Festivals | Tishrei
Backgrounder: Yom Kippur
This is a background file, designed to assist you in determining
which elements you wish to emphasize in your programming and to
enhance the activities in subsequent files.
These materials were adapted from "New Year and Day of Atonement:
Program Material for Youth and Adults", published by the Jewish
Center Division, National Jewish Welfare Board, New York, 1952,
and from "Yom Kippur - Atoning for Sins", Dvora Waysman, World
Zionist Press Service, Department of Information, WZO, 1986..
Introduction
The Ten Days of Penitence culminate on Yom Kippur or the Day of
Atonement. Observed on the tenth of Tishrei as the most sacred
day in the Jewish calendar, it has come to be referred to as "SHABBAT
SHABBATON" or "Sabbath of Sabbaths".
Origin
"And it shall be a statute forever unto you that in the
seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict
your souls, and shall do no manner of work.... For on this day
shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you from all you sins
shall ye be clean before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest
unto you...."
(Leviticus 16:29- 31)
"Ye shall afflict your souls" is translated as an injunction to
abstain from all food and drink by fasting on the Day of Atonement.
Observance
The eve of Yom Kippur, considered a semi-holiday, arouses mingled
feelings of joy and solemnity.
The day is marked by generous giving. Money used in the Kaparot
ceremony--reminiscent of the sacrificial offering made in Temple
days-- is given to charitable causes. Ka'arot (plates) are set
conspicuously in the synagogue as a reminder to the assembling
congregants of the afternoon service, already and exceptionally
covered in TALITOTH (prayer shawls).
At this time, forgiveness is sought from those who one may have
insulted or injured either purposely or inadvertently, and peace
is hopefully established between the contending parties.
The final meal before the fast is a festive one. At its conclusion,
the father - or both parents - bless the children.
A memorial light, to burn throughout the twenty-four hours of the
fast, is kindled to recall departed ones.
At the synagogue, it is deemed appropriate for men to wear a Kittel
(long white garment) with the talit as a symbol of purity. Women
generally wear white garments as well.
The Services
Kol Nidre
(translated as "All Vows") is chanted directly preceding the evening
service of Yom Kippur. It is a formal abrogation of all unfulfilled
vows--especially those made under great emotional strain--and
is thus intended to release one from oaths that may have remained
unfulfilled through either negligence or forgetfulness.
This absolution from vows refers only to those that the individual
voluntarily took upon himself, and that concern his relation to
his conscience and Heavenly Judge. No oath or promise involving
another person, a community or court of justice is included in
the Kol Nidre.
Prayers of penitence
Petitions for forgiveness regarding the particular commission of
sins constitute a major portion of the day's ritual.
In the VIDUI ("Confessions"), sins that the individual may or may
not have transgressed are enumerated, the point being that these
prayers are uttered on the behalf of all Israel.
Furthermore, according to Jewish tradition, a person is not forgiven
on the Day of Atonement for sins committed against his fellow
man unless he makes direct overtures to the actual person or persons
involved to rectify the situation.
Yizkor
Memorial services are conducted in memory of departed parents and
relatives.
Neilah
constitutes the concluding service of the day and is invested with
a special solemnity and power. The Holy Ark remains open throughout
this service, and the day comes to its close with a final blowing
of the Shofar.
Yom Kippur - Atoning for Sins
by Dvora Waysman
World Zionist Press Service
Yom Kippur is observed on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of
Tishrei, when the individual's fate for the coming year is allegorically
"sealed" in the "Book of Life."
Only sins between man and God can be atoned for on Yom Kippur,
and at the end of the day worshippers at the synagogue can but
hope that they have successfully come to a rectification of their
faults, and that they have indeed reached God with their prayers.
For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse
you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord.
(Lev. 16:30)
Thus was instituted Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement--the one Jewish
festival, apart from Rosh Hashanah, that does not relate to any
historical event or agricultural concept. The other holidays all
possess a national significance that even secular Jews can relate
to in some way.
Yom Kippur, however, deals exclusively with man's relationships
with God and his fellow man, and involves much petitioning before
God. The days directly preceding the Day of Atonement are intended
for man to ask pardon from and make actual restitution to those
he may have wronged in the course of the year.
The Nature of Sin
In Hebrew, there are about 20 different words denoting "sin," each
connoting unique concepts and possessing only limited particular
applications. The common rabbinic term for sin is "averah" from
the root "avar"--meaning "to pass over" and interpreted as a loss
of divine favor.
Jews believe that sin is caused by the evil inclination (the "Yetzer
HaRa"), a force that drives one to gratify instincts irrespective
of cost and consequences.
God said (Kid. 30b):
"My children? I created the evil inclination, but I created
Torah as its antidote: If you occupy yourself with the Torah,
you will not be delivered into its hand."
Rabbi Ishmael taught:
"My son, if this repulsive wretch (i.e., the Yetzer HaRa)
attacks you, lead him to the house of learning; if he is stone,
he will dissolve, and if iron, he will shiver into fragments"
(Kid. 30b).
Freedom of Choice
is a basic Jewish doctrine, from the first story is Genesis in
which Adam and Eve are given the option to either accept or reject
God's commandment.
The great medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides wrote:
"Every man has the prospect of becoming as righteous as
Moses our teacher, or as wiched as Jeroboam; wise or stupid; kind
or cruel; miserly or generous..."
(Yad, Teshuva 5)
This contradicts a popular Yiddish expression that posits all of
life's occurances as "beshert" or predestined.
Judaism teaches us that we are capable of directing our own lives,
of choosing the path to righteousness or its counterpart and nemesis
toward sin.
Fasting and Prayer
Yet during the High Holidays, we recite a prayer that apparently
contradicts the above supposition:
"On the New Year it (i.e., our destiny) is written down
and on the Day of Atonement it is sealed... who shall live and
who shall die, who shall live out the full measure of his days
and who shall pass away before it...."
Some rabbis claim this is a meditation rather than a prayer, designed
to help the Jew understand that culminating and most inspirational
of Yom Kippur's exhortations,
"But penitence, prayer and charity avert the severe decree!"
Though our deeds may warrant punishment, we can yet choose the
path to repentance--up to our very last hour on earth, or so the
Scriptures say.
In Israel
In Israel, Yom Kippur possesses an added spiritual dimension. In
the city of Jerusalem in particular, no cars are to be seen on
the streets for the entirety of the twenty-four hour fast. The
most hardened secular Israeli respects the holiness of the day.
As darkness descends upon this long period of fasting and prayer,
Jews continue to fill the synagogues while the streets throng
with others making their way to Jerusalem's holiest site--the
Western Wall. The final Shofar blast simultaneously rends both
the night's darkness and the Jew's soul, and we in Israel are
mindful of Isaiah's address to the exiles:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great
horn shall be blown; and they shall come that were lost in the
land of Assyria."
(Isaiah 27:13)
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