Yom Kippur

About Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur, the tenth of Tishri, is the holiest day of the Jewish year. For about twenty-five hours, observant Jews abstain from food and drink, wash, anointing and leather shoes, and spend the day in the synagogue, often dressed in white. Services include the Kol Nidre prayer on the eve, confession of sins as a community, memorial prayers for the dead, and the reading of the book of Jonah. Before the fast people are expected to seek forgiveness from anyone they have wronged. The day ends with the Neilah service and a final long blast of the shofar, and the fast is broken with a light meal at home. In Israel, the country comes to a standstill, with no traffic on the roads and children cycling in the empty streets.

Yom Kippur dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

What is eaten

• break-fast bagels
• kugel
• fish
• challah

Traditions of Yom Kippur

Kol NidreThe opening prayer of the eve.

More marked on Yom Kippur

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelYom Kippurיוֹם כִּפּוּר The holiest day in Judaism, dedicated to fasting, prayer and atonementSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇮🇱 IsraelRosh Hashanahרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה The Jewish New Year marked by shofar horn blasts, prayer and sweet foodsSpiritual 🇮🇱 IsraelTallitטלית A four-cornered Jewish prayer shawl with ritual fringes worn during worshipSpiritual 🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 2 moreSigdስግድ An Ethiopian Jewish holiday of covenant renewal, fasting, and longing for ZionSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreProstration Bowing the whole body to the ground, in prayer and as a sign of respectSpiritual 🇮🇱 Israel and 4 moreTorah readingקריאת התורה The public reading of the Torah scroll in synagogue, chanted to a special tuneSpiritual 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreHigh Holy Daysיָמִים נוֹרָאִים The Jewish year's ten days of repentance, from Rosh Hashanah to Yom KippurSpiritual 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreShofarשׁוֹפָר A ram's horn blown in synagogue to mark the Jewish new year and the end of Yom KippurSpiritual 🇾🇪 YemenConfession in Judaismוִדּוּי (vīddūy) Admitting sin before God, in daily prayer, on Yom Kippur and at the end of lifeSpiritual 🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreLeil Selichotליל הסליחות A night of penitential prayers and poems recited before the Jewish New Year to seek forgiveness.Spiritual