Yom Kippur: Judaism’s Holiest Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur is presented as a day of repentance, atonement and spiritual renewal, traditionally observed through fasting, prayer and abstention from physical pleasures. Jewish teachings emphasize that self-denial, or inui, is central to the holiday because it prompts reflection on wrongdoing and supports purification, alongside teshuvah and tefilah. In the era of the Temple, the day centered on the High Priest’s entry into the Holy of Holies and public confessions on behalf of himself, the priests and the entire Jewish people, a service commemorated in the Musaf prayer. Contemporary observance can also include personal practices such as journaling, writing teshuvah letters, setting intentions and creating family rituals, with no single approach applying to everyone. The period surrounding Yom Kippur also recalls the Fast of Gedaliah, commemorating the assassination of the Babylonian-appointed governor after the destruction of the First Temple and the subsequent exile of the remaining Judeans, a tragedy traditionally associated with internal division and the loss of Jewish sovereignty in the land.