Day of Atonement is also known as the Sabbath of all Sabbaths. Yom Ha-Kippurim, in Hebrew, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
Yom Kippur has been in existence since biblical times. In the second Temple, Yom Kippur became an important day of mourning by the Rabbinic period, which still holds today.
So, what is the main purpose of Yom Kippur?
Jews around the world spend most of the day in synagogue hoping to seek God's forgiveness for their sins, to secure their fate, and achieve reconciliation. They do that with prayers, special services and wearing a prayer shawl (or tallit) during services, and some on their way home.
This SABBATH OF ALL SABBATHS or Yom Kippur is when God seals the book of Life& Death for the coming year. From morning to evening for nearly 26 hours, with prayers from Kol Nidrei to Viddui to Neilah, Jews spend their time inside a synagogue.
It is traditional that during this period (very common in Israel and Orthodox synagogues) Jewish people wear white to symbolize your purity before Hashem (God).
Yom Kippur begins with Rosh Hashana and concludes with "10 days of repentance". The end of Yom Kippur services is signaled with the blowing of the Shofar (made from a ram's horn). The sound like a wailing symbolizes many different things; one is to stir our conscience and confront past errors.
Here is a short video from Behind the new that explains what is Yom Kippur:
Sandy Koufax, a Hall of Famer pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, made national headlines in the 1965 World Series when he refused to pitch the first game.
Why, you ask?
It was the first night of Yom Kippur and Koufax; being Jewish would not pitch. His replacement for that game was Don Drysdale, who was ultimately pulled out of the game for his poor performance. While he was pulled out, he told his manager Walter Alston, "I bet you wish I was Jewish, too."
Source: https://www.rarenewspapers.com/
From all of us at Proud Jews Have a safe and easy fast.
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