What is Yom Kippur?

this video is made possible by our amazing patrons on patreon if you'd like to support more religious literacy content head on over to patreon.com religion for breakfast in 1934 detroit tigers player hank greenberg aka the jewish babe ruth skipped an important september game against the new york yankees why to celebrate the jewish holiday yom kippur or the day of atonement he had previously intended to skip an earlier game that overlapped with rosh hashanah the jewish new year but he decided to play instead in response the detroit free press ran this front page story with the hebrew phrase wishing him a happy new year and celebrating his decision to play but greenberg did not change his mind when it came to yom kippur over a week later which is considered the holiest day on the jewish calendar instead he attended synagogue 30 years later sandy koufax a jewish player for the la dodgers also sat out of a game on yom kippur but during an even more important game game 1 of the world series what's interesting is that neither of these baseball players were otherwise affiliated or particularly observant jews during their adult life for example they did not celebrate other holidays or hold bar mitzvah ceremonies for their children but still they observed yom kippur as a central part of their jewish identity it was a big deal to them today in israel it's such a big deal that major highways are completely empty public transit is shut down and it's become almost an unofficial bike holiday a day when you can bike or skate around on empty roads so what's this holiday all about why did it draw in these otherwise religiously unengaged men even when it risked their careers and why does it continually draw the highest synagogue attendance throughout the entire year yom kippur always falls after rosh hashanah on the gregorian calendar these dates shift from year to year but on the jewish calendar the holidays always fall on the same days in the month of tishrei rosh hashanah falls on the first and second day and yom kippur on the tenth day together these two holidays make up the jewish high holidays called in hebrew the yamim nouraem or the days of awe the holidays are also linked thematically linked in the annual quest to be inscribed in the heavenly book of life for the upcoming year so what's the book of life well writings in the rabbinic text called the talmud explain this theme three books are opened on rosh hashanah one of holy wicked people and one of holy righteous people and one of middling people whose good and bad deeds are equally balanced holy righteous people are immediately written and sealed for life holy wicked people are immediately written and sealed for death and middling people are left with their judgment suspended from rosh hashanah until yom kippur based on this passage the days from the start of the new year to yom kippur are a time for heightened reflection repentance and good deeds during this time jews are encouraged to focus on giving to charity or making amends with their friends and family but the pinnacle is yom kippur itself the sabbath of sabbaths as it's called in the torah the final moments of the season to atone the yom kippur liturgy states that repentance prayer and righteous acts avert the severe decree referring to being sealed for death the hebrew word for repentance is chuva from the root to return it refers to a process in which one who has committed wrongs proceeds to acknowledge those wrongs feel remorse for them and take responsibility for them through restitution and taking care not to commit them again but before we examine the modern practice of the yom kippur liturgy where did this holiday come from in the first place yom kippur is instituted in the hebrew bible and the torah itself leviticus 16 29-30 says and this shall be to you a law for all time in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month you shall practice self-denial sometimes literally translated afflict your souls and you shall do no manner of work for on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you of all your sins you shall be clean before the lord so again notice the two themes of atonement and purification the yom kippur described in leviticus aim to purify both the israelites themselves and the tabernacle the portable sanctuary that they carried while wandering through the desert according to the biblical tradition the biblical telling of yom kippur centers on the high priest on yom kippur in order to be closest to god and atone for all of israel the high priest would enter the holy of holies this was the innermost and well the holiest part of the tabernacle and later the temple in jerusalem in fact the only day the holy of holies could be entered was on yom kippur and the only person who could enter it was the high priest for this reason the priest first had to undergo a process of bathing dressing in special garments and performing a sin offering on his own behalf in order to cleanse himself if you'd like to learn more about these ancient israelite rituals then i really recommend that you check out dr justin sledge's video on the topic he's a fellow scholar of religion and the creator of esoterica an excellent educational channel on the academic study of religion magic and mysticism in the meantime i'm going to move on to the high priest's ritual that was performed on behalf of the whole israelite community and the yom kippur community ritual was distinct the high priest took two goats and in a random drawing chose one of them to be sacrificed the high priest then laid his hand on the remaining goat and confessed the sins of the entire people that goat was sent away into the wilderness carrying the impurities of the people with it this is where we get the term scapegoat so where did this ritual come from well according to dr noga ayali darshan a professor at barilon university the yom kippur scapegoat ritual may originate from a long history of purity rituals in the ancient near east in which an animal carries away some form of abstract evil or impurity the oldest example of these sending away rituals was inscribed on a tablet discovered at the ancient site of ebla in modern day syria dating to the 24th century bce the tablet reads we purify the mausoleum before the entrance of the gods kura and barama a goat a silver bracelet hanging from its neck toward the step of alini we let it go scholars interpret this as a similar sending away ritual in which a goat decorated with a precious metal carries impurities into the wilderness away from some sort of royal tomb another example closer to the time of the israelites in the light bronze age comes from the archives of the ancient hittites an empire centered in anatolia or modern-day turkey the inscription describes a ritual for purifying and protecting the king and queen from evil by sending off a small herd of animals into the wilderness the exorcist releases one bull for the king but one cow you and she-goat for the queen's implements and then declares as follows whatever evil word false oath curse or impurity has been committed in the sight of the deity may these carry them off from before the deity may the deity and the ritual patron be purified of these things so in this ritual we don't just have a scapegoat but we also have a scape cow and escaped sheep animals that are ritually imputed with abstract evil by some sort of ritual specialist here that ritual specialist is translated as an exorcist but in the israelite religion it was a high priest this all might seem really far from something these baseball players and millions of other jews might connect with today contemporary observance of yom kippur looks pretty different considering the jewish people no longer have a tabernacle or temple nor do they maintain sacrifices or an active priesthood the holiday has evolved over the course of centuries throughout the second temple period the medieval period and all the way up to modern practice moreover it's important to emphasize that like all religions judaism is diverse not only are there different denominations such as orthodox conservative reform and reconstructionist judaism but there are also ethnic divisions such as ashkenazi jews who trace from communities in eastern and central europe sephardic jews from the iberian peninsula as well as mizrahi jews beta israel and bane israel which are jewish populations from the middle east ethiopia and india respectively so the particulars of the yom kippur service might be different based on the community and i'll try my best to highlight those differences when it comes down to modern practice though the central themes of self-denial atonement and purifying has carried through from antiquity to today the talmud specifies what self-denial means with five prohibitions five things in particular you're not supposed to do on the day of atonement eating drinking washing anointing putting on sandals and marital intercourse are forbidden today anointing is interpreted as putting on lotions or perfume and the sandals part is usually interpreted as putting on leather shoes one explanation for these prohibitions among others is that they prevent embracing life-affirming activities in fact many refer to the practices of yom kippur as a dress rehearsal for death some especially among ashkenazi jews even wear a special white garment called a kittle traditionally worn at major life transition moments like weddings but in particular worn as part of jewish burial shrouds though it's more broadly customary to wear white clothing of any sort on yom kippur to reflect the themes of physical and spiritual purity and cleanliness fasting and abstaining from sex carries a seriousness that seems appropriate on a day when jews stand in judgment before god accountable for their actions and uncertain of their future and although a 25-hour fast is traditional jewish communities do outline leniencies regarding these prohibitions for example there are leniencies for children pregnant women who feel unwell and for those who are ill for whom fasting would be dangerous this draws from the idea within judaism that preserving life is ultimately the most important thing along the theme of confronting death the yom kippur prayer service also incorporates memorial elements in ashkenazi communities they'll recite a memorial service for loved ones called yizkur some sephardic communities will recite a different memorial prayer called the the effect of these traditions is to bring each individual closer to the line between life and death in order to focus on the seriousness of living well in the upcoming year and i'm using that word serious here intentionally yom kippur is not a sad holiday though these themes are heavy and the broader idea of self-denial is serious they're very meaningful to many jews today especially when adapted to the personal intentions that each person carries into the holiday some interpret fasting as a form of penance for sinning or having done wrong others say fasting aims to focus your mind and body to set aside bodily needs in order to center the mind on the spiritual some interpret it as a way to practice what you preach this recalls a passage from the book of isaiah read at yom kippur services during the afternoon according to the text god does not want a fast for the sake of a fast no this is the fast i desire it is to share your bread with the hungry and to take the wretched poor into your home when you see the naked to clothe him and not to ignore your own kin this passage chastises israelites for thinking of themselves as holy for fasting when they're at the same time mistreating their workers and letting people starve along those lines some interpret the yom kippur fast as emphasizing that right intention and right action must go hand in hand okay now that we've talked about what observant jews don't do on yom kippur what do they do well as i've hinted at throughout this video so far the synagogue service is the traditional activity of the day and i say of the day literally because the services can really last all day from sundown to sundown the whole liturgy includes a series of services unique to yom kippur congregations read from specialized prayer books used on the high holidays called a maksour rather than the standard prayer book used during the rest of the year called the sidor following a big meal prior to the start of the fast jews gather in the synagogue to start the yom kippur liturgy starts with a prayer in aramaic called the colney ray because on the jewish calendar a day runs from nightfall to nightfall colney dre is read in the evening the service leader stands at the front of the sanctuary flanked by two others holding torah scrolls together they're meant to represent a traditional rabbinical legal court and the text of the colney dre itself reads like a legal formula a formula that annuls various types of vows and oaths and in fact the title colmy dre derives from the opening line of the prayer which reads all vows here's a translation from a moxor published by the rabbinical assembly for conservative jewish communities all vows renunciations bans oaths formulas of obligation pledges and promises that we vow or promise to ourselves and to god from this yom kippur to the next may it approach us for good we hereby retract this legal symbolism is meaningful because according to one interpretation the prayer is said so as not to break a vow to god that cannot be upheld in the coming year in ashkenazi communities it's recited in a classic haunting melody [Music] though the melody might change from community to community search on youtube and you'll find a moroccan sephardic rendition [Music] [Music] in all communities the coley dre sets a mood of intention for the rest of the holiday and according to one interpretation it focuses attention on the relationship between words and actions other distinct elements of the yom kippur service include reading the entire book of jonah out loud as well as the vidui the confession of sins that links back to the high priest's confession of the israelite sins today each attendee recites the vidue several times through the course of the day running through a long list of sins we have stolen we have slandered we embitter we falsify we gossip they recite these confessions while gently beating one's chest at each transgression they're also written in the first person plural we have done this we have done that so the entire community joins together in admitting harm even if not committed by every single member of the congregation and most of these confessions are for interpersonal sins keeping with the theme of repairing relationships with others another unique part is the abu dha service which reenacts the service that the ancient israelite high priest used to do on yom kippur in the jerusalem temple during the avodah service the clergy service leaders and very often the entire congregation with them have retained the ancient practice of prostrating fully on the ground as the ancient israelites did when the high priest would have pronounced the tetragrammaton the full name of god some communities particularly among reform and reconstructionist jewish congregations will modify or even omit this prayer entirely based on theological differences about rebuilding the temple or even referencing rebuilding the temple in prayer finally there's the closing prayer the netilla which means sealing the final set of prayers before the heavenly gates are sealed and the imagery evoked is indeed the heavenly gates closing we see this in a hymn called el-nora alilah commonly recited by sephardic congregations at the start of the netilla service the first stanza reads god of awe god of might grant us pardon in this hour as thy gates are closed this night that last line about closing gates is repeated as a refereeing at the end of each stanza after the nailah the shofar is blown one last time in the holiday season and then everyone departs for their first meal after 25 hours of fasting while the rituals of yom kippur are traditionally demanding the meaning behind them is one that has widespread appeal it's a day of introspection taking stock of your actions and relationships asking for forgiveness and planning for a better year ahead the prayers and practices have developed and continued to develop as they do in all religious traditions but the core themes of yom kippur have touched jewish people of all backgrounds for generations on yom kippur the traditional greeting is gamar khatimatova conveying the meaning may you be sealed in the book of life so kumar khati matava and thanks for watching thanks everyone for watching and thanks also to the awesome people listed here on screen who made this video possible i got a lot of help on this video if you want to learn more about this topic in particular i want to encourage you again to check out esoterica's new video on the yom kippur rituals in ancient israel i've posted the link in the description below and finally super special thanks to our patrons on patreon i see this sort of video as the bread and butter content of religion for breakfast i know i sometimes publish silly or niche topics like what is super mario's religion and though i'm very proud of that video basic religious literacy content is the reason why i started religion for breakfast this is why i do what i do i'm aiming for 600 patrons by the end of 2021 so only 14 left to go if you'd like to be one of those 14 people and to be part of my mission to boost everyone's religious literacy please consider supporting the channel on patreon it's the number one best way to keep this channel growing and enabling me to continue publishing these videos thanks everyone

Channel: ReligionForBreakfast

Views: 53,874

Rating: 4.9683795 out of 5

Keywords: Yom Kippur, Judaism, Day of Atonement, What is Yom Kippur, scapegoat, Jewish High Holidays

Id: aFNHtqrEGPw

Length: 17min 9sec (1029 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021

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This is a great channel. He is not Jewish but often has very insightful academic views on Judaism, putting them in to be broader context of world religions — and very conscious of the trap others get stuck in of using a Christian worldview to try to understand Jewishness. His Hanukkah video is excellent