Neilah service, the shofar is blown, and the weary and hungry congregants are released to their break-fast, hopefully a little wiser and ready to take on the challenges of the year ahead.