The fast begins just before sundown on Tuesday and ends some 25 hours later, after the special Ne’ilah (locking, signifying that the gates of heaven are to be locked at the end of the fast) prayer, said standing. At the prayer's end, the Shma Yisrael - Hear O Israel the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One - is recited aloud by the entire congregation, followed by another two verses, including sevenfold loud repetition of the words "G-d is the Lord". The end of the fast is signalled by a dramatic, lone shofar-blast and the immediate singing of "Next year in rebuilt Jerusalem". In many Israeli synagogues, this is a signal for joyous dancing as the fast's end signals a lightening of spirits. In addition to eating and drinking, also forbidden on this day are wearing leather shoes, washing up, make-up and perfumes, and marital relations. The prohibitions notwithstanding, the day is also onsidered a festive day, in that we celebrate G-d’s beneficence in going against natural law and allowing us to revoke and nullify our misdeeds. It is also a “day of friendship and love," according to the prayer liturgy. The day of the eve of Yom Kippur, the 9th of the Jewish month of Tishrei, is also considered a special day, and we are required to eat and drink even more than we normally do. "Whoever eats and drinks on the 9th,” the Talmud states enigmatically, “is as [meritorious as] if he had fasted on both the 9th and the 10th." The custom of kaparot is done on the 9th. . Even more prevalent on this day are prayer services. Organizations make arrangements for secular-friendly prayer services around the country, which have become extremely popular and well-attended in recent years. The PR Ministry has arranged for tens of thousands of Yom Kippur prayer books, called machzorim, to be given free to those attending its scores of special services (link is in Hebrew) for the secular. The Ayelet Hashachar organization has arranged scores of services that are user-friendly to the secular. Israelis who are old enough to remember Yom Kippur 1973, recall how people were shocked to see cars driving down the streets in the early afternoon. They were rounding up soldiers as the Yom Kippur War had broken out during the day - almost all of the soldiers, religious and secular, were at their local synagogues and army cars went from synagogue to synagogue with lists, while sirens wailed shortly afterwards in Jerusalem and worshipers raced to shelters. Memorial services for the war's fallen soldiers will be held on Thursday. One of the most dramatic prayers on Yom Kippur is Unetane Tokef, written by Rabbi Amnon of Mayence in the Middle Ages, which includes the words: "You, the Almighty, recall everything we have forgotten, and the book You open has our lives before You...the angels tremble and say 'Today is the Day of Judgment'.. Who will live and who will die..who by water and who by fire..." (Note: The video of the IDF choir singing the prayer was not recorded on the holiday). |
YOM KIPPUR
