The Day of Atonement is the holiest day of the Jewish year. The erroneous perception of Yom Kippur as a day of sadness is due in large measure to it being a fast day. The holiday’s goal, however, is not self mortification, but rather to bring about reconciliation between people, and between individuals and G-d. Yom Kippur is the only fast day mandated in the Torah (Leviticus 23:27 specifically speaks of “afflicting our souls”). The fast commences an hour before the holiday begins, and concludes twenty-five hours later.

Teshuvah is a Hebrew word which means “turning back.” Doing teshuvah is a process that involves recognizing how we have fallen short of our expectations (and G-d’s expectations for us); apologizing and making amends for doing hurtful things; and resolving not to repeat them. When we do Teshuvah we are trying to turn back to the time before we did them.

On the first night, the  service is inaugurated with a haunting prayer called the Kol Nidre (“All Vows”). In this prayer one asks to be released in advance from any vows made and not kept.

While the origins of the prayer are uncertain, during the Middle Ages and subsequently, Jews were often forced to vow allegiance to Christianity, but continued to practice Judaism in secret. Through this prayer they begged G-d to forgive them from those vows which were made under duress. Today, the Kol Nidre prayer remains a part of the liturgy because of its historical association, its inspirational melody and its great beauty.