This Friday, sundown marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews. Aside from the occasional reference on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or on fliers attached to campus bulletin boards, the holiday will have a larger presence for some Jewish students on campus this year.
Yom Kippur, which translates from Hebrew to Day of Atonement, falls a week-and-a-half after Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Together they make up what is known as the High Holy Days. Yom Kippur is characterized by a 24-hour fast, which begins at sundown on the first night and continues until sundown the next day. Fasting is traditionally accompanied by hours of intensive prayer, asking God for forgiveness for all sins committed over the past year.
A major decision Jewish American University students face is whether they will fast for the holiday, especially since there aren't any parents around to enforce the fast.
"I'm fasting because it's one of those things that you're raised with," said Joley Welkowitz, a sophomore in the School of Communication. "You just do it."
Many new students are finding the idea of fasting harder due to distractions that take away from the seriousness of the holiday. As a result, some students are going home for Yom Kippur to be with their families.
"Fasting will be a lot different because I'll have the influence around me all day of people who aren't Jewish and who treat Yom Kippur like a normal day," said Adam Sheffler, a freshmen in the School of Public Affairs.
Yom Kippur is accompanied with a strict set of other prohibited activities, including: bathing, wearing leather shoes, having sex or anointing, which means no lotions, makeup, etc. However, some Jews take it a few steps further by not watching television, using the telephone or driving during the holiday. In Israel, Yom Kippur is sometimes called the "Festival of Bicycles," since no one drives and people ride their bikes in the streets instead.
The intention of these restrictions is to keep the mind focused on asking God for forgiveness instead of getting distracted by the trivialities of everyday life.
Yom Kippur ends with the blowing of the shofar, a musical instrument made from the horn of a kosher animal, most commonly a ram. In modern times, the shofar is usually only blown during the High Holy Days, but in the Bible (and "The Lord of the Rings"), it was used as a horn of war and a summoning device. The piercing sound is meant to act as inspiration to do good deeds and wake up morally.
