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Yom Kippur

Control the Calendar, Control Judaism

Calendrical disputes, which recurred frequently in ancient and medieval Jewish communities, created alternative dates for festivals such as Yom Kippur and Passover. Here, we look at four disputes and the different ways that communities navigated them. 

Dr.

Sarit Kattan Gribetz

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Unetaneh Tokef: A Commentary

The history, structure, poetic style, and intertextual biblical and rabbinic sources that inspired the best-known liturgical piyyut recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Prof. Rabbi

Reuven Kimelman

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Abraham’s Prayer—and Ours: A Yom Kippur Illustration

In a Yom Kippur afternoon (minhah) liturgical poem (piyyut) about Abraham, the artist of the 13th century Leipzig Mahzor chooses a scene of Abraham standing up to Nimrod and God saving him from death by fire.

Prof.

David Stern

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Crimson to White: Yom Kippur’s Miraculous Thread

In the Second Temple period, a crimson thread was placed on the horn of the Yom Kippur scapegoat and tied to a stone in the desert before the goat was pushed off the cliff. After the verse “If your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18) was used as a prooftext for this non-biblical practice, the Talmud envisaged a magical ritual in which a second crimson thread would turn white on Yom Kippur to signal God’s acceptance of the people’s repentance.

Dr. Rabbi

Joshua Kulp

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At 33, You Will Discover Azazel’s Secret

On Yom Kippur, one goat is sacrificed to YHWH and another is sent to Azazel in the wilderness. Who is Azazel? The 12th-century commentator Abraham ibn Ezra hints that the answer lies in reaching 33.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Does an Intentional Sinner Attain Atonement?

Leviticus 16 describes how the scapegoat ritual on Yom Kippur attains atonement for all of Israel’s sins, even acts of rebellion. Numbers 15, however, states that a person who sins unintentionally can bring an offering and be forgiven, but the person who sins intentionally is cut off from the people.

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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Shoeless on Yom Kippur

The book of Jubilees claims that the brothers sold Joseph on Yom Kippur. Amos accuses the wealthy of selling the righteous for shoes. Reading this as a reference to the sale of Joseph, Eleh Ezkarah tells how Caesar fills his palace with shoes, and executes ten sages as a punishment for this crime. Is this connected to the prohibition to wear shoes on Yom Kippur?

Prof.

Jason Radine

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Is Atonement Possible Without Blood? A Jewish-Christian Divide

Blood has a significant role in many biblical stories and rituals, most prominently in the atonement sacrifices of Leviticus. With the destruction of the Temple and the loss of sacrifices, Judaism and Christianity took very different paths to achieving atonement.

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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Prof.

Amy-Jill Levine

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Yom Kippur: Afflicted but Angelic

Self-affliction and fasting heightens awareness of our bodies; at the same time, it helps us to transcend our immanent selves. This tension was embraced by the 6th century poet Yannai in his qerova, who beseaches God to forgive Israel both out of pity for their wretchedness and on account of their resemblance to angels.

Prof. Rabbi

Laura Lieber

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Scapegoat: The Origins of the Crimson Thread

During the Second Temple period, the scapegoat was tied with a crimson thread. While the Torah requires a crimson thread as part of the purification ritual for tzaraʿat (skin disease), it does not mention it by the scapegoat. Nevertheless, parallel practices found in 2nd millennium B.C.E. Hittite texts of Luwian origin imply that the use of a crimson thread is not a late innovation but an ancient part of the rite.

Dr.

Noga Ayali-Darshan

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Yom Kippur’s Seder Avodah Begins with God’s Creation of the World

Arguably, the highlight of the prayer service on Yom Kippur is the Seder Avodah, a type of piyyut (liturgical hymn) that poetically reenacts in every detail the ritual service performed by the high priest on Yom Kippur in the Jerusalem Temple. But why do these poems begin with the creation story?

Prof. Rabbi

Dalia Marx

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Why Do We Read the Incest Prohibitions on Yom Kippur?

The Torah reading on the afternoon of Yom Kippur consists of the list of forbidden sexual relations (Leviticus 18).  How do these laws connect to Yom Kippur? 

Prof. Rabbi

Marty Lockshin

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How Much Forgiveness Can We Expect From God?

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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Recasting the Temple Purification Ritual as the Yom Kippur Service

Leviticus 16 – ויקרא טז

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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The Golden Calf: Comparing the Two Versions

Exodus versus Deuteronomy

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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Does Ezekiel in 572 B.C.E. Know of Yom Kippur?

Staff Editors

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Afflicting the Soul: A Day When Even Children Must Fast

The Israelite-Samaritan interpretation of “you should afflict your souls” (ועניתם את נפשתיכם) and our experience of Yom Kippur.

Benyamim Tsedaka

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Yom Kippur: A Celebration of Liberty on the Jubilee Year

Staff Editors

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The Absence of Yom Kippur in Nevi’im and Ketuvim

Staff Editors

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Meeting the Challenge of Critical Scholarship with Leviticus

Dr. Rabbi

Irving (Yitz) Greenberg

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