YOM KIPPUR (DAY OF ATONEMENT)

2nd October 2025

Jewish 

The 10th day of Tishrei, the 7th Month of the Jewish Calendar 

This is the final day of the ten days of repentance, following on from Rosh Hashanah, and is the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar. The Torah calls it the ‘Sabbath of Sabbaths’, and it is marked by ‘afflicting the soul’ – chiefly expressed through a total fast that lasts for 25 hours. Jews spend the eve and most of the day in prayer in the synagogue, asking for divine forgiveness for past wrongs and resolving to improve in the future in their attempt to live a moral life. In the days before the festival they will have tried to set right any breakdown in their relationships with others. Now they ask the Almighty for forgiveness before the gates of heaven are closed and the record books are sealed, so that they may live throughout the coming year as He would wish.

Many Jews who observe no other religious customs refrain from work on this day, observe the fast and attend the lengthy synagogue services. On this uncomfortable day washing, bathing, anointing the body, sexual activity and wearing leather shoes or coats are all prohibited to those over 12 or 13 years of age, though dispensations are available for people in poor health or in childbirth. White clothing is worn to express purity, and some wear a white kittel reminiscent of the shroud that is used to bury the dead, but more importantly also reminiscent of the extremely simple costume of the High Priest when the Temple still stood in Jerusalem.. This is the only festival of the year when men wear their prayer shawls for evening worship.

The services are lengthy, and involve prostration and standing erect for up to an hour at a time. The Kol Nidre (All Vows) service on the eve of the festival encourages repentance for all types of sins, including for instance mistreatment or exploitation of others, arrogance, selfishness and gossip – the ‘evil tongue’ in its many forms. The closing service (Neilah) at the end of the period of fasting lasts for an hour, during which the doors of the Ark are kept open and accordingly all must stand. The Book of Jonah is read and a common greeting ‘G’mar Chatimah Tovah’ (May you finally be sealed for good) is offered by all to each other. A long blast on the shofar concludes the main proceedings, followed as on Shabbat by the Havdalah (separation) ceremony, and finally a shared meal.

This is a time for making gifts to the poor (often via charities) in accordance with the instructions of the Torah and the Talmud, albeit nowadays in a spirit of generosity rather than as expiation for guilt – although for some the concept of the scapegoat or the sacrificial chicken that carry away our guilt may still survive.

Leviticus 16:4-34, 23:27-32.