- High Holidays
"This article refers to the Jewish holidays. For other uses, see here."
, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( _he. ימים נוראים "Days of Awe"), may mean:
#strictly, the holidays ofRosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") andYom Kippur ("Day of Atonement");
#by extension, the period of ten days including those holidays, known also as theTen Days of Repentance ("Aseret Yemei Teshuvah"); or
#by a further extension, the entire 40-day penitential period in the Jewish year fromRosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur, traditionally taken to represent the forty daysMoses spent onMount Sinai before coming down with the second ("replacement") set of theTablets of stone .Many prefer the term High Holy Days because it emphasizes the personal, reflective, introspective aspects of this period, while Holidays suggests a time of communal celebrations of events in the history of the Jewish people -
Purim andPassover as examples.The days preceding Rosh Hashanah (Jewish new year)
The Hebrew month preceding Rosh Hashanah,
Elul , is designated as a month of introspection and repentance. In preparation for theJew ish New Year, special prayers are recited. Psalm 27 is added at the end of morning and evening prayers, and theshofar (ram's horn) is blown at the end of morning services on weekdays (except for the eve of Rosh Hashanah itself). AmongSephardi Jews ,Selichot are recited at dawn on weekdays throughout the month. Also, many complete the entireBook of Psalms twice during the month. It is customary to increase the giving of charity and to ask forgiveness from friends.At midnight on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah,
Ashkenazi Jews begin reciting "selichot". On the following days, however, they generally recite the "selichot" before the regular morning prayers. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, extra prayers are recited and many fast until noon.Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה "rōsh hashānāh", beginning of the year) is the Jewish New Year, and falls on the first and second days of the Jewish month of Tishri (September/October). The
Mishnah , the core work of the JewishOral Torah , sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and sabbatical and jubilee years.Rabbinic literature describes this day as a day of judgment. God is sometimes referred to as the "Ancient of Days." Some descriptions depict God as sitting upon a throne, while books containing the deeds of all humanity are opened before Him.Prayer services are longer than on a regular
Shabbat or otherJewish holiday s, and include (on weekdays) the blowing of the shofar. On the afternoon of the first (or the second, if the first was Saturday) day, a ritual calledtashlich is performed, in which sins are "cast" into open water, such as a river, sea, or lake.The Ten Days of Repentance
The "ten days of repentance" include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the days in between, during which time Jews should meditate on the subject of the holidays and ask for forgiveness from anyone they have wronged.cite web |url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Rosh_Hashana/TO_HighHolidays.htm |title=My Jewish Learning: The High Holiday Period |accessdate=2008-09-21] They include the
Fast of Gedalia h, on the third day ofTishri , and Shabbat Shuvah, which is the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Shabbat Shuvah has a specialHaftarah , and traditionally the rabbi gives a long sermon on that day.It is held that, while judgment on each person is pronounced on Rosh Hashanah, it is not made absolute until Yom Kippur. The Ten Days are therefore an opportunity to mend one's ways in order to alter the judgment in one's favor.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (יום כפור "yom kippūr", "Day of Atonement") is the Jewish festival of the Day of Atonement. The
Hebrew Bible calls the day "Yom Hakippurim" (Hebrew, "Day of the Atonement/s").In the
Hebrew calendar , the ninth day of Tishri is known as "Erev Yom Kippur" (Yom Kippur eve). Yom Kippur itself begins around sunset on that day and continues into the next day until nightfall, and therefore lasts about 25 hours.cite web |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/holiday4.html |title=Jewish Virtual Library - Yom Kippur |accessdate=2008-09-21]Jews fast throughout Yom Kippur and attend synagogue for most of the day. There are five prayer services, one in the evening (sometimes known as "
Kol Nidre " from one of the main prayers) and four consecutively on the day.Modern observances
High Holiday seats
Generally, throughout most of the year, Jewish worship services are open to all, regardless of affiliation, and membership or payment of any fee is not requirement in order to attend. However, the high holidays are usually peak attendance days for synagogues and temples, often times filling or over-filling synagogues. Many American synagogues charge a fee for seats on the high holidays. [cite news |url=http://joi.org/bloglinks/JTA_org%20--%20Shuls%20consider%20free%20High%20Holiday%20tix.htm |publisher=JTA |title=Praying without Paying' is becoming a more popular option among shuls |first=Sue |last=fishkoff |date=2007-08-20] Since synagogues do not usually pass a
collection plate as Jews are forbidden to touch money on thesabbath , these seat reservations are often an important revenue stream. [cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/09/21/jewish_high_holidays_come_at_a_high_cost/ |title=Jewish high holidays come at a high cost |date=2008-09-21 |accessdate=2008-09-21 |last=Dunn |first=Gabrielle |publisher=The Boston Globe]Hoshana Rabbah
There is a Kabbalistic belief that, though judgment is made absolute on Yom Kippur, it is not registered until the seventh day of
Sukkot , known asHoshana Rabbah . The service for this day therefore contains some reminiscences of those for the High Holy Days, and it is treated as a last opportunity to repent of sins that may have been missed on Yom Kippur.ee also
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Jewish holiday sReferences
External links
* [http://www.jewishnewyear.org High holidays Guide]
* [http://www.encyclopaediajudaica.com/sample-articles/article_view.php?sid=festivals Festivals - Encyclopaedia Judaica]
* [http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/faqs/festivals/what-is-yom-kippur.html Brief information on Yom Kippur from the UK Movement for Reform Judaism]Jewish and Israeli holidays
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