Yom Kippur musings
Tonight at sundown the holiday of Yom Kippur begins. It is a somber day of reflection and atonement. For me it is a day of spiritual cleansing. A day to think about what happened the previous year and how you can improve upon it. How I can be a better person, a better parent, a better friend and a better Jew. I will relax and open my heart to Hashem and hope that my small voice uttering the words of the Vidiu prayer (a public confession of sins) and that my teshuvah (repentance) be heard for its honesty and sincerity.
I ask at this time that if I have offended any of you in any way that you accept my apology for such an act.
גמר חתימה טובהG'mar chatimah tovah, May you be sealed for a good year in the Book of Life.
For anyone wishing to know a bit more about Yom Kippur, here is some information that I took from this article in The Huffington Post.
All major Jewish holidays, including Yom Kippur, consist of four main prayer services: Shacharit, Musaf and Mincha. Yom Kippur, though, is unique. It begins with Kol Nidre, a legal document that is hauntingly chanted and emotionally charged. The Book of Jonah is read during the afternoon prayer service on Yom Kippur day. The Day of Atonement is the only Jewish holiday that includes a fifth prayer service, called Neilah, which is a final plea of repentance before the gates of heaven are said to close. The Neilah service precedes the shofar blowing and the end of the fast.
Yom Kippur 2011 is especially unique -- and joyous -- because it falls on Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. Fasting is usually forbidden on the Sabbath, but Yom Kippur takes precedence over all other days -- it is called Shabbat Shabbaton, the Sabbath of Sabbaths -- and so the food-free piety is permitted.
While Yom Kippur is characterized by solemn fasting and marathon prayers of repentance, it is actually considered the most joyous day ofthe Jewish year because it commemorates God's forgiveness of the sin of the Golden Calf, the Israelites' slip into idolatry preceding the giving of the Ten Commandments, and is considered a time to spiritually start anew.
Our synagogue has a wonderful tradition at the end of the Neilah service where we have a children's processional with the kids in white shirts holding flashlights. Then we have the shofar blowing and after tekiah gedolah (the loooooooong note) all the kids join in for a shofar jam. It is really nice and a great way to end the holiday. This year we will have juice and bread so that we as a community can break our fast before heading home to break the fast.
I ask at this time that if I have offended any of you in any way that you accept my apology for such an act.
גמר חתימה טובהG'mar chatimah tovah, May you be sealed for a good year in the Book of Life.
For anyone wishing to know a bit more about Yom Kippur, here is some information that I took from this article in The Huffington Post.
All major Jewish holidays, including Yom Kippur, consist of four main prayer services: Shacharit, Musaf and Mincha. Yom Kippur, though, is unique. It begins with Kol Nidre, a legal document that is hauntingly chanted and emotionally charged. The Book of Jonah is read during the afternoon prayer service on Yom Kippur day. The Day of Atonement is the only Jewish holiday that includes a fifth prayer service, called Neilah, which is a final plea of repentance before the gates of heaven are said to close. The Neilah service precedes the shofar blowing and the end of the fast.
Yom Kippur 2011 is especially unique -- and joyous -- because it falls on Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. Fasting is usually forbidden on the Sabbath, but Yom Kippur takes precedence over all other days -- it is called Shabbat Shabbaton, the Sabbath of Sabbaths -- and so the food-free piety is permitted.
While Yom Kippur is characterized by solemn fasting and marathon prayers of repentance, it is actually considered the most joyous day ofthe Jewish year because it commemorates God's forgiveness of the sin of the Golden Calf, the Israelites' slip into idolatry preceding the giving of the Ten Commandments, and is considered a time to spiritually start anew.
Our synagogue has a wonderful tradition at the end of the Neilah service where we have a children's processional with the kids in white shirts holding flashlights. Then we have the shofar blowing and after tekiah gedolah (the loooooooong note) all the kids join in for a shofar jam. It is really nice and a great way to end the holiday. This year we will have juice and bread so that we as a community can break our fast before heading home to break the fast.