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.
“For this is the day that G-d made / To lift you up from your sorrow and shame”
Humanist We Need Justice and Kindness (Avinu Malkeinu)
A dramatic interpretation of the traditional Avodah service for Yom Kippur
“The page is blank again. / Write! calls the king. / But what shall I write?”
“There was a box of treasure /Â That I carried, /Â An offering /Â Of grace /Â And sin. /Â I will set fire to it.”
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief: a ritual for mourning the death of those we do not know during the High Holidays
Questions to contemplate before Kol Nidrei
A ritual for letting go of guilt placed on us by outside forces
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