Jewish community celebrates Yom Kippur

Deepa Bharath

It’s a solemn day, but not a somber one for Jews all over the world.

For Yom Kippur, literally translated, means “the day of

atonement,” said Rabbi Mark Miller of Temple Bat Yahm in Newport

Beach.

“We call this day the Sabbath of the Sabbaths,” he said. “It’s the

holiest time of the year when we stand before God who judges us and

seek his forgiveness through repentance. And we emerge with a feeling

of purity, renewal and hope for a new year.”

Yom Kippur began at sundown on Friday and will conclude tonight,

marking the end of the Jewish High Holy Days. Jews also keep a

25-hour fast on Yom Kippur, Miller said.

They go without food or water for a whole day. They do have a

celebratory feast before they begin a fast and after they break it,

Miller said.

“The significance of the feast is that it’s not all serious,” he

said. “There is a festive aspect to this holiday too. And it’s

important to achieve that balance.”

It’s also on this day that a prayer called Kol Nidrei is said,

when Jews ask forgiveness for promises they couldn’t or didn’t keep,

Miller said.

The prayer originated in 15th century Spain, during the Spanish

Inquisition, when Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism. Many

Jews converted to stay alive but secretly kept their faith. Once a

year, they would gather in secret, declaring the Kol Nidrei, vowing

their commitment to Judaism despite their lives as Catholics.

Yom Kippur is also a day to apologize to people you may have hurt

or offended, said Aviva Goelman, director of the Costa Mesa Senior

Center. Goelman, who grew up in Israel, said she prays not only for

her home country, but for people all over the world who are going

through some kind of struggle.

For her personally, Yom Kippur is a day “to start afresh,” Goelman

said.

“The fasting is good because you tend to focus less on the food

and more about your life,” she said.

She also lights a memorial candle in her home for the deceased in

her family, Goelman said.

“This has been a particularly tough year for me because I lost my

mother,” she said.

Memorial candles are also lighted in the temple, Miller said.

“We have a food drive in our temple too,” he said. “Because the

fasting time is also the time to think about the less fortunate

people for whom fasting is not an option.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at

deepa.bharath@latimes.com.