Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day for the Jewish people.

Torah Portions

Yom Kippur (shacharit)

Leviticus 16:1-34--Speaks about the Day of Atonement, the only day the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies.

Numbers 29:7-11--Speaks about what to offer at the temple on the Day of Atonement.

Isaiah 57:14-58:14--a Haftarah portion speaking about fasting.

Romans 3:21-26--Brit Chadasha portion speaking that Yeshua (Jesus) is the only one who can cleanse us from our sin.

2 Corinthians 5:10-21--Brit Chadasha portion speaking about being reconciled to G-d.

Yom Kippur (minchah)

Leviticus 18:1-30--Speaks about laws of sexual morality.

Jonah 1:1-4:11--The story of Jonah the prophet.  If G-d listened to the prayers and repentance of the Ninevites (who would later take the Israelites into captivity), He will listen to us, too.

Micah 7:18-20--Haftarah portion speaking about G-d, merciful and slow to anger, who "casts all our sins into the depths of the sea".

Romans 3:21-26--Brit Chadasha portion speaking that Yeshua (Jesus) is the only one who can cleanse us from our sin.

2 Corinthians 5:10-21--Brit Chadasha portion speaking about being reconciled to G-d.

Our Experience

On Tuesday evening (10/11; Yom Kippur this year was from Tuesday evening to Wednesday evening) we arrived at a Messianic congregation in Jerusalem for a last meal together before Yom Kippur fasting.

There was a lot of food:  bread, salmon, salad, pumpkin/sweet potato soup, cake, juice, milk, coffee, tea.  Everyone talked and chatted as they ate, and afterwards made their way into the sanctuary for the ערבית service.

Special prayer books were used for the service aside from the regular ones used during Shabbat (Sabbath) services.  The Kol Nidrei was prayed first, then various others, including the Shema, the Kaddish, and Avinu Malkeinu.

The next day was a day of prayer, fasting (no eating or drinking anything), and repentance.  My family and I mended our relationships, asking forgiveness from each other and "making up".  We did not attend the shacharit service in the morning but rather read the specific Scripture portions at home together.

The streets were empty and the stoplights flashed yellow on and off.  It is not prohibited to drive on Yom Kippur, but no one drives--we only saw one van besides police and ambulances rushing to save people.

As we neared the end of the fast I caught myself thinking about the food in our fridge every other minute.  It really was "afflict your soul".

In the evening we attended the נעילה service at the congregation, and the rabbi gave a drash (sermon) about Yom Kippur.  Then everyone shouted, "L'shana ha'aba b'Yerushalayim!", meaning, "Next year in Jerusalem!"  It is a tradition and can be interpreted in a number of different ways.

After the service a festive meal was served as everyone broke the fast together.  And really, almost anything tastes delicious after fasting!

Some say that since Yeshua has come and already atoned for our sins, we do not need the Day of Atonement.  However, we keep Yom Kippur and repent on behalf of the nations.

Miracles

Yeshua is the atonement for our sins.  After His death and resurrection (about A.D. 30-33) all the way till the destruction of the Temple (A.D. 70), many miracles happened on Yom Kippur.

On Yom Kippur two goats are chosen as offerings to the L-RD.  A lot would be cast--one of the goats would be offered to the L-RD as a burnt offering and the other, the scapegoat, would be released into the wilderness (and pushed over a cliff) as a sign of our sins being taken away from us.  For forty years the lot for the scapegoat fell on the goat which was standing on the right of the priest.

Also on Yom Kippur a scarlet cord is cut exactly in half.  One half is tied to the horn of the scapegoat, the other to the temple doors.  If the cord turned white, it meant that the offering had been accepted (under the glare of the Middle Eastern sun the cord would become bleached after being exposed in the open for a time).  For forty years the cord stayed scarlet.

Every night the western branch of the menorah was to be kept burning; the flame was not allowed to go out.  And every night for forty years that light went off.

There was one more miracle.  The doors of the temple would be closed every night.  The priests would go to sleep, wake up in the morning, and open the doors again.  But every morning, for forty years, the doors of the temple were found wide open, even though they had been closed during the night.

The rabbis say that these things happened as a warning that the temple would be destroyed.  But we know that Yeshua was the atonement for our sins, and after He came the temple was not needed anymore.  Today, G-d's presence does not reside only in one place; He is with His people and with all of us who are chosen by Him.

Yom Kippur War

In 1973, on Yom Kippur, the Egyptians and the Syrians swarmed into Israel from Sinai and the Golan Heights, which had been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967.

At first Israel seemed to be losing--so badly that some of Israel's leaders considered suicide--but they overcame the enemy and actually gained more land.

The L-RD will always be with His people.  Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.