Yom kippor

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Introduction
Many cultures and tradition all over the world believe in the existence of God or gods, which is worshiped in different ways according to the peoples tradition and belief. The deity has its like and dislike, and is believed by many to cultures to bring misfortune on his worshippers when offended. To avoid this, they have to appease the deity, the Jews are no exception. In this paper, we shall be discussing the Jewish day of atonement, known as Yom kippor. To get a good knowledge of this, we shall be looking into the following:
·         The Jewish people
·         The Jewish concept of sin
·         Yom kippor
Ø  Etymology
Ø  Origin
Ø  Confessional
Ø  Observance
Ø  celebration
The Jewish People
According to the Jewish sacred writings, which became the Hebrew Bible, Jews are descendant of the ancient people of Israel who settled in the land of Canaan between the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Ancient Hebrew writings describe the "Children of Israel" as descendants of common ancestors, Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob. [1]
The Jews believe in the existence of one premodial being. They observe the law of Moses and equally observe the Sabbath. They believe in holiness, sin, purification, and atonement for their sins.
The Jews are deeply religious and are concerned so much about sin and the law of God, either on how to avoid it or to atone for it.
The Jews Concept of sin
The Jews view sin as the violation of the divine will, which the law has revealed. A man in Jewish culture is not only guilty of a particular sin when he commits, he is equally guilty when he has done part of it or planned it in his heart, or is glad to see others commit the sin.
They believe that sin defiles the body, soils the earth and drives away the Shekinah and is punished by all kinds of misfortunes and plagues.
They further believe that if a man violate a positive commandment and repented that God will surely forgive him, and if he violates a negative commandment and repented, he must wait till the day of atonement provides forgiveness according to Leviticus 16:30.
If a person commits a sin punishable by death, and repented, sufferings sent by God will expiate for the sin, but if one profanes Gods name, even the day of atonement cannot expiate for his sin as it can only take away one third of his guilt.
God forgives only the sin committed against him. If one sins against man, he is to reconcile with him. Confession is required for any sin done against God to gain pardon. [2]

YOM KIPPOR
Etymology:
Yom kippor is a Hebrew word: Yom which  means "day" and Kippur: "to atone". It can be translated to mean ‘day of atonement in English language.
Origin Of Yom kippor
Leviticus 16:29 mandates establishment of this holy day on the 10th day of the 7th month as the day of atonement for sins which it refer to as; the Sabbath of Sabbaths, a day upon which one must afflict one's soul.
Yom Kippor, a Jewish Day of Atonement
Yom kippor is a Jewish day of atonement observed by Jews and Samaritans on the 10th day of the seventh month Tishrei. It  holds the most special place in the mind and imagination of the average Jew.[3]
 It is one of the holiest days of the year in the Jewish religion[4] also referred to as the Sabath of Sabath. It is characterized by atonement and repentance both on a personal and on a national level. The Jews atone for their sins with about 25 hours period of fasting and prayers and spent most of the time in the synagogue.  This they do believing that the fate of each person is sealed for the upcoming year. They observe this day by fasting, praying, abstaining from bodily pleasures and not going for work.
Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the seventh month in the Jewish calendar which marks the beginning of the high holy days or Yamin Nora’m that is completed by Yom kippor. It is the tenth day of the festival of Rosh Hashanah, which is the beginning of the Jewish new year.[5]

The Jews believe that on Rosh Hashanah, God writes each person’s fate for the coming year and seals it finally on Yom kippor, in view of that, they try to amend their bad ways and seek forgiveness of sins for all the evil things they did against God (bein adam leMakom)  and against their fellow human beings (bein adam lechavero). Unlike every other days which has three prayer services which include Ma'ariv, (the evening prayer), Shacharit, (the morning prayer) and Mincha, (the afternoon prayer); Yom kippor has five prayer services which include Ma'ariv; Shacharit; Musaf; Mincha; and Ne'ilah, (the closing prayer). These prayer services also include private and public confessions of sins.
Confessional
The pardon of sins are obtained only by the people who repent and atone for their sins, and this is done in Jewish religion through a process called Teshuva. Teshuva has to do with regrets for sins committed and making resolve not to go back to those sins again, and finally, confessing that sin before God.
For repentance on Yom Kippur in Jewish religion, it is required to recite the full Vidui a total of 9 times: once during Mincha on Yom Kippur eve, and on Yom Kippur itself during Ma'ariv (2 times), Shacharit (2 times), Musaf (2 times), and Mincha (2 times); at Ne’eilah, only the short confessional is said. The first time in each service takes place during the personal recitation of the Amidah (standing, silent prayer), and the second time during the cantor's repetition of the Amidah (except during the preceding Mincha), in a public recitation.[6]
The Yom Kippur confessional consists of two parts: a short confession and the long confession. The short confession begins with the word Ashamnu ( "we have sinned"),a series of words describing sin arranged according to the aleph-bet, and a long confession, beginning with the words Al Cheyt ("for the sin"), which is a set of 22 double acrostics, also arranged according to the aleph-bet, enumerating a range of sins. During the public recitation of Ashamnu, the entire congregation sings these words to a tune, representing the joy of being cleansed from their sins.

Observance of Yom Kippor
(In the city of Jerusalem, in the country of Israel, people say prayers on Yom Kippur at a place called the western wall. The western wall is part of an ancient Holy place called the Temple mount.[7])
The evening of the ninth day of the seventh month Tishrei of the Jewish calendar which precedes Yom Kippur, is commemorated with additional morning prayers, asking others for forgiveness, giving charity, performing the kapparot ritual, an extended afternoon prayer service, and two festive meals.
On the exact day of atonement, the Jews have this tradition of keeping the following;
1.         abstaining from eating and drinking
2.         No wearing of leather shoes
3.         No bathing or washing
4.         No anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions
5.         No marital relations
The Jews begins there fast in the evening, at sunset of the day preceding the day of atonement and ends it at night fall of the following day. This fast includes total abstinence from food and all eatables and drinkables. In other to achieve this, they eat a large portion of food during the day that proceeds the fasting day. This fast does not apply for all, those with health issues, children and the aged are however exempted from the fast.


Yom Kippor Celebration
Before sunset on Yom Kippur, the Jews gather in the synagogue where the Ark of the Covenant is opened and two people brings out of it the Torah scrolls, after which they take their places on each side of the Hazzan and recite the following in Hebrew.
“In the tribunal of Heaven and the tribunal of earth, we hold it lawful to pray with transgressors”.
The cantor then chants the Kol Nidre prayer. ("Kol Nidre" is taken from the opening words, and translates "All vows").
All personal vows we are likely to make, all personal oaths and pledges we are likely to take between this Yom Kippur and the next Yom Kippur, we publicly renounce. Let them all be relinquished and abandoned, null and void, neither firm nor established. Let our personal vows, pledges and oaths be considered neither vows nor pledges nor oaths.
The leader and the congregation then say together three times "May all the people of Israel be forgiven, including all the strangers who live in their midst, for all the people are in fault." The Torah scrolls are then placed back into the Ark, and the Yom Kippur evening service begins.[8]
The Prayer services begin with the Kol Nidrei prayer, which is recited before sunset. Then the service continues with the evening prayers (Ma'ariv or Arvit) and an extended Selichot service.
The Morning Prayer service is preceded by litanies and petitions of forgiveness called selichot. This is followed by the afternoon prayer,(mincha) which includes a reading (Haftarah) of the entire Book of Jonah, which has as its theme the story of God's willingness to forgive those who repent.
They conclude their prayers with the Ne'ila ("closing") prayer, which is said shortly before sunset. The Jews believe that the gates of prayer are closed when the sun sets. Yom Kippur comes to an end with a recitation of the Shema Yisrael and the blowing of the shofar marks the end of the fast.
Conclusion
Yom kippor is an annual celebration in the Jewish tradition which offers them the opportunity to afflict their body as a sign of repentance in other to appease God and avoid ill fate in the upcoming year.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Palestinian Judaism in the time of Jesus Christ. By Joseph Bonsirven, S.J. Translated from French by William wolf, publisher, Holt, Rinehart and Winston New York Chicago, san francisco

Ed. Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, yom kippur readings, inspiration, contemplation. Jewish lights publishing, Woodstock, Vermont.

Honor Head. Celebrating Yom kippur, power kids press, new York

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Unknown author, crabTree publishing Company.

Wikipedia, jewish History. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history, last edited January 10 2016
Wikipedia, Yom Kippor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur page was last modified on 11 January 2016.

[1] Wikipedia, jewish history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history, last edited January 10 2016
[2] Palestinian Judaism in the time of Jesus Christ. By Joseph Bonsirven, S.J. Translated from French by William wolf, publisher, Holt, Rinehart and Winston New York Chicago, san francisco
[3] Ed. Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, yom kippur readings, inspiration, contemplation. Jewish lights publishing, Woodstock, Vermont.
[4] Honor Head. Celebrating Yom kippur, power kids press, new York
[5] Honor Head. Celebrating Yom kippur, power kids press, new York.
[6] Wikipedia, Yom Kippor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur page was last modified on 11 January 2016.
[7] Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Unknown author, crabTree publishing Company.
[8] Wikipedia, Yom Kippor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur page was last modified on 11 January 2016.

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