Click here for more questions and answers about Yom Kippur.
When is Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur 2015 begins at sunset on October 3 and ends on October 4.
What is Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of communal and personal atonement for sins committed during the past year.
What are some of the customs on Yom Kippur?
Fasting is one of the central components of the Yom Kippur holiday.
Jewish adults are commanded to fast, but there are exceptions for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and those who are ill.
Click here to see who is traditionally commanded to fast.
What are the services on Yom Kippur?
Prayer is the other central component of the holiday. The Kol Nidrei service kicks off the holiday, and Neila comes at the very end, bookending the holy day with solemn prayer. In between we read the book of Jonah, and perform the special Avodah service, which involves continually and frequently prostrating oneself on the ground.
Yom Kippur
Pronounced: yohm KIPP-er, also yohm kee-PORE, Origin: Hebrew, The Day of Atonement, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar and, with Rosh Hashanah, one of the High Holidays.
