The Museum of
FAMILY HISTORY

       Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays

Yom Kippur

The Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn and important of the Jewish holidays. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jew traditionally observe this holy day with a twenty-five hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, after spending most of the day attending synagogue services.

Yom Kippur is the tenth and final day of the Ten Days of Repentance which begins with Rosh Hashanah.

God 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 himself absolved by God. next ►►

-adapted from Wikipedia.