What the heck is Yom Kippur?

Answer 1

Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, is the most solemn day of the Jewish year. As others have stated, it a time of fasting during this 24-hour period from sunset on Oct. 1 to sunset on Oct. 2. You spend this time practicing repentance, saying prayers, and giving charity to obtain God's forgiveness for any sins made in the past year.

Yom Kippur is actually the culmination of the Jewish High Holy Days, which are observed during the ten-day period between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur. The days in between offer a chance for spiritual renewal.

This year, the Holy Days begin at sunset on September 22 with Rosh Hashanah, and end at sunset on October 2nd with the breaking of the Yom Kippur fast.

Shalom (Peace)

Answer 2

It's the Day of Atonement -- the holiest day of the year for Jews. I'm really surprised that so many people jump in to answer a question that they clearly are guessing at. Goes to show that only a Jewish person should be answering questions about things related to Judaism. Not trying to insult anyone -- but as a Jewish woman I would not be answering questions about Wicca because I'm not Wiccan and therefore would come off as pretty ignorant and presumptuous spouting off answers based only on a guess.

Answer 3

Yom Kippur (יום כיפור yom kippūr) is the Jewish holiday of the Day of Atonement.

Answer 4

day of atonement. on rosh hashanah the book of life is opened up and on yom kippur it is closed and sealed until next year. the jewish people ask forgiveness from god for all the sins they did during the past year. one day of fasting instead of 40 days of lent.

Answer 5

ANGEL FOR A DAY

What are "angels?" Angels are completely spiritual beings, whose sole focus is to serve their Creator.

On Yom Kippur, every Jew becomes like an angel. As the Maharal of Prague explains:

"All of the mitzvot that God commanded us on [Yom Kippur] are designed to remove, as much as possible, a person's relationship to physicality, until he is completely like an angel."

Just as angels (so to speak) stand upright, so too we spend most of Yom Kippur standing in the synagogue. And just as angels (so to speak) wear white, so too we are accustomed to wear white on Yom Kippur. Just as angels do not eat or drink, so too, we do not eat or drink.

FIVE ASPECTS

There are five areas of physical involvement which we remove ourselves from on Yom Kippur. They are:


Eating and Drinking
Washing
Applying oils or lotions to the skin
Marital Relations
Wearing Leather Shoes

Throughout the year, many people spend their days focusing on food, work, superficial material possessions (symbolized by shoes) and superficial pleasures (symbolized by anointing). On Yom Kippur, we restore our priorities to what really counts in life.

As Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler writes:

"On Yom Kippur, the power of the evil inclination is muted. Therefore, one's yearning for spiritual elevation reasserts itself, after having lain dormant as a result of sin's deadening effect on the soul. This rejuvenation of purpose entitles a person to special consideration and forgiveness."

You can read more here http://www.aish.com/hhYomK/hhYomKDefault/ABCs_of_Yom_Kippur.asp

Answer 6

I'M JEWISH. LET ME TELL YOU

YOM KIPPUR- the day of forgiveness. you apologize to all and accept all apologies

the new year is rosh hashana

Answer 7

There are some good answers on here, but I need to add this note: Jews don't ask g-d for forgiveness like Christians do. They ask the person they wronged for forgiveness. If they wronged g-d, then they would ask g-d for forgiveness, but usually it is a person.

Answer 8

It is the Jewish new year. By the way you could ask the question in a nicer way (leave the heck out)

Answer 9

Jewish new year. You attend services all day, while you fast. You do a lot of standing and then you throw bread into a running body of water as a symbolic gesture of shedding your sins of the past year.

Answer 10

Day of Atonement where you ask God to let you live for another year and atone for the prior one.