Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It is the final day of the period known as “Yamin Nora’im” or “Days of Awe”. This period begins with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and is when God is said to decide everyone’s fate for the coming year. For religious Jews, the period in whole is one of reflection and prayer, asking for forgiveness from both fellow man and God. I, as most of you are probably aware, am not a religious Jew. I’m not even nearly religious. I don’t eat pork or seafood, and I had a barmitzvah and there, more or less, ends my religious affiliation with Judaism. That, and I fast on Yom Kippur, almost alone among my close circle of friends to do so.
Every year the same debate starts up with my friends, namely “you don’t believe in God, you never go to Synagogue, you’re not religious, so why bother fasting on Yom Kippur?”
The answer is partly that its not uncommon among Jews who live outside of Israel to be more observant than they might otherwise be within Israel, and I’m no exception. When I lived in Siena, the Synagogue was a natural first port of call, an instant-solution community to belong to. For University next year, without knowing any of the societies I’ll be joining, the only (almost) certainty will be the Jewish Society.
None of this has a religious reason. I’m not looking for prayers and religious teachings, or searching for a deeper meaning. Being Jewish, especially outside of Israel, means always having a community to belong to. That same reason is why I fast on Yom Kippur. Here in Israel, Yom Kippur is a quiet day, unimaginable and unrivalled in the rest of the world. Try to imagine your country shutting down for one day a year. No TV broadcasts, no radio stations, no cars on the road, just complete silence. Its one day a year to put aside my phone and my laptop, shut down communication, and spend a quiet day at home with my family and friends, no distractions.
My other answer to my friends is that even within Israel, Yom Kippur is one of the most widely-practiced holidays. Jewish news website ynet estimate that 73% of Jewish Israelis, including almost half of those who identify as secular, will be fasting this year. On the eve of Yom Kippur, synagogues around the country report a surge in visitor numbers. More than any other Jewish holy day, it brings us closer together and allows us a day of calm and reflection.
This year is also the 40th Anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, one of the deepest scars in Israel’s history. On this holiest of days in 1973, Israel’s enemies launched an assault on Israel, knowing that the government would have difficulty communicating with its citizens due to the lack of broadcasts, and that the holiness of the day would cause delay in an Israeli response. My father was on duty along the Suez Canal when the assault began, where hundreds lost their lives, and his generation was the one that suffered the most. We pause to honour the 2,656 Israeli soldiers who gave up their lives in that conflict, and the estimated 9,000 wounded.
As I’ve already mentioned, Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. It is the day when we ask for forgiveness not only from God, but from those around us. Its a moment to stop and ask forgiveness for any actions in the past year that might have hurt or offended, and to pray that next year might be better than the one just gone. In that spirit, I too ask for forgiveness if I’ve offended, and wish everyone a very happy new year.
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