4.7.2 Judaism: Yom Kippur (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

Yom Kippur

• The Jewish festival of Yom Kippur (or the Day of Atonement) is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar and is known as the 'Sabbath of Sabbaths'

• It is an end to the 10 days of repentance that starts with the festival of Rosh Hashanah

• Jews focus on asking God for forgiveness as it is believed that he will make his final judgement on the day of Yom Kippur sometime in the future

• During the festival, Jews spend a lot of time at the synagogue and wear white as a symbol of purity. It also requires self‐denial for 25 hours in 5 areas;

  • Going without food (fasting)

  • No bathing or wearing perfume of any kind

  • Going without drink

  • Having sexual relations

  • Wearing leather shoes

• The reason for this is to purify the spirit and concentrate the mind on the theme of forgiveness and moral renewal

Features of Yom Kippur

The Day Before Yom Kippur

• The day before Yom Kippur is a day of preparation when charitable works are often undertaken

  • Some Orthodox Jews practise a ritual called Kapparah

    •  In this ritual, Jews hold a live rooster (for a man) or a hen (for a woman) above their head and swing it three times in a circle

    • At the same time, the person says:

• The bird is then killed and the meat is donated to the poor for food

• In this ritual, Jews hope that the sacrifice of the animal will make up for (atone for) their sins

Features of Yom Kippur

• Yom Kippur begins in the home with an early dinner to allow for attendance at synagogue before sundown

• Yom Kippur is a 25 hour fast where many Jews abstain from food or water, except for those who are ill or vulnerable 

  • This practice originates from verses in the Torah, states that the Day of Atonement should be one of 'self-denial' (Leviticus 23: 27) 

• The most important part of Yom Kippur is the time spent in the synagogue

  • It is the only day of the year when the synagogue holds five services

  • The day is spent in continuous prayer for forgiveness

• The story of Jonah is told in the synagogue, telling of God’s willingness to forgive those who fully repent

• The Torah scrolls are dressed in white, as is the rabbi (a colour of forgiveness)

• The doors of the ark are open to show the gates of heaven are open

• Confessions are quietly made to God 

• The Yizkor is a service at Yom Kippur which remembers the dead

• Neilah is the last of the five Yom Kippur services

  • As the service that closes Yom Kippur, it is considered the most sacred of the year

  • The service is full of solemn melodies and prayers

  • When the shofar sounds at the end of the Neilah service, the day-long fast that marks Yom Kippur is over

  • Many Jews view the Neilah as representing the symbolic closing of the gates of Heaven, which will happen when God’s final judgement is passed on humans

• Traditionally, during the evening, children start to make their Sujjah (a hut), ready for the festival of Sukkot

  • Sukkot occurs five days after Yom Kippur and is typically celebrated for eight or nine days

  • During this festival, Jews eat and sometimes even sleep in their own sukkah as a reminder of their ancestors who lived in this way in the wilderness