Yom Kippur
What Do People Do?
Many Jewish Canadians believe that God seals their fate for the coming year on Yom Kippur. This holiday involves activities such as fasting and praying. It is believed that those who repent from their sins will be granted a happy New Year. Many Jewish people spend time in the synagogue at this time of the year.
The fasting lasts for 25 hours and begins on the evening before Yom Kippur. It ends after nightfall on Yom Kippur. Some restrictions can be lifted when a threat of health or life is involved. Many Jewish Canadians attend special Yom Kippur services that feature songs and readings. Some services also include prayer offerings to remember the deceased. The holiday ends on a joyous note, and many Jewish people take part in a festive pot luck feast after the fast is over.
Some Jewish Canadians may take the day off work or organize time off during this time of the year, as the general restrictions on work, as described for the Sabbath, apply on Yom Kippur.
Background
Yom Kippur is often considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur’s origins lie in a ritual purification of the Temple in Jerusalem from any accidental ritual impurities that had occurred in the past year. The Kohen Gadol (high priest) entered the Holy of Holies at the center of the temple on Yom Kippur. It was important that he was spiritually and physically as pure as possible.
Many rituals were carried out to ensure that the Kohen Gadol was pure and that he did not carry any ritual impurities into the Holy of Holies. Yom Kippur became a more somber holiday after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The Torah calls the day Yom HaKippurim and Leviticus 23:27 decrees a strict prohibition of work and affliction of the soul upon the 10th day of the seventh month, known as Tishrei.