Israel Observes Yom Kippur

Friday, October 03, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff

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Israelis and Jews around the world are observing Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, which began at sundown Friday.

Israel completely shuts down on Yom Kippur. Traffic comes to a halt, radio and TV broadcasts go off the air, the airport and businesses are closed.

Many Israelis spend the holiday in synagogues, while others simply rest or go for walks and bicycle rides on the empty roads.

As usual, security is tight. Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip have been sealed off amid fears that Palestinian terrorists will exploit the holiday to attack Jewish worshippers gathered at public venues in greater than usual numbers.

PHOTO: Israeli President Reuven Reuven Rivlin, praying for "Selichot" at the presidential residence synagogue in Jerusalem. "Selichot" is the prayer for forgiveness typically recited before dawn in the lead-up to the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur high holy days. Photo by Noam Revkin Fenton/FLASH90

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Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement - Friday sundown, Sept. 13 through Saturday sundown, Sept. 14

1. 

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   Friday, September 13

   and ends in the evening of

   Saturday, September 14
   
   

   Day of Atonement

   
   By Mary Fairchild, About.com Guide
   
   
   Orthodox Jews Prepare for Yom Kippur
   Photo: David Silverman / Getty Images

   
   Bible Feasts:
   
   Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 that the Jewish feasts and celebrations were a shadow of the things to come through Jesus Christ. And though as Christians we may not commemorate these holidays in the traditional biblical sense, as we discover the significance of each, we will certainly gain a greater knowledge of God's Word, an improved understanding of the Bible, and a deeper relationship with the Lord.
   
   Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement:
   
   Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement is the most solemn and important holy day of the Jewish calendar. In the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement was the day the High Priest made an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the people. This act of atonement brought reconciliation between the people and God. After the blood sacrifice was offered to the Lord, a goat was released into the wilderness to symbolically carry away the sins of the people. This "scapegoat" was never to return.
   Time of Observance:
   
   Yom Kippur is celebrated on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (September or October).
   
   • See Bible Feasts Calendar for the actual dates of Yom Kippur.

   Scripture Reference:

   The observance of the Day of Atonement is recorded in the Old Testament book of Leviticus16:8-34; 23:27-32.

   
   About Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement:
   
   Yom Kippur was the only time during the year when the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the innermost chamber of the Temple (or Tabernacle) to make atonement for the sins of all Israel. Atonement literally means "covering." The purpose of the sacrifice was to bring reconciliation between man and God (or "at-onement" with God) by covering the sins of the people.
   
   Today, the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of repentance, when Jews express remorse for their sins through prayer and fasting. Yom Kippur is the final day of judgment, when each person's fate is sealed by God for the upcoming year.
   
   Jewish tradition tells how God opens the Book of Life and studies the words, actions, and thoughts of every person whose name he has written there. If a person's good deeds outweigh or outnumber their sinful acts, his or her name will remain inscribed in the book for another year. On Yom Kippur, the ram's horn (shofar) is blown at the end of evening prayer services for the first time since Rosh Hashanah.
   Jesus and Yom Kippur:
   
   The Tabernacle and the Temple gave a clear picture of how sin separates us from the holiness of God. In Bible times, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies by passing through the heavy veil that hung from ceiling to floor, creating a barrier between the people and the presence of God. Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter and offer a blood sacrifice to cover the sins of the people. However, at the very moment when Jesus died on the cross, Matthew 27:51 says, "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split." (NKJV)
   
   Hebrews chapters 8 and 9 beautifully explain how Jesus Christ became our High Priest and entered heaven (the Holy of Holies), once and for all, not by the blood of sacrificial animals, but by his own precious blood on the cross. Christ himself was the atoning sacrifice for our sins; thus, he obtained for us eternal redemption! As believers we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Yom Kippur, the final atonement for sin.

   
   More Facts About Yom Kippur:
   
   When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., the Jewish people could no longer present the required sacrifices on the Day of Atonement, so it came to be observed as a day of repentance, self-denial, charitable works, prayer and fasting.

   Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath. No work is done on this day.

   Today, Orthodox Jews observe many restrictions and customs on Yom Kippur.
   The book of Jonah is read on Yom Kippur in remembrance of God's forgiveness and mercy.

   
   More about Yom Kippur.
   
   More About Yom Kippur
   Fasting on Yom Kippur
   Repentance on Yom Kippur
   Guide to Yom Kippur Prayer Services
   
   More About Bible Feasts
   Bible Feasts Calendar
   Feast of Trumpets
   Foods of the Bible
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   When is Yom Kippur 2010? - Date of Yom Kippur 2010
   Angel - Angels - Yom Kippur
   Yom Kippur - Judaism
   
   
   Mary Fairchild
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Fall Feast Meetings with Beit Yeshua (Curtis Loftin and Doug Willams)

Curtis Loftin - Beit Yeshua

Shalom Y'all,

Just a reminder that Beit Yeshua has several meetings in the upcoming weeks - three in a row - for the three Fall Festivals.

Friday, September 6th - 7:00 pm - YOM TERUAH / Feast of Trumpets - Chuck & Janice Anthony's home

Friday, September 13th - 7:00 pm - YOM KIPPUR / Day of Atonement - Chuck & Janice Anthony's home (NO FOOD AT YOM KIPPUR)

Friday, September 20th - 7:00 pm - SUKKOT / Feast of Tabernacles - Family Life Center at Covenant Bible Church - Warren Marcus guest speaker

Warren Marcus - One New Man leader

Charlotte, NC

I hope you'll make plans to join us at one - or all three - of the Fall Festivals.  Time 7:00 to 9:30 (with food & fellowship afterwards - except Yom Kippur)

Chuck & Janice Anthony's Home
2121 Gastonia Hwy, Lincolnton, NC  28092

704-732-1743

Covenant Bible Church
2168 Gastonia Hwy, Lincolnton, NC 28092

Bring a kosher snack & come join us.

Shavuah Tov, (Have a Good Week),

Curtis

curtisloftin@gmail.com

Shofarot blowing

Machol dance team

Check this out:

Beit Yeshua Sukkot Celebration - website

"The Feast of Booths"
"The Feast of Tabernacles"
"THE Feast"

Tishri 15 - 21

Sukkot (pronounced “sue-coat”) is a Hebrew word that means “booths” and refers to the temporary dwelling the Jews lived in on their forty year journey from Egypt to the promised land. This feast is the seventh and final feast of the Lord.

Sukkot (which can also be spelled Succoth) was one of the three Pilgrimage Festivals when all males were required to go to Jerusalem to worship the LORD. The Jewish people built booth-like structures and lived in them during the feast as a reminder of the temporary dwellings the Israelites lived in while traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land. Today many Jewish and Messianic Believers build open-roofed three-sided huts for this festival and decorate them with tree branches, fruit, flags, and many other personal items.

Leviticus 23:34, 39

34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. 39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath.


The Feast of Sukkot occurs on the Jewish Calendar from Tishri 15th to the 21st - coinciding with September or October.

Our Discovery of Sukkot

Sukkot was the first Festival of the Lord that Carolyn and I had the opportunity to experience back in the 1980s. We had gone to Resurrection Lutheran Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a Feast of Tabernacle celebration, not really knowing what it was, or what to expect. At the time, I was serving as Minister of Music in Catawba County and we had actually gone for the praise, worship and dance opportunities, but the Lord had other ideas.

Imagine walking into a church and there in the foyer was a wooden structure with leafy tree branches on the top and fruit hanging everywhere. It was wonderful, like nothing I'd ever seen before. I wondered why, if the Festivals of the Lord were mentioned in scripture, the church had failed to incorporate them into our yearly worship cycle.

Thus began our own personal journey to better understand the Hebrew roots of our Christian faith.

Curtis Loftin

400 Rams Horns to Awaken IDF Repentance

400 Rams Horns to Awaken IDF Repentance

The IDF rabbinate has purchased 400 rams horns, used to arouse Jews to repent during the months of Elul and Tishrei.

 

By Maayana Miskin

First Publish: 9/7/2012

A shofar - Israel News photo

 

The IDF Rabbinate is purchasing 400 new shofars for use during the Hebrew months of Elul and Tishrei. The shofar, made of a ram’s horn, is blown to help arouse Jews to repentance before Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Prior to the purchase, the Rabbinate gathered all of its current shofars to see how many were still fit for use, and any damaged horns were replaced.

The army uses shofars that are kosher according to all rabbinic opinions, in order to ensure that soldiers of all backgrounds will be equally able to fulfill their religious obligation to hear the horn sounded.

The need for hundreds of new shofars reflects a growth in the number of IDF soldiers who observe Torah law.

The army is also working to provide soldiers who can lead services during the holidays. Former and current Hesder yeshiva students will be sent to bases and outposts across the country to ensure that there are public prayers and that the shofar is blown.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/159740