Yom Kippur
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...In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month,
you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work ... For on that
day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins
before the L-RD. -Leviticus 16:29-30
Yom Kippur is probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year. Many
Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast
and/or attend synagogue services on this
day. Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of
Tishri. The holiday is instituted at Leviticus
23:26 et seq.
The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains
what the holiday is. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone
for the sins of the past year. In Days of Awe,
I mentioned the "books" in which G-d inscribes
all of our names. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books is sealed.
This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the
judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends.
As I noted in Days of Awe, Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and
G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another
person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the
wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before
Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It
is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even
water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset
on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of
Yom Kippur. The Talmud also specifies additional
restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's
body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes
(Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers
under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations
are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.
As always, any of these restrictions can be lifted where a threat to life
or health is involved. In fact, children under the age of nine and women
in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are
not permitted to fast, even if they want to. Older children and women
from the third to the seventh day after childbirth are permitted to fast,
but are permitted to break the fast if they feel the need to do so. People
with other illnesses should consult a physician and a
rabbi for advice.
Most of the holiday is spent in the
synagogue, in prayer. In
Orthodox synagogues, services begin early
in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually
go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon
and evening services, which continue until nightfall. The services end at
nightfall, with the blowing of the tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar.
See Rosh Hashanah for more about
the shofar and its characteristic blasts.
It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and
calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is.
1:18). Some people wear a kittel, the white robe in which the dead are
buried.
See also Jewish
Liturgy generally.
The liturgy for Yom Kippur is much more extensive than for any other day
of the year. Liturgical changes are so far-reaching that a separate, special
prayer book for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.
This prayer book is called the machzor.
 The evening service
that begins Yom Kippur is commonly known as Kol Nidre, named for the prayer
that begins the service. "Kol nidre" means "all vows," and in this prayer,
we ask G-d to annul all personal vows we may make in the next year. It refers
only to vows between the person making them and G-d, such as "If I pass this
test, I'll pray every day for the next 6 months!" Click the musical notes
to hear a portion of the traditional tune for this prayer.
This prayer has often been held up by anti-Semites as proof that Jews are
untrustworthy (we do not keep our vows), and for this reason the
Reform movement removed it from the liturgy
for a while. In fact, the reverse is true: we make this prayer because we
take vows so seriously that we consider ourselves bound even if we make the
vows under duress or in times of stress when we are not thinking straight.
This prayer gave comfort to those who were converted to Christianity by torture
in various inquisitions, yet felt unable to break their vow to follow
Christianity. In recognition of this history, the Reform movement restored
this prayer to its liturgy.
There are many additions to the regular liturgy (there would have to be,
to get such a long service <grin>). Perhaps the most important addition
is the confession of the sins of the community, which is inserted into the
Shemoneh Esrei (Amidah) prayer. Note that all sins are confessed in the plural
(we have done this, we have done that), emphasizing communal responsibility
for sins.
There are two basic parts of this confession: Ashamnu, a shorter, more general
list (we have been treasonable, we have been aggressive, we have been
slanderous...), and Al Cheit, a longer and more specific list (for the sin
we sinned before you forcibly or willingly, and for the sin we sinned before
you by acting callously...) Frequent petitions for forgiveness are interspersed
in these prayers. There's also a catch-all confession: "Forgive us the breach
of positive commands and negative commands, whether or not they involve an
act, whether or not they are known to us."
It is interesting to note that these confessions do not specifically address
the kinds of ritual sins that some people think are the be-all-and-end-all
of Judaism. There is no "for the sin we have sinned before you by eating
pork, and for the sin we have sinned against you by driving on Shabbat" (though
obviously these are implicitly included in the catch-all). The vast majority
of the sins enumerated involve mistreatment of other people, most of them
by speech (offensive speech, scoffing, slander,
talebearing, and swearing falsely, to name a few). These all come into the
category of sin known as "lashon ha-ra" (lit:
the evil tongue), which is considered a very serious sin in Judaism.
The concluding service of Yom Kippur, known as Ne'ilah, is one unique to
the day. It usually runs about 1 hour long. The ark (a cabinet where the
scrolls of the Torah are kept) is kept open throughout this service, thus
you must stand throughout the service. There is a tone of desperation in
the prayers of this service. The service is sometimes referred to as the
closing of the gates; think of it as the "last chance" to get in a good word
before the holiday ends. The service ends with a very long blast of the shofar.
See Rosh Hashanah for more about
the shofar and its characteristic blasts.
After Yom Kippur, one should begin preparing for the next holiday,
Sukkot, which begins five days later.
Yom Kippur will occur on the following days of the Gregorian calendar:
-
Jewish Year 5768: sunset September 21, 2007 - nightfall September 22, 2007
-
Jewish Year 5769: sunset October 8, 2008 - nightfall October 9, 2008
-
Jewish Year 5770: sunset September 27, 2009 - nightfall September 28, 2009
-
Jewish Year 5771: sunset September 17, 2010 - nightfall September 18, 2010
-
Jewish Year 5772: sunset October 7, 2011 - nightfall October 8, 2011
For additional holiday dates, see
Links to Jewish Calendars.
© Copyright 5756-5767 (1995-2007), Tracey
R Rich
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