Why yom kippur is important

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All rights reserved. Wishing our readers a blessed Yom Kippur Credit - Twitter. Please enter your comment! Please enter your name here. The Book of Life is closed and sealed, and those who have properly repented for their sins will be granted a happy New Year. The most important part of Yom Kippur is the time spent in the synagogue. Even Jews who are not particularly religious will want to attend synagogue on Yom Kippur, the only day of the year with five services. The first service, in the evening, begins with the Kol Nidre prayer.

Kol Nidre's words and music have a transforming effect on every Jew—it's probably the most powerful single item in the Jewish liturgy. The actual words of the prayer are very pedestrian when written down - it's like something a lawyer might have drafted asking God to render null and void any promises that a person might make and then break in the year to come - but when sung by a cantor it shakes the soul. To emphasise the special nature of the service the men in the synagogue will put on their prayer shawls, which are not normally used in an evening service.

Another element in the liturgy for Yom Kippur is the confession of sins vidui. D; it was then adapted into a service for rabbis and their congregations in individual synagogues. According to tradition, God judges all creatures during the 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, deciding whether they will live or die in the coming year.

As a result, observant Jews consider Yom Kippur and the days leading up to it a time for prayer, good deeds, reflecting on past mistakes and making amends with others. Some congregations rent out additional space to accommodate large numbers of worshippers.

The Torah commands all Jewish adults apart from the sick, the elderly and women who have just given birth to abstain from eating and drinking between sundown on the evening before Yom Kippur and nightfall the next day. The fast is believed to cleanse the body and spirit, not to serve as a punishment. Religious Jews heed additional restrictions on bathing, washing, using cosmetics, wearing leather shoes and sexual relations.

These prohibitions are intended to prevent worshippers from focusing on material possessions and superficial comforts. Because the High Holy Day prayer services include special liturgical texts, songs and customs, rabbis and their congregations read from a special prayer book known as the machzor during both Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Five distinct prayer services take place on Yom Kippur, the first on the eve of the holiday and the last before sunset on the following day. One of the most important prayers specific to Yom Kippur describes the atonement ritual performed by high priests during ancient times.

On Yom Kippur, a single long blast is sounded at the end of the final service to mark the conclusion of the fast. Pre-Yom Kippur feast: On the eve of Yom Kippur, families and friends gather for a bountiful feast that must be finished before sunset. All rights reserved. Origins and meaning of Yom Kippur Tradition has it that the holiday originated with the prophet Moses. How Yom Kippur is celebrated The holiday begins at sundown and lasts until sundown the following day.

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