Yom Kippur

When it falls

The tenth of Tishrei, nine days after Rosh Hashanah, in September or October. The fast runs about twenty-five hours from before sunset on the eve to nightfall.

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

The Day of Atonement is the holiest day of the Jewish year, the day on which the judgment written on Rosh Hashanah is sealed. In the Temple it was the one day the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, and two goats were chosen by lot, one for God and one sent into the wilderness carrying the people's sins, the scapegoat. Since the Temple's fall the day is prayer, fasting and confession alone.

The tradition holds that the day atones only for sins against God; wrongs against another person must be put right with that person first, and the days before are spent in apology. In Israel the country stops: no traffic, no broadcasting, and the empty highways fill with children on bicycles.

How the day is kept

• A full fast, no food and no water, together with no washing, no leather shoes, no anointing and no marital relations, for the whole day.
• Kol Nidre at sunset on the eve, the annulment of vows chanted three times with the scrolls held before the congregation, in white; the prayer shawl is worn at night on this one evening.
• Five services through the day, with the confession (Vidui) said ten times, the chest struck at each line, and the Book of Jonah read in the afternoon.
• Neʿilah, the closing of the gates, as night falls, ending with one long shofar blast, the words next year in Jerusalem, and the break-fast.

At the table

A large meal before the fast begins (kreplach and chicken soup in Ashkenazi homes), and a break-fast of bagels, smoked fish, kugel and cake after nightfall.

More fasts and vigils