Yom Kippur for 2024 begins at sunset on Sunset, October 11 and continues through one hour past sunset on Saturday October 12. All employees, students and faculty requesting so should be accommodated.
Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement. It is a day to, in which "you shall afflict your souls" (Leviticus 16:29) and -- as the name indicates -- to atone for one's sins throughout the preceding year. Together with Rosh HaShanah (which occurs 10 days earlier), Yom Kippur forms part of what are called the High Holy Days. The days following Rosh HaShanah and leading up to Yom Kippur are called the Days of Awe. As the culmination of the High Holy Days, Yom Kippur takes a special prominence. For more on this, please see my post on Rosh HaShanah.
Yom Kippur: Conclusion of the High Holy Days
On Rosh HaShanah, Jews traditionally believe (whether figuratively or literally depending on their interpretation) that God opens the Book of Life (Sefer Chaim) and writes in it the fate of each person including "who shall live and who shall die." On Yom Kippur, that fate in the Book of Life is sealed. Starting with Rosh HaShanah, through the Days of Awe and until the close of Yom Kippur, Jews believe that repentance, prayer and acts of lovingkindness (the somewhat lacking but rough translation of the Hebrews words tshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah) are able to "avert the stern decree." The decision is sealed and set at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.
Importance Given Yom Kippur
Generally speaking, Yom Kippur can be considered the most important day of observance in Judaism.
Among observant Jews, traditionally, the weekly observance of the Sabbath on Saturdays is the most important Jewish holiday. In practice, though, for many Jews who do might not regularly attend weekly Sabbath services, do attend services on the High Holy Days, and, especially, on Yom Kippur. (Please note that I am in no way attempting to take a stance on what is or is not proper observance for any religion in these updates, but rather simply trying to make the general community aware of the various religious practices as they affect activities for employees, students or others).Yom Kippur, like all Jewish holidays, appears to wander in the secular calendar. This is because the secular calendar is not consistent with the Jewish calendar. In the Jewish calendar, though, the holiday actually occurs on the same day of the Jewish calendar (the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri).
Also, as the Jewish calendar is based on the moon, the day begins with sunset and ends with sunset. Traditionally, the holiday does not close until an hour past sunset to ensure that the sun has unarguably already set. This is a practice of adding an additional hour is usually observed by Orthodox and Conservative Jews but less often observed by Reform and Reconstructionist Jews.
The Fast
Yom Kippur is a complete fast day. This is a 25-hour fast that begins before sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur and continues until nightfall of the following day. Throughout Yom Kippur Jews, Jews abstain from
- eating or drinking anything (including water)
- wearing perfume or lotion
- bathing
- having sexual relations
- wearing leather shoes (some Jews include any leather)
Most Jews interpret the fast to include abstaining from smoking as well.
As with all Jewish fasts, health takes precedence over the fast. Women in childbirth or women who have given birth within the past three days are, for example, explicitly forbidden to fast even if they want to do so. Likewise children under nine are explicitly forbidden to fast even if they want to do so. Women who are pregnant and children between 9 and 13 are permitted to fast but must break the fast if they feel weak. Similarly, people with diseases requiring that they eat regularly (such as diabetes) or with conditions of weakened health are permitted to fast but are required to break the fast if they feel their health is being affected.
On Yom Kippur, Jews are prohibited from work of any kind. This includes writing, using the phone or computer, physical labor and the like.
Because playing music is prohibited as well, the holiday concludes only after sunset so that it is possible to blow the shofar (or ram's horn). Please see the post on
Rosh HaShanah for more on this.
Yom Kippur Service
Length of Service
Yom Kippur is the longest worship service in the Jewish calendar. This holds true for all branches of Judaism.
While the length of services varies from one branch of Judaism to another, it is not uncommon for Orthodox and Conservative Jews to spend almost the entire day in the synagogue, leaving only to sleep at night. Even in the sometimes shorter Yom Kippur services of many Reform and Reconstructionist branches of Judaism, most worshippers still spend the vast majority of the day in services at the synagogue or temple.
Kol Nidre Service
The Kol Nidre ChantThe service on Yom Kippur eve is centered on the Kol Nidre prayer. The prayer takes its name from its first two words which are
Kol Nidre, meaning "all vows" in Aramaic.
The prayer begins very soon after the evening service begins. This is because, to be valid, the Kol Nidre prayer must be recited before sunset.
The Kol Nidre TuneThe Kol Nidre chant is among the oldest tunes in the Jewish liturgy, and its melody is intended to echo the sounds of sighing or sobbing. The origin of the current tune dates to at least the late 13th Century with the so-called melodies of "MiSinai" (literally "from Sinai"). The "MiSinai" melodies are a group of 52 liturgical melodies of which by far the most notable is Kol Nidre Chant. Music historians date nearly all of the "MiSinai" music back to Maharam of Rothenberg (who lived from 1220-1293). That said, it is neither known how old the melodies were when Maharam of Rothenberg learned them nor if any of the "MiSinai" melodies post-dated him (since the tunes themselves were handed down without being written down for centuries).
While most versions of the Kol Nidre chant have a common origin in the "MiSinai" melodies, considerable variation exists within the interpretation of the music. Thus, there are, for example, German, Bohemian and Polish versions with minor differences. Additionally, each cantor or singer of the tune also adds a unique style as well.
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| Three regional variations of the Kol Nidre tune |
In Classical Music
Ludwig van Beethoven first brought the tune of the Kol Nidre prayer was popularized to the non-Jewish world in 1821 (although never credited so indirectly) as the basis of the central theme of the sixth movement of his String Quartet No. 14 (Opus 131).
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Cellist Yo-Yo Ma recorded a famous version of
Bruch's Opus 41 Kol Nidre for Cello and Orchestra |
The Kol Nidre tune was first explicitly brought to the non-Jewish world 60 years later through Max Christian Friedrich Bruch's 1881 Opus 41 (Kol Nidrei). This piece features a variation inspired by the main tune of the chant played on cello backed by a full orchestra.
To hear Yo-Yo Ma's 2005 performance of this piece, please listen to
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=4955739&m=4955759Other classical composers to include at least part of the Kol Nidre tune in their works are Arnold Schoenberg (in 1938 with Opus 39, Kol Nidrei) and most recently John Zorn's 1996 Kol Nidre for String Quartet.
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| Johnny Mathis recorded Kol Nidre |
In Popular Music
In the area of popular culture, Kol Nidre has also been frequently featured. In the early beginnings of film, Al Jolson sings a version of the prayer in the 1927 movie The Jazz Singer.
In popular music, recordings of Kol Nidre have been made by such varied singers as Perry Como, Neil Diamond and Johnny Mathis.
The Content of the Kol Nidre Chant
The content of the Kol Nidre chant itself is less of an actual prayer than a dry legal formulation. The wording is as follows:
All vows ("kol nidre"), obligations, oaths, and anathemas, whether called 'ḳonam,' 'ḳonas,' or by any other name, which we may vow, or swear, or pledge, or whereby we may be bound, from this Day of Atonement until the next (whose happy coming we await), we do repent. May they be deemed absolved, forgiven, annulled, and void, and made of no effect; they shall not bind us nor have power over us. The vows shall not be reckoned vows; the obligations shall not be obligatory; nor the oaths be oaths. (translation from the Jewish Encyclopedia).
Because Judaism teaches to take any vow with the utmost seriousness, the purpose of the prayer is to be forgiven from any rash vows made to God in the coming year that one can not fulfill. The Kol Nidre prayer does
not absolve one from vows made to other people;
only vows made between the worshipper and God.
Debate Over Kol Nidre
Much debate exists over the prayer even within the Jewish community. This debate was carried on throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times on theological grounds. In modern times,several leaders in the early period of the Reform Movement in the 19th Century attempted to abolish the prayer, but for different reasons than those traditionally argued but instead as a means of disarming its use for excuses of anti-Semitism (see below).
Versions of the Kol Nidre Chant: Liturgical DifferencesThe Kol Nidre chant is one of the oldest in Judaism, dating back in some version at least to the time of Amram Gaon during his leadership of the Jewish Talmud Academy of Sura (which means between 857 and 875 CE). Some sources suggest that this version itself was simply set down from a far earlier earlier version. In the prayer book (
siddur) of Amram, the prayer is in Hebrew, not Aramaic (and thus is called Kol Nedarim vs. Kol Nidre).
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The Kol Nidre Chant
in the Machzor of Worms, Germany
(ca. 1270-1280) |
The Hebrew version was still widely used in the Roman
Mahzor (prayer book) dating to the 1480's. In the Hebrew version, the vows were absolved for the vows broken during preceding year (rather than the potentially unmet vows of the coming year). The Hebrew version was still the standard version for the Jews of Italy and Romanian (or
Balkin) before their extermination during the Holocaust. Some of the surviving members of these communities continue this tradition of reciting the Hebrew version.
The majority of Jews, however, recite the Aramaic version. That said, the version of the prayer differs depending on one interpretation or the other. One formulation of the prayer (called the old version) retains wording regarding the vows being from the preceding year while a second formulation (called the new version) carries the modification from the past year to the coming year. The "new version" dates to the early 1100's when the French Rabbi Meir ben Samuel (called the Ram) modified it.
The Jews of Spain rejected the modifications of the "new version." The descendants of this Jewish community are called Sephardi Jews (from the Hebrew for Spanish). Today Sephardic Jews continue to recite the "old version" of the Aramaic prayer. The Ashkenazi Jews (the name for the Jews who settled in Central and Eastern Europe), by contrast, recite the "new version" of the Aramaic prayer.
The Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews today, though, are no longer geographically determined. Sephardic Jews are no longer to be found in Spain (Jews were only permitted to return to Spain in 1968), but are spread around the world. For more on this, please see my post on Tisha B'Av at
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/07/tisha-bav.htmlFollowing the forced expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Sephardic Jews were distributed far from Spain, especially in the Netherlands, Morocco and (before the Jewish expulsions from most Arabic countries following the founding of Israel in 1948) from North Africa and the Middle East. Similarly, Ashkenazi Jews are similarly spread around the world, after the upheavals first of the 19th century Russian and Ukrainian pogroms, followed by the Holocaust and then the post-WWII persecution under the Soviet era.
Today in the United States, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia and Israel, the two traditions live side by side. In some congregations, as a compromise, the prayer is repeated in both versions.
Anti-Semitism and the Kol Nidre Chant
It is important to clarify here that the Kol Nidre forgiveness of vows deals only with vows between worshippers and God. It does not negate vows between the one making the vow and any other person. The reason it is important to emphasize this is the long history of anti-Semitism associated with the misunderstanding of the Kol Nidre chant. As the Jewish Encyclopedia explains:
The "Kol Nidre" has been one of the means widely used by Jewish apostates and by enemies of the Jews to cast suspicion on the trustworthiness of an oath taken by a Jew... so that many legislators considered it necessary to have a special form of oath administered to Jews ("Jew's oath"), and many judges refused to allow them to take a supplementary oath, basing their objections chiefly on this prayer. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9443-kol-nidre#anchor9
Attacks on Jews using Kol Nidre as a supposed proof of Jewish duplicity or untrustworthiness has a very long history. The earliest formally recorded accusation in a court dates back to 1240 when Jehuel of Paris was brought to trial to defend charges based on the Kol Nidre prayer.
In many European countries throughout the Middle Ages through the emancipation of the Jews in the 19th Century, Jewish testimony was either given extra restrictions or prohibited altogether based, at least in part, on the excuse that the Kol Nidre prayer made their testimony untrustworthy.
Well into modern times, the use of Kol Nidre chant to justify anti-Semitism was widespread ranging from Henry Ford's anti-Semitic diatribe in the
International Jew (1921) through the citation of the prayer in anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda.
It continues to be a staple among dozens of anti-Jewish hate groups today, as exemplified by the title of Pastor Mark Downey's 2009 sermon "Why We Hate Jews, Part 3: Lies Kol Nidre" on the Kinsman Redeemer Ministry site (I have chosen to withhold the web links here so as not to further promote such hate-mongering).
Other Yom Kippur Prayers and Practices
Extra Service ComponentsAs mentioned before, Yom Kippur is the longest prayer service in the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur has five parts (for Reform and Reconstructionist Jews) or six parts (for Orthodox and Conservative Jews rather than the usual three of daily prayer in Judaism.
In daily prayer, traditionally Judaism has only three services: Evening Prayers (Ma'ariv, in this case with the additional Kol Nidre service), Morning Prayers (Shacharit) and Afternoon Prayers (Mincha). On Kippur, there are five (rather than three) services. To the three just mentioned are added the so-called Additional Prayer Service (Musaf) which is also recited on the other major holidays as well as the Closing Prayers (Ne'ilah) which are recited only on Yom Kippur.
Ne'ilah |
Roses were given out at
Ne'ilah in Germany
before the Holocaust |
The Closing Prayers or Ne'ilah last for roughly an hour and are said while standing the entire time as the day draws to an end. Because of the full day of intense prayer accompanied by fasting, many people may feel faint or weak. By Jewish law, anyone who feels this way must sit down.
In several cultures, specific Nei'ilah traditions arose to add strength in the final hour of the fast. For example, it is the custom of Jews in Chile to pass around an orange or lemon in which cloves have been placed so that the scent will give strength as the hour grows late.
Similarly, for centuries it was the custom of the Jews of Germany to hand out roses to the women of the congregation to fortify them with its fragrance. Today, following the annihilation of Germany's Jews, some congregations regardless of origin continue this practice as a way of keeping alive the memory of those killed in the Holocaust.
Avodah ServiceIn Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, there is also a special addition called the Avodah. This is not a prayer service in the same way as the other five but rather a form of re-enactment of the Temple service in ancient times. In the Avodah service, the descendants of the priests (the Kohanim) of the Temple in Jerusalem (more or less) conduct a version of what would have been the service done at the Temple had the Roman not destroyed it in 70 CE. The word "avodah" is Hebrew for work, referring to the work of the priests.
Other Special PrayersWhile Yom Kippur is full of special prayers, three are perhaps particularly noteworthy:
- the Ashamnu (short confessional
- the Al Cheyt (long confessional and
- the Unetaneh Tokef (more or less a prayer of being judged).
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It is customary to strike one's breast
during the Yom Kippur confessionals |
All of the confessional prayers are in the second person plural ("we"). This communal confession serves many purposes, and is subject to much commentary in Judaism. Among these is the belief that by communally confessing, each person recognizes his or her responsibility for others. Thus, even if the individual worshippers may not have felt that they have committed this or that particular transgression, they remain culpable for not preventing others from doing so. Another often-cited commentary on the plural confession is that it allows the individual who may be too ashamed to confess a particular transgressing in public to confess it aloud to God as part of the whole congregation. In any case, while reciting the group confession, the individual also may include private petitions simultaneously.
The Short Confession or AshamnuThe Ashamnu takes its name from the opening word of the prayer "ashamnu" which means "we have transgressed" or "we have incurred guilt." The Ashamnu prayer consists of 24 lines written as an acrostic (that is the opening letter of each line begins with each successive letter in the Hebrew alphabet -- the Hebrew equivalent of an A to Z set of lines were the prayer to have been in English).
The Ashamnu is said out loud by the entire congregation in the first person plural form (e.g., "We have transgressed, we have betrayed, we have stolen, we have spoken falsely" and so on).
The Ashamnu is recited while standing with one's head bowed. With each item, the worshipper strikes his or her chest to imprint the words on the heart.
The Long Confessional or Al Cheyt
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Maurycy Gottlieb
Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur (1878)
Tel Aviv Museum of Art |
The Long Confession or Al Cheyt takes its name from the opening words of each of the 48 lines of the prayer "Al Cheyt" which means "For the sin" in Hebrew. The 48 lines of the Al Cheyt prayer all begin with the phrase "For the sin which we have sinned against You..." with the following word forming a double acrostic (double alphabetical listing).
The prayer is recited 10 times during Yom Kippur. As with the Ashamnu, the Al Cheyt is recited while standing with one's head bowed and with the worshipper striking his or her chest to imprint the words on the heart.
Significantly, of the 44 sins recited, 40 deal with sins of person against person and only 4 deal with sins of person against God. Particular importance is given to confessing sins of speech, of which 12 of 44 are concerned (e.g., "for the sin which I have committed against You through harsh speech" or "for the sin which we have sinned against You for deceiving a fellow human being", etc. ).
Unetaneh Tokef Probably the best-known prayer of both Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur services after Kol Nidre is the Unetaneh Tokef prayer. The opening words of the prayer from which it takes its name means something along the lines of "We shall ascribe..." which leads into a longer introduction describing Yom Kippur as a Day of Judgement.
The central section of the poem deals with judgement (see below). The prayer then closes with God's attributes and the worshippers' helplessness and ends with a recognition of God's enduring nature.
All parts of the Unetaneh Tokef are important but the middle part of the prayer is perhaps the most widely-known outside of Jewish circles. This part of the prayer deals with the balance of one's behavior resulting in the decision of who shall be inscribed in the Book of Life (Sefer Chaim) and who shall die and in what manner.
The wording of this section of the Untaneh Tokef prayer is as follows:
On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed
and on Yom Kippur will be sealed
how many will pass from the earth
and how many will be created;
who will live and who will die;
who will die at his predestined time
and who before his time;
who by water and who by fire,
who by sword, who by beast,
who by famine, who by thirst,
who by upheaval, who by plague,
who by strangling, and who by stoning.
Who will rest and who will wander,
who will live in harmony and who will be harried,
who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer,
who will be impoverished and who will be enriched,
who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
But Repentance, Prayer, and Charity
avert the severe Decree!”
(translation from: http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshhashannah/unetanehtext.htm )
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Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire"
is based on the Unetaneh Tokef |
This is because the prayer is commonly discussed in general theological discussions. It may also be known through its adaptations (as with Kol Nidre) in secular music, as in Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire" song.
Although central to all branches of Judaism, considerable debate exists among them regarding how literally one should take the words of the prayer. These range from very literal among Haredi Jews to entirely symbolically among Reconstructionist Jews, with considerable variation in between.
Ending the Service and Breaking the FastThe Yom Kippur service concludes with a single blast of the shofar. This is followed by a (usually rapidly recited) Havdalah service. "Havdalah" in Hebrew means "separation" and is used to mark a separation for all Jewish holidays from the ordinary days of the week.
After this, most congregations break the fast at the synagogue or temple before people leave with some sort of light food and beverage (cake and juice, for example). After this people go home or gather at the houses of relatives or friends for a larger meal to break the fast.
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| Egg noodle kugel |
What people eat at the break fast meal differs from tradition to tradition. That said, most traditions break the fast with a dairy meal (as opposed to a meat meal) as this is easier to digest on an empty stomach. Often the meal is laid out in a buffet style featuring easy-to-provide offerings such as bagels with smoked fish and cream cheese.
Many traditions include eggs or dishes made with eggs as a symbol of the birth of a new year. Egg noodle pudding (called lukshen kugel) often sweetened with raisins is a common choice. For a recipe for sweet egg-noodle kugel, please see
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/dairymaindishes/r/kugel_noodle_d.htm  |
| Cheese blintz |
Finally, it is common to feature sweets, honey and jams to symbolically represent the coming of a "sweet" or good year. A popular choice for this is the cheese blintz, a sort of Jewish cheese-filled sweet crepe. For a recipe for cheese blintz with blueberries, please see:
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/highholydays/yom-kippur-recipes-kugels-blintzes/recipes/food/views/Cheese-Blintzes-with-Blueberry-Sauce-232828ConclusionYom Kippur is a very important holiday within Judaism, and this is only a brief overview. Nearly every aspect of the holiday's practice and liturgy have been subject to centuries of debate. It is not my intention in any way to suggest that either this post is a comprehensive coverage of these or that I am in any way taking a stand on any of these. Please feel free to share your comments.
L'Shanah Tovah! To a Good Year Ahead!
Further ReadingMarsha Bryan Edelman, Reform Judaism Magazine, "Sounds of Kol Nidre,"
http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1274Chabad.org, "What Is Yom Kippur?":
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/177886/jewish/What-is-Yom-Kippur.htm
While definitions vary as to levels of practice from person to person, work is prohibited during the holiday. For Orthodox and most Conservative Jews, this is defined generally as no manner of work whatsoever (including school, telephone use, email, Internet surfing, etc.) during Rosh HaShanah. 
