Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (Heb., yom hakippurim, "day of atonement"), in Judaism falls on the tenth day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year and the first of the civil year, occurring in September or the first half of October. It is the culmination of the observance of the Ten Penitential Days, which begins with Rosh Hashanah, or the New Year, and is the most sacred of Jewish holidays; with Rosh Hashanah it constitutes the so-called High Holy Days. Yom Kippur is a day of confession, repentance, and prayers for forgiveness of sins committed during the year against the laws and covenant of God. It is also the day on which an individual's fate for the ensuing year is thought to be sealed. The laws relating to it are found in Leviticus 16, 23:26-32, 25:9 and Numbers 29:7-11. In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priest offered sacrifices for the expiation of sin. During the ritual the high priest placed his hands upon a goat as he confessed the people's sins; the goat was then taken into the wilderness and thrown over a precipice. This act was symbolic of expiation and God's forgiveness. The concept of the scapegoat, that is, someone who bears the blame for others, originated in this ceremony.
Today Jews observe the day by a rigorous fast and nearly unbroken prayer. The mood is solemn but not mournful, as evidenced by the Oriental Jewish custom of calling Yom Kippur the White Fast; this is in contradistinction to Tishah b'Ab (the Ninth of Ab), the Black Fast, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple.
