Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the "Day of Atonement" and refers to the annual Jewish observance of fasting, prayer and repentance. Yom Kippur is the tenth and final day of the Ten Days of Repentance which begin with Rosh Hashanah. This is considered to be the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year.

In three separate passages in the Torah, the Jewish people are told, "Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall deny yourselves and present the LORD’s offering by fire"(Leviticus 23:27). Fasting is seen as fulfilling this biblical commandment. 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. Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day.

The Yom Kippur fast also enables us to put aside our physical desires and to concentrate on our spiritual needs through prayer, repentance and self-improvement. It is customary in the days before Yom Kippur for Jews to seek out friends and family whom they have wronged and personally ask for their forgiveness. 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.

Yom Kippur has its own candle lighting blessing:

“Blessed are you, our God, Creator of time and space,
who enriches our lives with holiness,
commanding us to kindle the Sabbath and Yom Kippur lights.”

After the candles are lit, the following prayer is recited:

“Blessed are you, our God, Creator of time and space,
who has supported us, protected us,
and brought us to this moment.”