You might be surprised to learn what happens in synagogues on Yom Kippur. As the sun starts to go down in the late afternoon just as we enter the Day of Atonement, the shift in gear is palpable. Israel changes. Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and a very special time to experience in Israel. Gradually the traffic slows down, thins out, and then completely disappears. By early evening, the roads become empty and quiet, apart from kids riding their bikes down the middle of normally busy highways. Most 
people fast for the 24 (well, 25 actually) hours of Yom Kippur from sunset to sunset, and the atmosphere is subdued, quietened. People venture out of their houses, dressed in white. Some are taking a stroll in the peaceful atmosphere that has descended.
Many are on their way to synagogue.
What happens in synagogues on Yom Kippur?
On the evening of Yom Kippur (that is, before the day of Yom Kippur, because in Judaism the day starts at sunset, not midnight) synagogues are unusually pretty packed. Not dissimilar to Christmas Eve in many Western nations, people who normally wouldn’t darken the door decide now is the time to go and commune with God, or perhaps just join in the traditions of their culture. Either way, the benches of synagogues will be full. People are fasting, and come hungry, ready to spend time in reflection, contemplation, and repentance.
The prayers of Yom Kippur begin with “Kol Nidre” which means “all vows”. Set to a beautiful melody, the prayer asks God for release from vows made over the last year, declaring them all cancelled, null, and void. Why is this the beginning of Yom Kippur services? It goes back to the time of the Spanish Inquisition when Jewish people were forced to convert to Christianity by the Catholic Church, and many took vows they regretted taking. As David Stern, a Messianic Jew of blessed memory explains, “At Yom Kippur Jews who had had to undergo this kind of forcing were able to become free of what they had “voluntarily” vowed to do… The Inquisition prohibited Jews were from meeting on Yom Kippur; they risked their lives to do so.”
Yom Kippur is essentially a time to wipe the slate clean from all our regrets, sins, and errors.
Throughout the evening and the following day, people will be in synagogues for seven services (two in the evening before, and five during the day itself) with the “machzor” prayer book. The machzor is filled with prayers and blessings, Bible passages and exhortations, and they will be led through them together. In addition to the morning, noon, and evening prayers (like Daniel prayed three times a day in lieu of the morning, noon, and evening sacrifices in Jerusalem) there are extra prayers for Yom Kippur. Right after Kol Nidre, there’s the evening prayer (maariv). Then in the morning of Yom Kippur there’s the “shacharit” morning prayer, followed by memorial prayers for the deceased (Yizkor). Then there’s the “Musaf” which means additional, with readings relating Yom Kippur, followed by the “minchah” prayer of the afternoon, and it all ends with the “Neilah”, in which the deal is sealed and the shofar is sounded to end the day.
Although the divine name of God is not usually spoken among Jewish people out of reverence, on Yom Kippur, which is on the tenth day of the month of Tishri, the priest (cohen) says the name of God ten times. Yom Kippur comes ten days after the Feast of Trumpets which is on the first day of the month, and ten symbolizes the divine order and law of God, as in the Ten Commandments which we repeatedly break. We all need forgiveness, don’t we?
There are many Bible passages peppered through the synagogue services, including Leviticus 16 where God gives the full instructions for Yom Kippur, and how to do all the rituals with the sacrifices and the scapegoat. There are also many reminders of God’s merciful nature and His promise to forgive, such as,
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
“Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah 44:22)
Prayers for forgiveness
Here are a few excerpts from the prayer book for you to get an idea of what is being said—or rather sung—in the synagogues:
May the Father of mercy have compassion on the people borne by Him,
and may He remember the covenant with the patriarchs;
may He rescue our souls from evil times;
and may He rebuke the Evil Impulse from those who have been carried by Him;
and may He graciously grant us eternal survival;
and fulfill our requests in beneficent measure, [for] deliverance and compassion.
It’s good to remember that Israel was a people “bourne” of God. God essentially created Israel by choosing Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then leading the twelve tribes out of Israel to be His people (Isaiah 44:21 says God “formed” Israel). At Sinai the covenant with Israel set them apart as chosen: chosen to bear God’s name and be an example to the world of what happens when we are faithful to God… and also what happens when we’re not. Israel was chosen to bring the Scriptures to humanity and also the Messiah, the Savior of the whole world.
God’s kindness in creating that day with its sacrifices to pardon, forgive, and atone for the sins of Israel is recognized and thanked:
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King Who forgives and pardons our iniquities, and the iniquities of His people, the House of Israel; and Who removes our trespasses each year; King over the whole earth, Who sanctifies Israel and Yom Kippur.
God had His own dealings with His people, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement was His idea. He took the initiative to create a system by which the whole people of Israel could have their sins wiped away for the year. Now that Yeshua has come, we see that Yom Kippur is a picture of that Messianic reality, as is described in great detail in the book of Hebrews chapter 9. Without blood there is no forgiveness of sins, and today none of the activities in Yom Kippur involve any blood. There is now a new and better way. Still, God is faithful to His word, He does remember His covenant with the patriarchs.
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Hebrews 11:29)
Confessing our sin
“But indeed”, everyone admits as they read the prayer book, “We and our fathers have sinned.” Following these words comes the most extraordinarily comprehensive list of possible sins you can ever imagine. It goes on and on… and on! Much of it is sung, and it’s all in first person plural: “WE” have done these things. God gave Yom Kippur to Israel as a whole people group, not individuals, and the confession is done collectively.
Here are a few more excerpts to give you a flavor of the day:
We have rebelled against God and His Torah;
We have caused God to be angry with us;
We have turned away from God’s Torah;
We have sinned deliberately;
We have been negligent in our performance of the commandments;
We have caused our friends grief;
We have been stiff-necked, refusing to admit that our suffering is caused by our own sins.
….
For the sin we committed before You intentionally and unintentionally.
And for the sin we committed before You by insufficient respect for parents and teachers.
For the sin we committed before You by using coercion [to harm others].
And for the sin we committed before You by desecrating the Divine Name.
For the sin we committed before You with foolish talk.
And for the sin we committed before You with impurity of the lips.
For the sin we committed before You with the Evil Inclination.
And for the sin we committed before You knowingly and unknowingly.
And for all of these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, grant us atonement.
One of the sections goes through the entire alphabet, listing a sin for each letter.
א — Ashamnu, we have become guilty,
ב — Bagadnu, we have betrayed,
ג — Gazalnu, we have robbed,
ד — Dibarnu dofi, we have spoken slander,
ה — He‘evinu, we have caused perversion,
ו — Vehirsha‘nu, we have caused wickedness,
ז — Zadnu, we have sinned willfully,
ח — Hamasnu, we have extorted,
ט — Tafalnu sheker, we have accused falsely,
י — Ya‘atznu ra‘, we have given evil advice,
כ — Kizavnu, we have been deceitful,
ל — Latznu, we have scorned,
מ — Maradnu, we have rebelled,
נ — niatznu, we have provoked,
ס — Saradnu, we have turned away,
ע — ‘Avinu, we have been perverse
פ — Pasha‘nu, we have acted wantonly,
צ — Tzaradnu, we have persecuted,
ק — Kishinu ‘oref, we have been stiffnecked,
ר — Rasha‘nu, we have been wicked,
ש — Shichatnu, we have corrupted,
ת — Tiavnu, ta‘inu, ti‘ta‘nu, we have been abominable, we have strayed, you have let us go astray.
The Torah gives many instructions about the standards of behavior God asks from His people, with the Ten Commandments being pretty central. There is the expectation encoded into the Bible that we will sin without realizing it, but such unintentional sin is still sin in the eyes of God. During Yom Kippur, every possible avenue for sin is covered, sins of commission and omission, deliberate and accidental—it all gets confessed before God, knowing that He will provide atonement for it all.
Atonement in Yom Kippur: Revelation in the synagogue
Atonement essentially means “covering”. The Hebrew word is “kapara”, which is from the same root as “kippur” and also “kippa”, the yarmulke head covering worn by Jewish men as a symbol of covering their sin before God. Even those who don’t usually wear a kippa will put one on in synagogue on Yom Kippur. The top of the ark of the covenant with the angels wings covering it is called the “kaporet”: the cover, or mercy seat. This mercy seat plays a key part in the original Yom Kippur commandments. Much blood is sprinkled on it to purify first of all the priest and his household, but then the whole house of Israel. Yom Kippur provided cover for Israel’s sin, but it points to a greater atonement to come, that of Yeshua the Messiah. The sacrifices performed by the priests are no longer needed as atonement for sin, and indeed, there are no more sacrifices, and there’s no temple. Jesus not only covers our sin but He has paid for it in full and removed it as far as the East is from the West.
There are many hints and pointers towards the Messiah and how He would ultimately take away sin once and for all both in the biblical instructions and even in some of the traditions that have developed among the Jewish people. In fact, it has happened many times that Jewish people connect the dots during Yom Kippur, some even while sitting in the synagogue.
There are now about a million Jewish people1 who believe in Jesus today, but the majority of the world’s 14 million Jews do not know or follow Him. But it happens quite often on Yom Kippur that Jewish people sit there in the synagogue and start thinking about sin, about sacrifice… and then the revelation comes.
Please pray for Jewish people as they sit in synagogues this Yom Kippur, that God would bring revelation. Pray that the Holy Spirit would hover in synagogues throughout the world and bring to new life many who have come in sincere repentance, their eyes fixed heavenwards, looking for atonement and redemption. Pray that they would hear God’s voice and find total forgiveness in the Holy One of Israel: the perfect sacrifice Himself, Yeshua the Messiah.
“There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you” (Exodus 25:22a).
- All Israel News, This Yom Kippur, 1 million Jews believe atonement comes only from Messiah Jesus and only He can write their names in the Book of Life, Joel Rosenberg, September 24, 2023
