Confession/ Reconciliation is one of my favorite practices in the Catholic faith, and that is essentially what Yom Kipper is, but you get to spend an entire day reflecting, praying, and focusing on the areas of your life that you want to better align with God's will. It was challenging because the holiday just so happened to fall on the biggest A&M game this season, but it almost made it that much more meaningful because we really removed ourselves from everything going on that day and focused our attention on the meaning of the holiday.
Holiday: Yom Kippur- September 13- 14, 2013
Celebration:
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the day when God’s judgment is believed to be sealed for the coming year. The ten days between Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur are called the Days of Penitence or Awe. It is a time to repent of and to correct those things we have done wrong, especially to our neighbor, and to ask God’s forgiveness.
Yom Kippur is the moment in Jewish time when everyone dedicates their mind, body, and soul to reconciliation with God, their fellow human beings, and themselves. People are commanded to turn to those whom they have wronged first, acknowledging their sins and the pain they might have caused. At the same time, they must be willing to forgive and to let go of certain offenses and the feelings of resentment others provoked in themselves. On this journey everyone is both seekers and givers of pardon. Only then can people turn to God and ask for forgiveness: “And for all these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, and grant us atonement.”
For everyone thirteen years and older, Yom Kippur is a day of fasting. Fasting encourages humility and repentance, disciplines the body and clarifies the mind as we examine our conduct and thoughts.
In the synagogue, the ancient Kol Nidre (Absolution of All Vows) is chanted and confession of sins as commanded in Leviticus 26:40 is made. At home, memorial candles are lit for members of the family who have died. The Mourner’s Kaddish and final blowing of the Shofar conclude the day.
Yom Kippur, which dates from biblical times, is referenced in three separate passages in the Torah. The Torah refers to Yom Kippur as Shabbat Shabbaton, “a Sabbath of complete rest,” while the Talmud denotes Yom Kippur simply as Yoma, “The Day.”
The Torah portrays Yom Kippur primarily as a cultic festival, a day centered almost exclusively upon the Temple in Jerusalem. It was on this day that the kohen gadol, the high priest, performed the complicated rituals and sacrifices that purified the Temple from the defilement that had attached to it as a result of the sins of the Israelite people. This defilement had caused God’s presence to depart from their midst. There also was another aspect to the day: atonement, the spiritual cleansing of the people themselves. Their role was to serve as an attentive and expectant audience outside the Temple precincts, awaiting the hoped-for successful outcome of the high priest’s service. Their role, according to the Torah, was to abstain from work and to practice “self-denial.” Our tradition has defined “self-denial” as inuyim (afflictions): fasting and refraining from certain other activities that satisfy our physical needs.
With the Temple’s destruction, the second aspect of Yom Kippur, focused on atonement, came to predominate. The atonement we now perform is turned inward; it is an act of self-purification in which we purge our own lives from the stain of our misdeeds. Like the Israelites during the Temple period, we continue to fast, understanding this self-denial as a cleansing of our soul, an act of self-discipline, and a sign that on this day we rise above our most basic biological necessities to focus our attention on matters of the spirit.
Our prayers traditionally last all day, as did the service of the high priest. We recall the priest’s service in poetic form, and the recitation of N’ilah (closing) at the conclusion of Yom Kippur hearkens back to the time when the “closing of the gates” was a feature of the Temple’s everyday ritual. Finally, the drama of the ancient sacrifice has become an internal drama, which we experience as a grand spiritual and emotional sweep that us from the haunting melody of Kol Nidre, through the recitation of the prayers, selichot (poems of supplication and forgiveness) and viduyim (confessions of sin), culminating in N’ilah, when we stand one last time before God in the fading moments of the year’s holiest day.
On Yom Kippur in 1973, Egypt and Syria orchestrated a surprise attack against Israel. Although the Israeli army was outnumbered severely by the oncoming troops, the Israeli troops successfully fended off their attackers. Two weeks later, the United Nations Security Council called for a cease fire. Five years later, in September 1978, Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat, president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, prime minister of Israel, met with Jimmy Carter, then president of the United States, at Camp David and forged a policy for establishing peace in the Middle East. Although Israel continues to pursue peace with her neighbors today, the efforts of those leaders to reconcile and move forward is a model from which we all can learn, and exemplifies well the spirit of the High Holidays.
Leviticus 16:22
22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
Leviticus 23:26-32
The Day of Atonement
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”
Jesus and Yom Kippur:
The Day of Atonement
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”
Jesus and Yom Kippur:
Of course Christians believe that they have a permanent "sealing" for good by the grace and love of God given to us in Jesus as the Messiah.This new covenant makes it entirely appropriate to celebrate Yom Kipper and give thanks to God for our salvation through His Son. We know that our sins are always forgiven and that we can always realign ourselves with God. This day however, gives us a focused time to truly examine our lives and how we are appreciating the gift of the new covenant.
24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, asthe high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Ways to Celebrate:
-Craft ideas for kids and youth:
**Make your own shofar! Instructions can be found here http://joyfuljewish.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/blow-your-own-paper-shofar/
**Bake a challah! Celebrate the sweet new year with a raisin challah to have with the break-fast meal.
**Wearing White
Traditionally, many Jews wear white on Yom Kippur. Because white is a symbol of purity and Yom Kippur is a day when we undertake a spiritual cleansing, it is an appropriate color for the occasion. Others interpret white as representative of the white shroud in which Jews are buried, symbolizing our mortality and reminding us of the need for humility and repentance.
**Letter to God
Have everyone in the family write their own letter to God asking for forgiveness for the sins they have committed in the past year and describing the ways they want to better align their life to follow God. Seal the letters and keep them in a safe place to be opened the next year on Yom Kippur.
**Blow the Shofar! Yom Kippur ends with a single, long blast of the shofar. The stirring sound of the shofar at the conclusion of the holiday has many different explanations. One is that the practice recalls the giving of the Torah at Sinai (when the shofar also was blown). Another is that the shofar signals the triumph of Israel over its sins for another year and heralds the possible coming of the messianic age.
-Religious traditions:
**Listen to Kol Nidre which means “all vows” and is the name given to the special liturgical formulation chanted by Jews solely on Yom Kippur. It is a legal formula for the annulment of vows, which dates back many centuries. The practice of reciting Kol Nidre probably began in about the 9th century C.E. Recited in a mix of Hebrew and Aramaic, the vernacular language of the time, Kol Nidre cancels and annuls all unintended vows made to God during the previous year.Traditionally, Kol Nidre is chanted three times, though only once in some Reform congregations. The threefold repetition most likely derives from the ancient practice of reciting all official proclamations three times.
**Fasting: One must abstain from the 5 forms of pleasure. By fasting and praying all day, we are said to resemble angels.
-eating and drinking
-washing and bathing
-applying lotions or perfume
-wearing leather shoes
-marital relations
**Mourner’s Kaddish: to be recited after lighting memorial candle-
Magnified and sanctified be His great Name in the world which he hath created according to His will.
May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and in your days,
and in the lifetime of all the house of Israel, speedily and at a near time.
Let his great Name be blessed for ever and ever.
Blessed praised and glorified, exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded, be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all blessings and hymns, praises and songs which are uttered in the world.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us and for all Israel.
May He who maketh peace in His high places, maketh peace for us, and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.
May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and in your days,
and in the lifetime of all the house of Israel, speedily and at a near time.
Let his great Name be blessed for ever and ever.
Blessed praised and glorified, exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded, be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all blessings and hymns, praises and songs which are uttered in the world.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us and for all Israel.
May He who maketh peace in His high places, maketh peace for us, and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.
**Go to adoration or confession. This is a perfect time to sit in silence before the Lord and complete the examination of conscience done in the 10 Days of Awe. Christians can attend confession just before the closing of Yom Kippur as a perfect rejuvenation at the close of the holiday.
How We Celebrated:
Aaron and I shared a special meal together on the evening of the start of Yom Kipper which included a DELICIOUS apple cake that Aaron baked to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year. We lit the Shabbat candles and I said the appropriate blessing. We then attended services to hear Kol Nidre chanted and start the tone of the holiday off on the right foot. The next morning, we spent quiet time in adoration thinking about the examination of conscience we had done during the Days of Awe. We spent quiet time together at home and each wrote letters to God that we sealed to keep for next year. We also wrote out prayers to add to our prayer box that we pull from nightly. In the evening, we attended closing ceremonies at his home synagogue and they were by far the most meaningful thing I have had the opportunity to participate in yet. There's something about a religious figure cleansing you of your sins and telling you out loud that God forgives you. It touches my heart when I hear the priest say my sins are washed away in confession and I felt the same feeling when the Rabbi told me that God forgives all of my iniquities. After services, we broke fast with everyone at the synagogue in celebration and ate challah! Finally, we stopped by a lake on the way home and finally got to do the Tashlikh service where we threw bread into the water representing the washing away of our sins. We meant to do this during Rosh Hashanah, but it was hard when we were on our honeymoon. It really was a beautiful holiday and was well worth missing the A&M game. I felt so close to God AND Aaron and feel like it was the perfect way to start off our marriage!
Aaron and I shared a special meal together on the evening of the start of Yom Kipper which included a DELICIOUS apple cake that Aaron baked to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year. We lit the Shabbat candles and I said the appropriate blessing. We then attended services to hear Kol Nidre chanted and start the tone of the holiday off on the right foot. The next morning, we spent quiet time in adoration thinking about the examination of conscience we had done during the Days of Awe. We spent quiet time together at home and each wrote letters to God that we sealed to keep for next year. We also wrote out prayers to add to our prayer box that we pull from nightly. In the evening, we attended closing ceremonies at his home synagogue and they were by far the most meaningful thing I have had the opportunity to participate in yet. There's something about a religious figure cleansing you of your sins and telling you out loud that God forgives you. It touches my heart when I hear the priest say my sins are washed away in confession and I felt the same feeling when the Rabbi told me that God forgives all of my iniquities. After services, we broke fast with everyone at the synagogue in celebration and ate challah! Finally, we stopped by a lake on the way home and finally got to do the Tashlikh service where we threw bread into the water representing the washing away of our sins. We meant to do this during Rosh Hashanah, but it was hard when we were on our honeymoon. It really was a beautiful holiday and was well worth missing the A&M game. I felt so close to God AND Aaron and feel like it was the perfect way to start off our marriage!
