Sunday, October 01, 2006
Happy Yom Kipper
Yom Kippur is considered a most important holiday of the Jewish year.
Many Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast and/or attend synagogue services on this day and no work can be performed on this day.
You are not supposed to eat or drink (even water)-beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur.
The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is.
It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year.
Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and God, not for sins against another person.
Righting the wrongs you committed against another person with the other person must all be done before Yom Kippur.
The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known:
washing and bathing, putting on cosmetics,deodorant, wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and having sex are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.
Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue, in prayer. In Orthodox synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall. The services end at nightfall, with the blowing of the the shofar.(a rams horn) Then, you leave and pig out.
