Spirituality
LIOLIDAY 101
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INSTITUTE
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uguin
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Yom Kippur: Day
Of Atonement
Rodin
Van Gogh
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
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October 2 • 2008
hen: This year, Yom Kippur
begins on Wednesday, Oct.
8, and ends after sunset the
following day.
Why We Celebrate: Yom Kippur is
the Day of Atonement (yom in Hebrew
means "day',' and kippur means "atone-
ment") when we seek expiation for our
sins. The commandment to observe
Yom Kippur is in Leviticus 16:29 and
Numbers 29:7. More about the holiday
can be found in Leviticus 16:30-34,
23:26-32 and Numbers 29:8-11.
The prominent image for the High
Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur is the Book of Life, in which
appears the name of every person. On
Rosh Hashanah, God decides the fate
of each soul, and on Yom Kippur, God
seals it.
Although it is generally said that
Yom Kippur — unlike holidays such as
Pesach, Shavuot, Chanukah and Purim
— does not commemorate a histori-
cal event, traditionally, we believe that
Yom Kippur is the anniversary of God's
forgiving the Jewish people their first
disastrous, national sin: the infamous
episode of the golden calf.
Moses chastised the people,
destroyed the tablets of the Torah and
went back up the mountain a second
time to pray for God's forgiveness and
to receive new tablets (Exodus 32:30-
35). God returned to the encampment
of Jews, then ascended the mountain
a third time (Exodus 34). This is reck-
oned as the first day of Elul, the month
immediately preceding Rosh Hashanah.
Moses prayed for God to grant the
Jewish people complete atonement and,
after 40 days, God erased the collective
sin of the Jews. Moses returned to the
people with new tablets of the Torah on
the 10th of Tishrei,Yom Kippur.
Rites and Rituals: The command-
ment to observe Yom Kippur directs
Jews to "afflict" themselves. The rabbis
interpreted this to mean no food or
drink, no wearing of leather, no bath-
ing for pleasure, no marital relations
and no anointing with oils (in ancient
times, people used oil to clean, soften
and perfume the skin). The prohibition
against food and drink includes chew-
ing gum and smoking.
Persons on medication or who have
health concerns should always speak
with their rabbi and physician before
fasting.
Services for Yom Kippur are the lon-
gest of any day in the year, and in many
congregations prayer fills virtually the
entire day.
A significant feature of the Yom
Kippur liturgy is the Vidui, or confes-
sion. This consists of Ashamnu ("We
have trespassed"), an alphabetically
arranged list of sins, and Al Chet ("For
the sin"), a long inventory of transgres-
sions, accompanied by beating of the
breast. The confession is recited at all of
the services of Yom Kippur.
Along with Rosh Hashanah, Yom
Kippur is the only day when we
prostrate ourselves in prayer as was
done in the days of the Holy Temple
in Jerusalem. The prostration, now
performed in modified form, is during
the cantor's repetition of the Musaf
service.
Yom Kippur includes two unique
prayer services: Kol Nidre, which begins
Yom Kippur and in which we nullify all
personal vows for the coming year, and
Neilah, which closes the holiday. Unlike
on Rosh Hashanah, we do not blow
the shofar on Yom Kippur; instead, the
holiday ends with a shofar blast.
Customs and Traditions: It is tra-
ditional on Yom Kippur to wear white
to remind us of our mortality because
burial shrouds are white. White also is
a symbol of purity, and we hope that
God will forgive our sins and restore
us to lives of virtue. It is customary
to greet one another with the words
Gmar chatimah tovah ("May your fate
be sealed for the good"). EI