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Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, falls ten days after Rosh Hashanah. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the High Priest effected atonement for the entire people through an elaborate ritual. Today, in the absence of the Temple, each of us stands, alone, together, naked as it were, before God. Yom Kippur is the dramatic culmination of the entire season of teshuvah, repentance. On Yom Kippur, Jews abstain from eating, drinking, bathing, sexual relations, and the wearing of leather (a sign of luxury) for 25 hours. Jews dress in white and traditionally spend most of the day in synagogue.

Latest Rituals

To see what it looks like to put ourselves together again.

several birds fly across a darkening sky lit by a half moon

Envision a shofar made of pure light

RW-58

Who will make chicken soup for the dejected?

chicken soup with a spoon

I smashed my father’s statues and stood alone in the fragmenting dark

pieces of broken teal ceramic

“When I feel most broken / pulled apart / when every door unhinged / is opened / but feels closed”

abstract image of wire shapes filled with prismed bubbles

A full ritual to help you practice atonement and cleansing going into Yom Kippur

Mikveh-floating-600

The El Maley Rakhamim prayer reconstructed to honor the lives lost to racial violence

a person in shadow bent in grief

An original, dramatic Avodah service for Yom Kippur

silhouette of a person clasping their hands above their head against a sunset

A new version of the traditional confession prayer

a person rests their clasped hands on an open book

A Yom Kippur hymn loosely based on Kol Nidre

RRC-RW-0437

The Reconstructionist Network

Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

Join the Ritualwell community to explore rituals that will bring a sense of sacred awareness to your Thanksgiving table and into your everyday life!

Jewish practices provide us with valuable frameworks to foster awareness and joy through gratitude.

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The Reconstructionist Network