Yom Kippur, Yom Kippur

According to Jewish tradition, God, or "YHVH" ("The One Who Was, Is and Shall Be"), inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a "book" on Rosh Hashanah and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Ten Days of Repentance, a Jew tries to amend his behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God ( bein adam leMakom ) and against his fellow man ( bein adam lechavero ). 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 considers one's self absolved by God.

Unlike a regular day, which has three prayer services ( Ma'ariv , the evening prayer; Shacharit , the morning prayer; and Mincha , the afternoon prayer), or a Shabbat or Yom Tov, which have four prayer services ( Ma'ariv ; Shacharit ; Musaf , the additional prayer; and Mincha ), Yom Kippur has five prayer services ( Ma'ariv ; Shacharit ; Musaf ; Mincha ; and Ne'ilah , the closing prayer). The prayer services also include a public confession of sins ( Vidui ) and a reenactment of the special Yom Kippur avodah (service) of the Kohen Gadol in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Virtually all Jewish holidays involve a ritual feast, but since Yom Kippur involves fasting, Jewish law requires one to eat a large and festive meal on the afternoon before Yom Kippur, after the Mincha afternoon prayer. Wearing white clothing is traditional to symbolize ones purity on this day. Many Orthodox men immerse themselves in a mikvah on the day before Yom Kippur.

The morning prayers are followed by an added prayer ( Musaf ) as on all other holidays. This is followed by Mincha (the afternoon prayer) which includes a reading (Haftarah) of the Book of Jonah, which has as its theme the story of God's willingness to forgive those who repent. The service concludes with the Ne'ilah prayer, which begins shortly before sunset, when the "gates of prayer" will be closed. Yom Kippur comes to an end with a recitation of Shema Yisrael and the blowing of the shofar , which marks the conclusion of the fast.

According to Talmud tractate Yoma, in the absence of a Temple, Jews are obligated to study the High Priests ritual on Yom Kippur, and this study helps achieve atonement for those who are unable to benefit from its actual performance. In Orthodox Judaism, accordingly, studying the Temple ritual on Yom Kippur represents a positive rabbinically-ordained obligation which Jews seeking atonement are required to fulfill.

Performing the sacrificial acts and reciting Leviticus 16:30, for on this day atonement shall be made for you, to atone for you for all your sins, before God (he would recite the Tetragrammaton at this point, to which the people would prostrate to the ground) and after extending the Name, he would finish the verse you shall be purified. He would first ask for forgiveness for himself and his family (Your pious man), then for the priestly caste (Your holy people), and finally for all of Israel (Your upright children). (These three times, plus in some congregations the Alenu prayer during the Musaf Amidah on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, are the only times in Jewish services when Jews engage in complete full-body prostration, with the exception of some Yemenite Jews and talmedhei haRambam who may prostrate themselves on other occasions during the year). A variety of liturgical poems are added, including a poem recounting the radiance of the countenance of the Kohen Gadol after exiting the Holy of Holies, traditionally believed to emit palpable light in a manner echoing the Bible's account of the countenance of Moses after descending from Mount Sinai, as well as prayers for the speedy rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of sacrificial worship. There are a variety of other customs, such as hand gestures to mime the sprinkling of blood (one sprinkling upwards and seven downwards per set of eight).

Many secular Jews fast and attend synagogue on Yom Kippur, where the number of worshippers attending is often double or triple the normal attendance.

There is no legal prohibition on driving or eating in public, and from the strict legal point of view any person has the right to do so but in practice such actions are frowned upon. Allowance is made for ambulances and emergency vehicles, but there have been incidents where even they are not tolerated. "Youths hurl rocks at Magen David paramedics in Acre, Haifa" (Haaretz, October 11, 2008 [1] Over the last few decades, bicycle-riding on the empty streets has become a new tradition among secular Israeli youngsters, especially on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Arnold Lustiger, Michael Taubes, Menachem Genack, and Hershel Schacter, Kasirer Edition Yom Kippur Machzor With Commentary Adapted from the Teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik . New York: K'hal Publishing, 2006. pp. 588–589 (summary); 590–618.

These services were considered to be the most important parts of Yom Kippur, as through them the Kohen Gadol made atonement for all Jews in the world. During the service, the Kohen Gadol entered the Holy of Holies in the center of the Temple, the only time of the year that anyone went inside. Doing so required special purification and preparation, including five immersions in a mikvah (ritual bath), and four changes of clothing.

However, many Christian theologians and scholars acknowledge that there is a strong connection between the two days; for example, one Christian theologian argues that Yom Kippur is the foreshadowing pre-text of Christ's future judgment of mankind. Sausa, Diego D.

One Orthodox priest – Rev. Patrick Reardon – argues that it is obviously derived from Yom Kippur, and that everyone realizes this.

Source: Wikipedia > Yom Kippur