Tzom Gedaliah

Tzom Gedaliah occurs on the 3rd day of the Jewish month of Tishrei in September or October. A minor fast day, some communities fast from sunrise to sundown as well as add special prayers and readings to daily services. If the 3rd of Tishrei falls on Shabbat, the fast is postponed until the 4th of Tishrei.

Tzom Gedaliah 2022 occurs on Wednesday, September 28.

According to traditional sources, The Fast of Gedaliah was added to the Jewish yearly cycle following the murder of Gedaliah ben Achikam, a Jewish governor appointed to govern the Jewish people who remained in the land following the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the first Jewish Temple. Sources in the Talmud cite the establishment of this fast to teach that "the death of the righteous is equivalent to the burning of the [Jewish] Temple" (Talmud Bavli, Seder Moed, Rosh Hashanah 18b). On Tzom Gedaliah, the selichot prayers (added in the month and weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah) are recited

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Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur falls on the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tishrei (nine days after the first day of Rosh Hashanah), in September or October. Yom Kippur 2022 begins at sundown on Tuesday, October 4 and ends Wednesday evening, October 5.

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, when individuals and whole communities atone for their sins over the past year and ask that they be inscribed in the "Book of Life," which is closed and sealed for the upcoming year at the end of Yom Kippur. Part of that process for many begins before Yom Kippur when individuals ask for forgiveness in their interpersonal relationships. Yom Kippur is then a day to mend one’s relationship with the Divine by atoning for their past transgressions.

Traditionally there are five prohibitions on Yom Kippur. These prohibitions customarily apply to those over bar or bat mitzvah age (12 or 13 years old) and the prohibitions last for 25 hours, as Yom Kippur is a major fast lasting from sunset to the following nightfall. On Yom Kippur, individuals abstain from eating and drinking, washing, anointing, physical intimacy, and wearing leather. There is a tradition to wear white on Yom Kippur, symbolizing purity and emulating the garb of the Kohan Gadol (High Priest of the Jewish Temple) who only entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple on Yom Kippur. Some also refrain from wearing gold jewelry as it is a reminder of the sin of the Golden Calf. If one has medical concerns about fasting, please speak to a doctor and Rabbi.

Yom Kippur is often referred to as “Shabbat Shabbaton”, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, as Shabbat is said to be the holiest day of the week and Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. This day also is the only fast on the Jewish calendar permitted to coincide with Shabbat; all other fasts are pushed to the next day when they fall on Shabbat. Before Yom Kippur begins, people may partake in the separation meal, Seudah hamfseket, separating the weekday from the most holy day of the year. This is a festive meal with challah dipped in honey like on Rosh Hashanah. It is said that if one partakes in this meal, it is as if they fasted an entire day. Additionally before the day begins, some partake in a kaparot  ritual (from the same root as "Kippur," meaning atonement), taking an object of value and revolving it around their head, symbolically transferring one’s spiritual blemishes in Tzedakah, into something that will feed the poor and support others.

Yom Kippur’s services differ from a regular service. On Yom Kippur, there is a designated holiday prayer book, machzor, just for the services of the day. Yom Kippur services begin in the evening with Kol Nidre, the annulment of unintentional and unfulfilled vows. Yom Kippur Day, a special yizkor service takes place; this service is a remembrance of the deceased, particularly a parent, which occurs on the three festival holidays and Yom Kippur. In each service of Yom Kippur, viddui (confessional) is recited. Yom Kippur ends with Neilah, the closing service which is where both the day ends, and the Book of Life is sealed. There are special Torah readings for Yom Kippur; the Book of Jonah is read as the afternoon Haftorah as a reminder that atonement can be done by anyone.

Traditional greetings include "Tzom kal" ("Have an easy fast", though some argue that an easy fast may not be as meaningful) and "G’mar chatima tovah" ("May you be sealed [in the Book of Life] for a good year ").

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