Yom Kippur (Yom Kippur) (05/10)

Tenth day of the Jewish New Year — Judgment Day (Yom Kippur, Hebrew).יוラם כִּיפּוּר) — is the day of atonement for sins and the Supreme Judgment. This is the only day of the year when the Torah instructs a person not to do anything other than analyze his actions and thoughts.

In ancient times, when the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, on the Day of Judgment the high priest performed the procedure of self-purification, entered the temple, prepared the sacrifice for slaughter and offered it to atone for the sins of all the people of Israel. Today, the essence of ritual actions has passed from the Temple to the synagogue, and prayers have taken the place of sacrifice.

«Opening prayer» — Kol-Nidrei — has turned into a symbol of the entire holiday. It is pronounced three times and sung aloud.

A memorial prayer is also read on Yom Kippur, to which two more parts have been added these days: commemoration of the victims of the Disaster and those killed in the Israeli wars of independence.

In 1973, on this day, the armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel. People went straight from synagogues and from their homes into battle, and the roar of the engines disturbed the peace of the holiday. Many did not return. Thus, the old ritual forms were filled with a new tragic content of — loss and grief.

On the eve of Yom Kippur, it is customary to eat a «-splitting meal», after which there is strict fasting until the end of Judgment Day —. Synagogues are filled with people: even those who have not been there for a year come, all institutions and enterprises are closed, transport, radio, and television do not work. Even private cars are not visible on the streets, but there are a lot of children on bicycles driving freely along empty streets.

The Day of Judgment, according to Jewish tradition, ends with every Jew receiving a positive or negative assessment of his actions, and on its basis — a merciful or condemning sentence. This is the day when it is determined whether the request for forgiveness by the Supreme Court in heaven has been accepted or rejected.

Of particular importance is the «closing prayer», said at sunset — after it, as it were, the gates of mercy are closed, through which the requests and prayers of the people of Israel rise to heaven. The sounds of a shofar are heard, and the final call of all rituals is heard: «Next year — in Jerusalem».

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