Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement,
is the holy of holies of Jewish time.
It is that rarest of phenomena,
a Jewish festival without food.
Instead it is a day of fasting and prayer,
introspection and self-judgment when,
collectively and repeatedly,
we confess our sins and pray
to be written into God’s Book of Life.
Jonathan Sacks
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Between Rosh Hashanah (9/11 this year) and Yom Kippur, Jews try to amend their behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God and against others.
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Every Yom Kippur,
Jewish tradition requires a strict spiritual inventory.
You aren’t supposed to just sit around feeling guilty,
but to take action in the real world to set things right.
Naomi Wolf
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A Prayer for Yom Kippur
To those I may have wronged
I ask forgiveness.
To those I may have helped,
I wish I could have done more.
To those I neglected to help
I ask for understanding.
To those who helped me
I thank you with all my Heart
G’mar Hatimah Tovah
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At the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God.
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What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven!
What joys when sins are covered over!
What relief for those who have confessed their sins
and God has cleared their record.
Psalm 32:1-2 Living Bible
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Jesus changed all that. A sacrifice that fulfilled the requirements of the law, so no condemnation, none. Ever again.
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Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life
has set you free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,
God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.
And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us,
who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4 NIV
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