Significance: Day of Atonement
Observances: Fasting, Prayer and Repentance
Length: 25 Hours
Greeting: Have an easy fast
Liturgy
additions: Annulment
of vows; lengthy confession of sins
Jewish
Year 5777: sunset
October 11, 2016 - nightfall October 12, 2016.
- 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 LORD. -Leviticus 16:29-30
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om Kippur means "Day of Atonement," and is the holiest
day of the year in Judaism. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul,"
to atone for the sins of the past year.
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.
- Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im ("Days of Awe") that commences with Rosh Hashanah. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a book, the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God (bein adam leMakom) and against other human beings (bein adam lechavero).
(Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and God, 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.)
The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (Vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God.
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.
The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (Vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God.
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.
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.
The
Liturgy
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.
Play
Music
The evening
service 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 God to annul all personal vows we
may make in the next year. It refers only to vows between the person making
them and God, such as "If I pass this test, I'll pray every day for the
next 6 months!"
- 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 intermingled 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."
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.
In Christ,
Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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