Yom Kippur

Sundown this evening marked the beginning of Yom Kippur, the highest of the Jewish Holidays. Yom Kippur is also called the Day of Atonement, where Jews are supposed to spend the day in fasting and prayer. There are ten days in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur called the Days of Awe which are supposed to consist of one repenting and asking God to forgive him for his sins, and forgive all those that one would need to forgive.

This will be my first time observing the holiday. Growing up, my family got together for most Jewish holidays to cook and eat together. I've had many fond memories over the last 20 years sharing these moments with my Messianic Jewish family. But it seems that my experience with the Jewish stuff ended there, at that meal, every holiday...

Although I haven't spent the past ten days repenting every day, and although I do have to go to class and meetings tomorrow for school responsibilities, I want tomorrow to be my first real experience of practicing the fasting of Yum Kippur. I am going to pray five times thoughout the day as you should during this holiday. Because Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, the Day of Atonement comes afterward so you can start the new year off right with God.

Happy New Year!