Published: October 03, 2008 01:37 pm         

Holiest day | Area Jews to mark atonement with fasting, prayer

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

Those of Jewish faith have been celebrating the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana since sundown Monday and will continue to do so until sundown Wednesday, when Yom Kippur is ushered in.

Yom Kippur, which means Day of Atonement, is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Rabbi Irvin Brandwein, religious leader of Beth Sholom Congregation, 700 Indiana St., Westmont, said fasting will begin Wednesday evening and continue until Thursday evening.

“We have a day of fasting with no food or drink, health permitting,” Brandwein said.

“It’s also a day of prayer and repentance to secure forgiveness. We can’t expect forgiveness from God if we don’t forgive people around us.”

Brandwein said a prayer service will be held at Beth Sholom from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.

In addition to fasting, restrictions can include no work, no washing, no anointing with perfumes or lotions, no marital relations and no wearing leather shoes.

On Yom Kippur, it is customary to wear white, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that sins will be made as white as snow.

Services at Beth Sholom will resume at 4 p.m. Thursday and continue until sundown.

“We will eat and drink at a break-the-fast ceremony and give greetings and wishes to each other for a good year,” Brandwein said.

The first Yom Kippur occurred after the Israelites alienated God by worshipping a golden calf.

Moses ascended Mount Sinai to ask God for forgiveness, and while he was on the mountain, the Israelites repented by fasting.

Moses then descended Mount Sinai with the second set of stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments.

On the first Yom Kippur, the Israelites succeeded in atoning for their sins and renewed their covenant with God.

Jewish tradition states that God inscribes the names of the faithful into a Book of Life during Rosh Hashana, but it is only on Yom Kippur that names can be sealed into the book.

During the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, which are called the Days of Awe, Jews have a last chance to demonstrate repentance and to change God’s judgment.

They hope that if they repent of their sins, God will forgive them and grant them a good signing, or chatima tova, in the Book of Life. God’s judgment is made on Yom Kippur, and their fate is sealed for another year.

Yom Kippur is the only service at which the doors of the Ark, where the Torah is stored, remain open through the entire service. This signifies that the gates of heaven are open at this time.

In biblical times, the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, where the Ark was stored, only on Yom Kippur.

     

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