Yom Kippur

Customs & Symbols

Customs

• Fasting from before sunset until nightfall the following day
  
• Attending synagogue services
  
• Confessing sins in communal prayers
  
• Seeking forgiveness from people who have been wronged
  
• Reciting Kol Nidre on the evening Yom Kippur begins
  
• Remembering the ancient Temple service
  
• Spending much of the day in prayer
  
• Wearing white in many communities
  
• Avoiding ordinary work
  
• Ending the observance with a shofar blast

Symbols

• White garments
  
• Prayer book
  
• Shofar
  
• The High Priest
  
• The Holy of Holies
  
• Two goats
  
• The scapegoat
  
• The Temple veil or curtain