YOM KIPPUR: The Day of Atonement

The Bible does not make any definitive connection between Yom Kippur and any historic event, but one tradition holds that it was on the tenth of Tishri that Moses came down from Mount Sinai to find Aaron and the Israelites dancing and reveling and worshipping the golden calf. (Exodus 32) Moses was so enraged that he threw down the tablets of the Ten Commandments and broke them. He ground the idol to powder, sprinkled it on the water, and made the people drink it. He called for them to repent of their wickedness and went back to God to beg forgiveness for their sins. We find the first inkling of the Book of Life (See Rosh Hashana) when Moses asks to be stricken from "the Book you have written" (Exodus 32:32) if God would not make an atonement for his people. Whether or not this story really has anything to do with the origin of Yom Kippur, it illustrates the spirit of the holy day, which emphasizes confession of sin and restoration of a relationship with God. The willingness of Moses to be "stricken from the book" on the people's behalf is a powerful illustration of the mediating role of Messiah.

Modern Observance

Yom Kippur is considered the holiest of the Jewish holy days. If Jew makes it to synagogue only once a year, this is the most important time. This is considered to be the time when the final verdict is made for each human life for the coming year.

Modern observance includes fasting for 24 hours (from sundown to sundown), abstinence from labor and denial of all physical appetites, in honor of the seriousness of this holy day. The meal taken before this fast should go easy on salt, because salt makes one thirsty. Eating, drinking, bathing, anointing, wearing leather shoes and having sexual relations are all forbidden on this day. There is absolutely no work permitted.

In the synagogue, the Yom Kippur service begins in the evening with special prayers called Kol Nidre, meaning "all my vows." This prayers asks for the annulment of all vows which the people were unable to keep, as a recognition of human frailty. The Kol Nidre is chanted by the cantor in a somber and deeply moving melody.

In some communities, the rabbi, cantor and others may wear a kitel, or special white garment, reminiscent of the garment the priest would have worn in Temple times. (see below). A white satin parokhet (curtain which adorns the ark in the synagogue, mimicking the curtain which separated the sanctuary from the Holy of Holies in the Temple), is often hung in place of the heavy velvet one used at other times.

The congregation recites prayers of confession as a group, rather than individually, because all Israel is responsible together. For this reason congregants "confess" sins they may not personally have committed. Everyone confesses everything. Yom Kippur is all about repentance and confession. It is the final settling of accounts with God for the whole year.

In the afternoon service, the book of Jonah is read in its entirety. Jonah is a story of repentance and forgiveness.

The final service of Yom Kippur is the Neilah. One final plea is made to God to forgive the sins of his people, and grant life for the coming year. The service closes with one final blast on the Shofar, so the High Holy Days end just they began.

Kapparot

While many modern Jews consider the practice barbaric, some Jewish communities in eastern Europe and abroad observe the ritual of kapparot. A chicken is slain by a rabbi, then the owner of the chicken takes it by the legs and swings it around over his head, while reciting a prayer to God that all his sins during the year be transferred to the chicken. (in some communities the chicken has been replaced with money earmarked for charity) This practice presumably arose as a substitute for the azazel, the "scapegoat" described the Torah, which also symbolically received the sins of the people and carried them out of the camp. In these customs we see another of they many pictures we find throughout the Tanakh, symbolic of the atoning Messiah who was to come, about whom the prophet said "the LORD visited on him the guilt of us all" (Isaiah 53:6, JPS).

Yom Kippur in Temple Times

When the temple was still standing, the Kohen Gadol, or high priest, would leave home seven days before Yom Kippur to live in the temple chamber. There he would practice the Yom Kippur ritual, in order to be sure he had it down perfectly. It was complex: first he had to remove his ordinary priestly robes and take a ritual bath in a place set aside for that purpose. Then he would put on special white clothes. After offering the ordinary morning sacrifice, he would offer a young bullock to atone for his own sins, (since he can't intercede for the people until his own sins are dealt with); then, using coals from the altar, he would carry incense into the Dvir (Holy of Holies.) Then he would return to the altar for blood from the sacrifice, which he would sprinkle on the mercy seat (i.e., the lid of the ark of the covenant) and seven times on the ground in front the ark. After this he would sacrifice a goat for the sins of the people, and sprinkled its blood on the ark and in front of it, as he had done with the blood of the bullock. This made atonement for the Holy of Holies. Next was to atone for the tabernacle, which he did by sprinkling the blood of both animals on the horns of the altar once, and seven times on the ground around it. Finally, he would expiate the altar of burnt offering by putting the blood on the horns and sprinkling it seven times on the ground. In this way the tabernacle -- and, in later times, the temple -- was atoned for.

The Azazel

After this, the high priest would go out into the court of the tabernacle (or temple) and lay his hands over the head of the scapegoat, confessing over it the sins of the people. Then the goat would be taken outside the camp (or in later times, the city) and be let go. This symbolized the removal of the sins from the people. According to the Talmud, a scarlet cord was tied around the neck of the scapegoat. This cord was reported to have turned white as the goat was led away from city. Following this, the priest would go back into the tabernacle to change out of the special white clothes to put on his usual priestly attire. The offerings were then completed by burning the fat on the altar, and the remains were burned outside the camp. The feast offering was next in line, and included a goat, a bullock, a ram, several lambs and corresponding meat and drink offerings, followed by the ordinary evening sacrifice.

A Break in the Pattern

How is atonement to be achieved now that the Temple is destroyed? Before the First Hurban, prophets were sent to warn the people of the coming destruction, to call them to repentance, and to promise that a remnant would survive to inherit the promises of the Brit. What prophet came before the Second Hurban? There was one called Yohanan ha-Matbil (John the Baptist), who testified of one called Yeshua. He called Yeshua "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." (John 1:29) thereby identifying him as the ultimate Atonement. Yeshua himself predicted the Hurban. If the claims of Yohanan and Yeshua are true, then God's commitment to Israel remains unbroken, because he has not left his people perplexed. Otherwise, what can we say? Did God forget about Israel and allow the Temple to be destroyed without warning and with no instruction what to do without it?

The Babylonian Talmud records that for the last forty years before the Second Hurban (destruction of the Temple), the red cord around the neck of the scapegoat failed to change color. The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. Forty years before that would have been just about the time Messiah Yeshua offered the ultimate sacrifice. This could explain why God was no longer interested in scapegoats. Those who appropriate the atonement of Yeshua ha-Mashiach will be forgiven and inscribed in the book of life, not for a year only but for eternity!

Messianic Symbolism in Yom Kippur

We who believe in Yeshua as Messiah can easy see his ministry reflected in the temple service. The priest begins his day with a special bath, or mikveh, immersing himself in water, just as Yeshua began his ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist, or in a larger sense, by being born into human flesh ("born of water" -- John 3:5). The priest laid aside his usual ornate priestly garb for simple white attire. Yeshua "made himself of no reputation," (Philippians 2:7) but laid aside his divine privileges to accomplish his earthly mission of expiating human sin. The white kittel speaks of sinless purity, as he was pure and without sin. It is also reminiscent of the burial shroud. The high priest made a special sacrifice for his own sin (Leviticus 16:11), in order to be seen by God as a sinless mediator, as Yeshua was sinless by his own virtue. Sprinkling the blood upon the Kapporeth (i.e., the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, which served as a sort of earthly throne for the Almighty) seems to represent presentation of the sacrifice to God the Father. Sprinkling the blood in front of the ark may indicate the opening of a way of approach to the Father. (The Ark was ordinarily unapproachable. The people in general were never allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, where the ark was. Even the high priest was allowed to enter only on Yom Kippur) The sacrifice "covered" ("Kippur" literally means "covering") the sins of the people and made God approachable to sinful man. The Holy of Holies was closed off by a veil (parokhet). When Yeshua died on Golgotha, the parokhet was literally torn in two (see Matthew 27:51) indicating the beginning of the New Covenant and a new path of relationship between God and humanity.

The high priest had to enter every year with a new sacrifice. The sacrifice of Yeshua ("a high priest forever" (Hebrews 5:6) is good forever. The old high priest entered a symbolic Holy of Holies, made with human hands. Yeshua entered the real Holy of Holies -- the very throne of God in Heaven. (Hebrews 9:11) The scapegoat carried away the sins of the people. In Yeshua ha-Mashiach, all our sins are carried away "as far as east is from west" (Psalm 103:12). Once all the expiatory (sin-forgiving) sacrifices are done, the priest puts on his priestly robes again. When Yeshua had accomplished his sacrificial mission, he put back on the glory of his divinity. When the priest returned from the tabernacle (as Yeshua will return from Heaven), he offered the festival sacrifice. When Yeshua returns, it will be for the full and final redemption of his people Israel. (Ezekiel 16:63)

The Sign of Jonah

The book of Jonah is read in the synagogue as part of the Yom Kippur service, since it is a book about judgment and repentance. It is interesting to note what Yeshua said about Jonah and Judgment:

"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a large fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here." -- Matthew 12:40-42

Yom Kippur and Prophecy

The yearly observance of Yom Kippur foreshadows the Great Day of Judgment to come, when Messiah will come to preside of the Judgment of the world, and reestablish Israel in its rightful place. (Jeremiah 33:11) When Moses was on the mountain receiving the Torah, the people below got tired of waiting. They decided Moses had forgotten them, and presumably HA-SHEM had forgotten them, and so they persuaded Aaron, who was supposed to be their spiritual leader in Moses' absence, to cater to their needs in their own way. So they forgot God and fell into idolatry. When Moses returned, their unfaithfulness was exposed. God forgave them, but only when they returned to him in true repentance. When Messiah Yeshua returns, Israel will be embarrassed. (Ezekiel 16:63) They shall "look on him whom they pierced, and mourn for him as an only son." (Zechariah 12:10, literal translation) They will recognize him as the one they rejected, but when he comes in glory, there will be no denying who he is. At that time, "all Israel will be saved," (Romans 11:26) and "The LORD himself shall dwell among them." At this time Messiah will fulfill all the kingly prophecies, just as surely as at his first coming he fulfilled the prophecies of the suffering servant at his first coming. This is the beginning of the Kingdom, which is sometimes called "The Millennial Reign" or simply "The Millennium," because the apostle John refers to it as lasting "a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4), in accordance with a long-held Jewish tradition. This will be that Golden Age of prophetic vision. This is that famous time when: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid; The calf the beast of pray and the fatling together, with a little boy to lead them. -- Isaiah 11:6,7 (JPS)

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