I got this off of Wikipedia:<\/p>\n
Yom Kippur<\/strong>, also known as the\u00a0Day of Atonement<\/strong>, is one of the holiest days of the year for Jews. Its central themes are\u00a0atonement<\/a> and\u00a0repentance<\/a>. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of\u00a0fasting<\/a> and intensive\u00a0prayer<\/a>, often spending most of the day in\u00a0synagogue<\/a> services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in\u00a0Judaism<\/a> as the\u00a0High Holy Days<\/a> (or sometimes “the Days of Awe”)… According to Jewish tradition,\u00a0God<\/a> inscribes each person’s fate for the coming year into a book, the\u00a0Book of Life<\/a>, on\u00a0Rosh Hashanah<\/a>, and waits until Yom Kippur to “seal” the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God\u00a0and against other human beings. The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt. At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers one’s self absolved by God. … As one of the most culturally significant Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur is observed by many\u00a0secular Jews<\/a> who may not observe other holidays \u2014for many secular Jews the High Holidays are the only recurring times of the year in which they attend synagogue,[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u2014causing synagogue attendance to soar, and almost two-thirds fast.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I have a friend who was raised watching DVDs on Yom Kippur. Nutty. I was raised going to the synagogue the eve and day of Yom Kippur and fasting along with all the other people who get really bad breath from not even drinking water for 24 hours. But of all the Jewish Holidays, it’s amazing this is the one I still hold the most dear. Not Hanukkah, or Rosh Hashana, or Sukot, but Yom Kippur – the day god opens the book of life and decides who shall live or die, who shall bear children or not, etc.<\/p>\n
Like other Jewish customs, I’ve made this one my own. I fast, but only till the afternoon; a friend said it sounds like a Pete Fountain chant, your half-fast fast day, but it’s a day I keep to myself, meditate, and think about the year past and the year ahead and try to set myself on course.<\/p>\n