In Judaism, there is no holier day than Yom Kippur, historically the day that the Torah was received by the Jewish people. Taking place 10 days after Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur (the Jewish New Year) is a day that both active and secular Jewish peoples celebrate their closeness to God by atoning and repenting for their sins through intensive prayer and fasts. It is a sacred holiday that is focused on re-evaluating your past choices and learning from them in order to make the best choices in the future, to achieve your own personal goals, and to become closer to God.
Before Yom Kippur commences, those celebrating will usually perform various services and rituals in order to prepare for a coming 25 hours of fasting and prayer. Some of these prerequisite services include an atonement service, requesting and receiving honey cake to symbolize the sweetness of the upcoming year, eating a celebratory meal, giving out extra charity, giving children blessings, lighting memorial candles, and immerse themselves in a mikvah, or a ritual bath.
Over the course of Yom Kippur, Jewish tradition is to hold five specific prayer services, all of them relatively solemn and extremely detailed, as well as recite various Bible passages repeatedly, including passages from Leviticus and Psalms. However, upon the closing of the last prayer at sundown (called the Ne’ila) those participating erupt in song and dance, celebrating their purified and cleansed bodies from the sin that they had committed in the previous year and also celebrating in hopes that the coming year will be full of health and happiness.
To all Gusties celebrating Yom Kippur this year, we wish you an easy fast! G’mar Hatimah Tovah!