Tzom Kal: Yom Kippur Begins Sunset Wednesday

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The painting is a detail of “Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur” by the 22-year-old Maurycy Gottlieb c. 1878.

Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jews.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Wednesday, Sept. 15 and concludes a few hours after sunset on Thursday, Sept. 16.

The day’s central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this period with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days (the Days of Awe) that includes Rosh Hashanah, the New Year celebration.

High School athletic events and after-school activities at Belmont High School are typically curtailed for the holiday.

Tzom Kal: Yom Kippur Begins Tuesday at Sunset

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The painting is a detail of “Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur” by the 22-year-old Maurycy Gottlieb c. 1878.

Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jews.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

The day’s central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 24-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or sometimes the Days of Awe.

Belmont schools have advised teachers to should be aware of the holiday when assigning homework and tests as students will be attending religious services. In addition, Belmont High athletics joins many school districts in suspending games for the two days of the holiday’s observance.

Tzom Kal: Yom Kippur Begins Tuesday at Sunset

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The painting is a detail of “Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur” by the 22-year-old Maurycy Gottlieb c. 1878.

Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jews.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

The day’s central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or sometimes the Days of Awe.

High School athletic events and after-school activities are typically curtailed for the one day holiday.

Three years ago, the Belmont School Committee approved a pilot program to close school for one day in observance of the Jewish High Holidays beginning in the 2015-16 school year. A year later, after complaints from residents who declared the policy disruptive to the educational process and did not reflect the growing diversity within Belmont’s schools, all religious holidays were removed from the school calendar. 

Tzom Kal: Yom Kippur Begins Friday at Sunset

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The painting is a detail of “Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur” by the 22-year-old Maurycy Gottlieb c. 1878.

Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jews.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Friday, Sept. 29.

The day’s central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or sometimes the Days of Awe.

Two years ago, the Belmont School Committee approved a pilot program to close school for one day in observance of the Jewish High Holidays beginning in the 2015-16 school year. A year later, after complaints from residents who declared the policy disruptive to the educational process and did not reflect the growing diversity within Belmont’s schools, all religious holidays were removed from the school calendar. 

Yom Kippur Begins Friday at Sunset

By Leave a Comment

The painting is a detail of “Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur” by the 22-year-old Maurycy Gottlieb c. 1878.

By Len Abram

At sundown today, Friday, Oct. 3, Jews across the world and at the Beth El Temple Center on Concord Avenue will begin observing the holy day of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

According to tradition, the Day of Atonement marks the end of 10 days of reflection and repentance, imagined in the liturgy as a Day of Judgment for each person before the Supreme Judge, whose final decisions are written in a heavenly book.

The Hebrew greeting, “Gemar chatimah tovah,” translated as “May you be inscribed for good in the Book of Life,” captures the metaphor and meaning of the day.

Abstaining from food and drink fulfills the Biblical commandments of self-denial and solemnity. Physical desires are denied to concentrate on spiritual needs through prayer and self-improvement.

At Yom Kippur, Jews often seek out those whom they have wronged to ask forgiveness.

Although the central prayers and confessionals are collective, emphasizing “we,” not “I,” Yom Kippur means something special to each person following the ancient tradition going back six millennia.