Yom Kippur

  

At Timna, in southern Israel, is a reconstruction of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. To the left is a picture of the outside of the tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant, covered by the Mercy Seat, was in the Most Holy Place.

Guest Blogger: Imelda Quibin

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the sixth of the seven Feasts of the Lord. According to the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur falls seven days after Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year).

Old Testament References

Leviticus 16 is about the Scapegoat. “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities” (Leviticus 16:21-22).

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God” (Leviticus 23:26-32).

Many verses, especially in Leviticus and Numbers, taught the children of Israel how to strictly observe the Day of Atonement. It was a day of contrition, repentance, a day for sins to be atoned by God.

(Sylvia's Note: "Yom" is Hebrew for "day." The root word of "Kippur" means "to cover or hide." It also means "to obliterate." A similar Hebrew word is "Kapporet," which means "Mercy Seat.")

Current Jewish Practices on Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is a solemn day of fasting. When my employer hears the word "Latsum" (the Hebrew word for “fasting”), she automatically responds, “I’m exempt!” Old people, young children, and servants are exempt from fasting.

Public and private vehicles are not seen on the streets, aside from police and medical emergency vehicles.

Nowadays, each religious sect of Jews observes the Day of Atonement differently. My employer is a 96-year-old non-observant Jew from Europe. She is Ashkenazi by origin. She cannot move from her house to the synagogue so an older family member comes to her home. He brings very old coins, maybe from their ancestors. He puts the coins in a plastic bag and waves them over the head of my employer as he recites some prayers.

I asked my employer’s granddaughter, “Why coins?” She explained to me that they do this to ask God’s forgiveness. She said that God’s forgiveness cannot be bought for any amount of money. That is very true; we can't bribe the LORD JESUS.

Some ultra-orthodox Jews like Haridim perform the "kapparot" ritual, synonymous to that of the scapegoat. They wave a live chicken over the heads of their loved ones to transfer the individual's sins to the animal. The chicken is then slaughtered and donated to the poor, or the family shares it. (Some people, like my employer, use coins instead of a chicken.)

Jesus Christ as the Atonement
“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28). What a great promise LORD JESUS! We do not have to receive atonement for our sins every year but we are washed completely by your precious BLOOD. We just have to repent of our sins, and continue in our walk with Him until His second appearing, as the above verse implies. There are many other verses in the Scripture about the Atonement; even the prophet Isaiah prophesied about this.