Yom Kippur -- also known as Yom Ha-Kippurim, Shabbat Shabbaton, Sabbath of Solemn Rest, Sabbath of Sabbaths, or the Day of Atonement -- is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It occurs on Tishri 10, which is the tenth day of the seventh month on the Biblical Israelite calendar. It is a Sabbath day dedicated to afflicting oneself and atoning for sins committed within the past year.
Jewish tradition requires that sins against another person be reconciled, if possible. Reconciliation should be sincerely sought, to the best of one’s abilities, but one cannot truly reconcile if another party is unrepentant or unwilling to humble themselves enough to participate. Forgiveness between people should be completed before Yom Kippur, during the Days of Awe, not on Yom Kippur itself. As the day when the High Priest of Israel atoned for Israel’s collective sins via blood sacrifice, Yom Kippur is the final opportunity to sincerely repent and make amends with God before judgment is sealed; we have fallen short of the Grace of God, both individually and collectively. On this day He will forgive you, purify you, and cleanse you from all your sins before God.
General Background
Though Yom Kippur is regarded as a day of high solemnity, there are other sentiments rippling through the day: joy in the presence of the Lord; hope and confidence in repentance and forgiveness; introspection and prayer to cleanse our records before the Neilah service; and peace that God will be faithful and provide atonement. The basis of atonement dates back to the Old Covenant Day of Atonement.
The commandments contained in the Ark of the Covenant illustrate how far humanity has fallen short of the mark God set for us. Leviticus 16 best explains the Jewish understanding of the Day of Atonement; on this day they would seek atonement by bringing two sacrificial animals into the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle.
As one rabbi explained, "After sacrificing on the priest’s own behalf, he would then sacrifice one animal in the temple as the sin offering. The second was named Azazel, or scapegoat. The priest would symbolically lay the sins of the people on the head of the goat and lead it outside of the camp, representing the sins of the people being taken away. This animal sacrifice would occur once a year and was always a temporal covering of sin. Year after year, the Israelites repeated this tradition to ensure sins were covered and names were sealed in the Book of Life" (Source for quote needed).
Prior to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, this concept evolved; the high priest conducted not only the sprinkling of animal blood but also a more involved sacrificial ceremony that included confessing his own sins, the sins of the priests, and the sins of all of Israel. The High Priest was clothed in white linen and entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood. This ceremony concluded with a goat (symbolizing the sins of all of Israel) being killed in the wilderness. All of this eventually evolved into the Yom Kippur ceremonies that Jewish people hold dear to their faith today.
Relevant Bible verses on Yom Kippur and its related themes include: Exodus 10:10; 30:10; Leviticus 16:3-5; 16:8-10; 16:18-22; 16:29-31; 23:27-32; Numbers 29:7-11; Psalm 32; Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 1:18; 53:6-11; Isaiah 43:25, Isaiah 58:3-6; Jeremiah 31:34; Acts 27:9; Romans 5; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:12-14; 9:23-28; Hebrews 13:11-13; Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Peter 2:24, and 1 John 2.
Synagogue Services
The day before Yom Kippur includes its own traditions, in preparation for fasting. The kaparot service occurs in the very early morning hours. It involves requesting and receiving a piece of honey cake; receiving a piece of honey cake is symbolic of God granting a sweet new year ahead. There is a meal in the early afternoon, with another meal right before the fast. This day might include immersion in a mikvah. Extra charity may be given during the afternoon services.
Blessings are recited, including the blessing of the children, with the priestly blessing occurring after the second meal but before the fast officially begins.
Finally, there is the lighting of holiday candles. Yom Kippur itself is largely spent at the synagogue asking God’s forgiveness for any residual sins not already forgiven. The schedule may include morning services, an opportunity to go home perhaps for a nap, and then a return to the synagogue for evening services, which last until the tekiah gedolah at nightfall. Once Yom Kippur concludes, it is not uncommon to encounter joyful singing and dancing among congregants. Then preparations begin for Sukkot five days later.
Morning prayer services often include reading several passages from the Torah. In the afternoon service, it is customary to read the Book of Jonah in its entirety.
Five prayer services are traditionally incorporated into Yom Kippur observances: Maariv (on Erev Yom Kippur, may include the Kol Nidre); Shacharit (morning prayer service, includes the Yizkor memorial service and passages from the Book of Leviticus); Musaf (a study of the Yom Kippur temple service); Minchah (a reading of the Book of Jonah often in its entirety); and Neilah (the closing of the Heavenly Gates service at sundown).
In some congregations, evening services begin with the cantor chanting Kol Nidre and reciting other prayers from the Machzor before concluding with the approximately one-hour-long Neilah tradition. During the Neilah, the Ark is opened, and congregants will generally stand, as the Neilah service symbolically the closes the gates of heaven. The Ark stands open offering a final opportunity to reconcile one’s record with God before His holy judgment is pronounced upon each one of us. It is not uncommon to hear refrains from the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, God is our Lord; God is one." Finally, a tekiah gedolah -- the long blast of the shofar -- and a proclamation "next year in Jerusalem," conclude Yom Kippur and the fasting. Singing and dancing to lively music (e.g., Napoleon’s March) is not uncommon as congregants rejoice at the prospect of living in a holy and righteous manner during the upcoming year, before God and before one another. After a day of fasting, a festive meal with friends and family is only natural, and many use this occasion to start planning how to build their sukkah in time for Sukkot.
Traditions
No work is performed on Yom Kippur, as observants refrain from food, beverages, and even water on this day. The fast lasts 25 hours, beginning on Erev Yom Kippur and concluding at sundown on Yom Kippur, when the stars first sparkle in the night sky. There are exceptions for those whose health does not permit them to safely fast, and exceptions are granted to children under age 9 and women giving birth, who are not permitted to fast even if they desire to participate in the tradition. There are other exceptions for those who may have recently given birth; the details are to be a matter between the woman, her physician, and her rabbi.
While this fast is fairly well known, even outside the Jewish community, the Talmud provides additional prohibitions on washing, bathing, wearing cosmetics, leather shoes, or sexual relations. Based on Isaiah 1:18, it is traditional to wear white on Yom Kippur, symbolic of purity and God’s promises that our sins shall be made white as snow. Sometimes religiously observant men will wear white robes known as kittel. The rabbi will almost always wear a kittel, which is traditionally worn when the dead are buried and/or on a wedding day; sometimes other congregants will participate in the tradition as well. Meanwhile, others may simply wear whatever white clothes they own and rubber sneakers rather than leather shoes, in remembrance of the days when atonement was covered via animal sacrifice. Women may wear fancy dresses and canvas shoes.
Some rabbis also cite the importance of wearing white because -- when Israel approaches the Throne of God -- it will not be in sackcloth and ashes but in white, to symbolize purity, repentance, and confidence in their Lord to pardon sins. One tradition (found in certain rabbinical writings) is that on Yom Kippur, a Cohen (Jewish priest) would tie a scarlet cloth to the Azalel’s horn. When the sacrifice was deemed fully acceptable to God, the scarlet cloth would become white. We see a parallel with the Book of Revelation and those whose names are inscribed in the Book of Life. They also wear white: "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Revelation 3:5).
Azalel and Yeshua, Our Messiah
On Yom Kippur, the High Priest offered one goat as a sacrifice and one as the Azalel (scapegoat). Azazel is a Hebrew noun that seems to best translate as "dismissal" or "entire removal." The process is described in Leviticus:
"He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites -- all their sins -- and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place, and the man shall release it in the wilderness" (Leviticus 16:21–22).
The symbolism of the High Priest laying his hands on the head of the live goat and confessing the sins of Israel parallels the Yom Kippur themes of renouncing sin, individually and collectively. The goat would be left to perish in the wilderness, and like the goat, the burden of Israel’s sins would symbolically perish in the barren wilderness. There are similarities between this concept and Isaiah 53. The rabbis of centuries past viewed it as a Messianic prophecy of a Messiah yet to come; it is often omitted from Shabbat readings.
"And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. For He shall bear their iniquities" (Isaiah 53:6, 11).
Some rabbis have attempted to explain away a description that can fit only one person in history -- Yeshua our Messiah -- as a text speaking more broadly to the nation of Israel and not specifically about the Messiah.
Not every rabbi throughout history has embraced this interpretation, however. In the 14th century, Rabbi Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin wrote in a religious commentary,
"[In contrast to those] having inclined after the stubbornness of their own hearts and their own opinion, I am pleased to interpret the parasha [Isaiah 53] in accordance with the teachings of our rabbis, of the King Messiah . . . and adhere to the literal sense. Thus I shall be free from forced and far-fetched interpretations of which others are guilty."
Other rabbis, Jewish preachers, and Bible commentators have also affirmed that Isaiah 53 refers to a Messiah, not the nation of Israel, though the nation of Israel has in a sense suffered as an Azazel "scapegoat" for nations throughout the centuries and in the modern geopolitical world. As the Jews have turned a blind eye to acknowledging their Messiah, salvation in Yeshua has been extended to the gentiles.
"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in . . . and so all Israel shall be saved" (Romans 11:25–27).
Rabbis throughout the centuries have acknowledged the reality that all have sinned and none are righteous of their own accord. "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). "Sins overwhelmed me, but You atoned for our transgressions" (Psalm 65:3). Without the shedding of blood, which is needed to purify sins, there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22).
There is not another Holy Day that points more clearly to the atonement that can only be fulfilled through faith in Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, and His atonement for us on the cross. "And in Him we live, move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28), not through rituals on earth. Since Yeshua came as High Priest and poured His blood in the Holy of Holies in Heaven for all of humankind, He extends forgiveness to each of us who confesses, repents, and turns from our wicked ways. By God’s grace, we should extend radical forgiveness to those who have transgressed against us. Yom Kippur is a beautiful opportunity to extend grace and forgiveness to others, to heal broken relationships. Extending grace and forgiveness is not natural for a carnal human being who seeks vengeance. Reconciliation is a divine mercy that can only be accomplished through the Grace of God.
There is a story in the Talmud where Yohanan ben Zakkai’s disciples asked him this question while he was on his deathbed: "Rabbi, you are the light of Israel, the pillar on which we lean, the hammer that crushes all heresy. Why should you weep?" Ben Zakkai’s response to his disciples is that he was afraid of dying because he was not sure if his soul was right with God and whether his eternity would be spent in Heaven or Hell. Despite the beautiful traditions of the Jewish religion, there was no assurance for this rabbi -- who had dedicated his life to the teachings of the Torah -- and yet had missed out on God’s whole plan of salvation through the Jewish Messiah,
The Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)
and who fulfills God’s sacrifice of atonement (Romans 3:25) whose blood covers all sin (1 John 1:7). The blood of bulls and goats cannot remove sin from our records so that we can stand unblemished before our Creator; only the Blood of our Messiah can atone, as He took on the punishment that we fully deserve. His body and His blood are the kapparah (atonement) and korban (sacrificial offering) for the sins of humankind. Forgiveness and reconciliation are so important that God has reconciled the world to Himself in Yeshua (2 Corinthians 5:19). He has paid for our atonement once and for all (Hebrews 9:12) through His life, death, resurrection, love, mercy, and forgiveness. Forgiven and reconciled, we follow the commandments and keep the testimony of Yeshua, our Messiah, our High Priest, and our Sacrificial Lamb, who has reconciled us as one with our Heavenly Father.
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