Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of Tishri. Yom Kippur 2012 is on Wednesday, September 26. The name itself means it is the Day of Atonement, the day when a person can ask God for forgiveness for his sins. However, it is not to be confused with the sins that one has done with or against others but the sins one has done in the past year with regards to God. The day is in its essence one’s last day for appeal, retribution, the very last chance for repentance and the last chance to avert the judgment. If one seeks atonement of sins against others, one must confess, reconcile and try and if not undo then at least right the wrongs that one has committed. All of this needs to be done before Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is a day when no work must be done. For a full 25 hour period one must not either eat, drink and begin the fast before evening on the day before Yom Kippur and end it after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. There are other restrictions well in place too, a person must not wash, bathe or anoint one’s self with any products (make up, perfumes). Leather shoes and having sex on Yom Kippur are a complete no-no. However, any of these restrictions may be lifted whenever there seems to be any danger to life or limb. Women in childbirth as well as children below the age of nine are not allowed to participate in the fast. People with an illness should consult a doctor and meet a rabbi to seek advice.
The entire holiday is spent in prayer (synagogue). Orthodox synagogue services begin as early as eight or nine a.m. in the morning and go up to three in the afternoon. People go back home for a nap in the afternoon and come right back for afternoon and evening services that go on till nightfall. Everyone one wears white on the holiday which symbolizes purity and brings to mind the picture of one’s sins becoming pure and cleansed and as white as snow itself.
