What Is Yom Kippur In Israel?

What Is Yom Kippur In Israel?

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

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(Updated September 2009)

Jerusalem-----October 1, 2006......First, what is Yom Kippur?
For the many who are not Jewish and for the Jewish who are not "observant", let us first take a look at Yom Kippur 101. Yom Kippur is the most important, the most sacred of any day in the Jewish year. Many Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast and or attend synagogue services on this day. Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of Tishri.

In Israel, it is a day when the world stands still.

Cars are not allowed on the road. Only the sound of children laughing as they ride their bicycles, the voices of prayer coming from the Beit Knesset. For 24 hours all places of entertainment, all local cable TV does not exist. One day totally free of car horns, telephone calls, email and polluted air.

For this writer, I do observe Yom Kippur. This exercise in writing, is not work. It is reflection. And that is the one common denominator that all Jews, from Reform and Conservative to Orthodox and Hassid share in common today. It is also a reminder of who we are. Tradition. The club we belong to. Who I am and those who wish us harm.

It's a day that I keep my telephone on, TV, Internet and radio for Israel is at war. Not a formal war as the Yom Kippur War of 1973, but a burning and real war of state terrorism where Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia wish me and my family dead. Hezbollah continues to threaten us from Lebanon and Hamas continues to hurl Qassam rockets into the Negev.

Where Iran repeatly denies the Holocaust, continues to threaten to wipe Israel "off the map" and is building nuclear weapons at a frightening pace. So I stay alert as many others do on this holy of holy days in Israel.

The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is.

It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books is sealed. This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends. Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur.

The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.

As always, any of these restrictions can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved. In fact, children under the age of nine and women in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are not permitted to fast, even if they want to. Older children and women from the third to the seventh day after childbirth are permitted to fast, but are permitted to break the fast if they feel the need to do so. People with other illnesses should consult a physician and a rabbi for advice. Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue, in prayer.

In Orthodox synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall. The services end at nightfall, with the blowing of the tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar. See Rosh Hashanah for more about the shofar and its characteristic blasts. It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow. Some people wear a kittel, the white robe in which the dead are buried.

What I desire to do is focus on the meaning of this "Day of Atonement," that is atoning for the sins of the past year.
Not my sins, but rather sins committed by my beloved State of Israel. And to address these sins, is proof positive that I live in a beautiful but somewhat imperfect democratic state which truly allows for free speech.

The first sin is that of poverty.

That this Israel nation has allowed over 1.6 million people to suffer and wallow in poverty. That one out of three children are deprived of proper food, education and health. The figures from the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) show that 34% of Israel children are impoverished, with 24,500 children falling into poverty. That Israel has not made any concrete steps to attract more venture capitalists, more foreign investment in Israel. Instead of lowering taxes for VC's to operate and blossom in Israel, we create more hurdles than pools of honey for these business people.

The second sin is having the wrong people in the wrong positions in government.

For a nation which struggles for it's physical survival on a daily basis, why is it that a Prime Minister selected a Defense Minister with very little experience in the defense industry? We know the answer. It is called job security, it is called politics, but at what price?

That we had IDF soldiers marching off into Lebanon with little food and no water? There is no excuse for this. None.

The third sin is called gender bias discrimination.

That Israel, which will place its very existence in the hands of brave soldiers holding M-16's and flying F-15's, will not trust these same men as fathers. Under an archaic custody law passed by the Knesset in 1962, in the event of divorce only women are capable of having custody of a child till the age of six. Loving dads, are separated from their children and turned into "visitors" seeing their children no more than a few hours twice a week.

The fourth sin is arrogance.

That we Jews sometimes judge others to be less than us if we do not meet their own religious and or ritual beliefs. That one is only a "good Jew" if ...

The fifth sin is that we allow and reinforce the public to attack every senior leader that Israel has.

From the President and Prime Minister to the Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense. Hey, did I just attack a past Prime Minister for making the wrong choice for Defense Minister. I apologize. It's Yom Kippur. But between me and G-d, I repent for the Prime Minister for having made this particular decision. Olmert is a good man, a good leader, but is human and we other humans must help him, not attack. We must stay united, for divided is what our enemies pray for.

Yom Kippur in Israel.
A day of prayer, walking to the beach or a child placing his bike in 5th gear.

I have passed many a Yom Kippur in Israel. Twenty-two to be exact.
On this Yom Kippur, I see many things which are positive about Israel, rather than the negative.
First, the weather. It is cool. The punishing, searing heat of summer and "hamsins" (heat waves) are past us for now.

Second, the nature of the Israeli is no less tough in business or in warfare. That the average Israeli will donate what they do not have to those who have suffered in bomb shelters in Kiryat Shomona, Metulla, Haifa and Nahariya.

Third, Zionism is still alive and well, with Birthright and Nefesh b' Nefesh delivering many new immigrants every month.

Fourth, that the Israel Ministry of Tourism is finally using sex to sell Israel, rather than 2,000 year-old walls in Megiddo.

Fifth, that the Israel Export Institute and Google came together a few weeks ago to teach every industry in Israel how to market themselves on the Internet. The meaning of SEO or search engine optimization.

Six, that the US and it's President, finally realize that we face the same enemy - Islamic terrorism. That there is no difference between 9/11 and the Passover Massacre which took place at the Park Hotel in Netanya.

Seven, that Intel, Microsoft and Google are inspiring many other global brands to invest in Israel's brain power.

Eight, that Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen, Dire Straits, Sting and many other artists are visiting Israel. Telling the world that Israel is as safe as New York or London.

Nine, that we never forget the Nazi holocaust nor forgive Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah and al Qaeda for wanting to "wipe us off the map."

Ten, that I have only 20 hours left of fasting.

Yes, Yom Kippur in Israel.
A time to play with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. To watch DVD's, CNN and Fox News while keeping the volume low between making our treks to the local synagogue. A time to see, smile and talk with our neighbors and wish them a better year than the one we have just left behind. A time to reflect, forgive and resolve ourselves to future challenges as one community. As one Jewish nation.

Lastly, that each and every Israeli will remember the words respect, tolerance and forgiveness on those days which are not called Yom Kippur.