Yom Kippur began last night at sunset. The holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur concludes a period of ten Days of Awe and Repentance that began on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is a day of fasting, prayer, and reflection. Yom Kippur is one of four times in a year that Yizkur, a memorial prayer for the dead, is recited. Here’s a musical reflection by David Stock.
Yom Kippur is also the inspiration for the central movement of one of my favorite pieces by Ernest Bloch, the “Israel Symphony” of 1916. The first movement is titled “Prayer in the Desert” and the last “Succoth,” named for the Jewish harvest festival, which begins this year on the evening of October 6th.
May you be inscribed in the Book of Life.
IMAGE: “The Day of the Great Forgiveness of the Jews or Celebration of Yom Kippur in a Synagogue on Rue Saint Louis en l’Ile, Paris,” artist unknown