What is God’s most holy day?

07 Oct

Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement

According to Rabbi Ralph Messer of Simchat Torah Beit Midrash, Yom Kippur is God’s most holy day. It is “the sabbath of sabbaths!”

Day of Atonement‘s relevance to Christians with Rabbi Messer part 1 (video no longer available)

The Day of Atonement is an eternal ordinance (Exodus 12:14). It’s the day of redemption. On this day, we are called to understand and honor God for what he has done for us.

Blessings,
Joseph

Resources

Yom Kippur — Day of Atonement — is the last day of the High Holy Days. The fast of Yom Kippur begins at sundown on the ninth of Tishri and continues until the stars can be seen in the sky on the tenth of Tishri.

Yom Kippur is a day set aside to “afflict the soul,” to atone for one’s sins of the past year. This Day of Atonement only atones for sins between man and Hashem and not for sins between man and man.

2 Responses to “What is God’s most holy day?”

  1. Mia Sherwood Landau October 7, 2011 at 8:46 am #

    This is a good blog post and there is a little more to add that might bring deeper understanding to those who are interested. Yom Kippur is not simply about afflicting the soul, it’s about letting go of the things in our egos that are in the way of the eternal light of God having plenty of room in us. What we are repenting for is not specifically bad behavior or thoughts, and it is not a day to suffer in order for things to change in the world, it is for us to change personally. Yom Kippur is the culmination of many weeks of preparation during the month of Elul and during Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year, ten days ago)which are designed to bring us to the day of atonement. It’s a process, an annual process to allow us to contain and reveal more of God’s light into the world.

  2. Dr. Joseph Peck October 7, 2011 at 12:05 pm #

    Wow Mia! Thank you for sharing your enlightening message about the significance of Yom Kippur with me and many others. I have a lot to learn. Blessings, Joseph P.S. You’re love for the LORD is obvious.