Okla-homey
10/2/2006, 05:56 AM
Oct 2, 2006: Yom Kippur
And this shall be an eternal law for you. Each year on the tenth day of the seventh month you must fast and do no work. This is true of the native born and of the proselyte who comes to join you. This is because on this day you shall have all your sins atoned, so that you will be cleansed. Before G-d you will be cleansed of your sins. It is a Sabbath of Sabbaths to you, and a day upon which you must fast. This is a law for all time.
(Leviticus 16:29-31 -- Spoken by Moses to the Hebrew people after he descended the mountain with the second set of tablets and found his people truly repentant)
I hope my Jewish peeps will patiently abide my gentile attempt to explain the significance of this day.
Some of you may be wondering why some of your observant Jewish colleagues aren't at work today. It's because today is Yom Kippur, among the most important holidays 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.
Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of Tishri. Like Rosh Hashanah, most American Jews expect Gentiles to be aware of this day, and almost all will be hurt if you schedule important activities on it.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1919/yyyyyyyyyygottliebjewsprayinginthesynagogueonyomki ppuyk9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur. (Maurice Gottlieb. Vienna. 1878)
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. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in the books inscribed by G-d during the Days of Awe is sealed. This day is, essentially, the believers last appeal, and a believers last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate repentance and make amends.
Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another person, the believer must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. Observant Jews are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur (Sundown yesterday) and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur (today.)
The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in...relations -- are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.
As always, any of these restrictions can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved. In fact, children under the age of nine and women in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are not permitted to fast, even if they want to.
Older children and women from the third to the seventh day after childbirth are permitted to fast, but are permitted to break the fast if they feel the need to do so.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7828/yyyyyyyyycoverimagejerusalem20capital20de20israelg b4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Jerusalem. World's Holiest City and Capital of Israel and cradle of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
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 tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar (a horn trumpet.)
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2389/yyyyyyyyyyyyyshofarev6.gif (http://imageshack.us)
It is also customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. 1:18).
In Israel, public non-observance (such as eating or driving a motor vehicle) is taboo. Yom Kippur there has the nickname "Festival of Bicycles," [1] referring to children's practice of freely riding their bicycles in the streets without motor vehicles presenting danger. In Israel on Yom Kippur there is no broadcast television, no public transportation, and the airports are closed. There is no commerce of any kind in the Jewish areas.
There you have it. A big and richly significant day in Jewish tradition and faith. To our Jewish friends...
Gemar Chatima Tovah
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7917/insane7zojw3.jpg
And this shall be an eternal law for you. Each year on the tenth day of the seventh month you must fast and do no work. This is true of the native born and of the proselyte who comes to join you. This is because on this day you shall have all your sins atoned, so that you will be cleansed. Before G-d you will be cleansed of your sins. It is a Sabbath of Sabbaths to you, and a day upon which you must fast. This is a law for all time.
(Leviticus 16:29-31 -- Spoken by Moses to the Hebrew people after he descended the mountain with the second set of tablets and found his people truly repentant)
I hope my Jewish peeps will patiently abide my gentile attempt to explain the significance of this day.
Some of you may be wondering why some of your observant Jewish colleagues aren't at work today. It's because today is Yom Kippur, among the most important holidays 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.
Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of Tishri. Like Rosh Hashanah, most American Jews expect Gentiles to be aware of this day, and almost all will be hurt if you schedule important activities on it.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1919/yyyyyyyyyygottliebjewsprayinginthesynagogueonyomki ppuyk9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur. (Maurice Gottlieb. Vienna. 1878)
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. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in the books inscribed by G-d during the Days of Awe is sealed. This day is, essentially, the believers last appeal, and a believers last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate repentance and make amends.
Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another person, the believer must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. Observant Jews are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur (Sundown yesterday) and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur (today.)
The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in...relations -- are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.
As always, any of these restrictions can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved. In fact, children under the age of nine and women in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are not permitted to fast, even if they want to.
Older children and women from the third to the seventh day after childbirth are permitted to fast, but are permitted to break the fast if they feel the need to do so.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7828/yyyyyyyyycoverimagejerusalem20capital20de20israelg b4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Jerusalem. World's Holiest City and Capital of Israel and cradle of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
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 tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar (a horn trumpet.)
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2389/yyyyyyyyyyyyyshofarev6.gif (http://imageshack.us)
It is also customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. 1:18).
In Israel, public non-observance (such as eating or driving a motor vehicle) is taboo. Yom Kippur there has the nickname "Festival of Bicycles," [1] referring to children's practice of freely riding their bicycles in the streets without motor vehicles presenting danger. In Israel on Yom Kippur there is no broadcast television, no public transportation, and the airports are closed. There is no commerce of any kind in the Jewish areas.
There you have it. A big and richly significant day in Jewish tradition and faith. To our Jewish friends...
Gemar Chatima Tovah
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7917/insane7zojw3.jpg