What Is Yom Kippur? The Day of Atonement Explained

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is also, for many people, the most challenging and the most unexpectedly profound.

If you have attended Yom Kippur services before and felt something you could not quite name, or if you have never been and are curious what all the fasting and prayer is actually for, this post is for you. Not a surface explanation — a real one.

What Does Yom Kippur Mean?

Yom Kippur is Hebrew for Day of Atonement. The word kippur comes from the root meaning to atone, to cover, or to wipe clean. It falls ten days after Rosh Hashanah, at the close of the period the tradition calls the Ten Days of Repentance.

In 2026, Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Friday, October 2nd and ends at nightfall on Saturday, October 3rd — a period of approximately 25 hours. The holiday is commanded in the Torah, in the book of Leviticus, as a day of fasting and rest, a sabbath of sabbaths.

What Is the Purpose of Yom Kippur?

This is the question worth sitting with, because the purpose of Yom Kippur is more interesting and more demanding than most people expect.

The day is built on one of Judaism’s most radical claims: that human beings are genuinely capable of change. Not resolution-making or surface improvement, but deep, real transformation. The tradition calls this teshuva, which is usually translated as repentance but literally means return. Not becoming someone new — returning to the best version of who you have always been.

The structure of Yom Kippur is designed to create the conditions for that return. The fast removes the ordinary distractions of the day. The prayers give language to what is hardest to say. The community provides the experience of not being alone in the work. By the time the shofar sounds at the close of Neilah and the day ends, something in the room has shifted. That is what the day is for.

Why Do Jews Fast on Yom Kippur?

Fasting on Yom Kippur is one of the central observances of the day, and one of the most commonly asked about.

The Torah commands inui nefesh on Yom Kippur, which translates as afflicting the soul — and the rabbis understood this to include refraining from eating and drinking for the full 25-hour period. The fast also traditionally extends to bathing for pleasure and wearing leather shoes.

But the fast is not punishment. It is a tool. When the ordinary rhythms of the day are removed — hunger, the clock, the meal — something shifts in your attention. The things you were managing around take up more space. The soul becomes more available. Many people who fast describe a clarity that arrives sometime in the afternoon, a quality of presence that does not come any other way.

The prophet Isaiah challenged his community about this, asking: is this the fast I desire? To bow the head like a reed and lie in sackcloth? His answer was that the fast God desires is one that opens us to justice and compassion — that the physical practice of fasting is meant to serve the inner work, not replace it.

Children under 13, anyone who is pregnant or nursing, those who are ill, and anyone for whom fasting poses a genuine health risk are exempt from the fast. If you have questions, please speak with your doctor and your rabbi.

The Services of Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur services span the full day, from the opening of Kol Nidrei the evening before through the Neilah closing service as the fast ends. They are among the most powerful experiences in all of Jewish life.

Kol Nidrei

Kol Nidrei is chanted three times as the sun goes down on Erev Yom Kippur, and it is the most emotionally resonant prayer in the Jewish year. The text releases vows made to God that we could not keep — an act of profound mercy that acknowledges our human limitations. The melody is ancient, and for many Jewish people, hearing it each year is the thing that breaks them open in the best possible way.

Even people who have not attended synagogue in decades show up for Kol Nidrei. I have thought about why that is for many years. My belief is that everyone who walks through those doors is carrying something — a promise they could not keep, a gap between who they intended to be and who they were — and they need to be released from it in the company of people who understand.

Yom Kippur Morning Service

The Shacharit morning service and the Musaf additional service together form the heart of Yom Kippur day. The Torah reading includes the ancient priestly rites of atonement described in Leviticus, and an additional reading from the book of Isaiah with its challenging vision of what fasting is truly for.

U’netaneh Tokef appears in Musaf — the prayer that names every form of loss and uncertainty the coming year might hold and asks us to say those words together, out loud, in community. It is the prayer that stops being abstract the year it lands on you with full weight. For many people, it is the moment of the High Holy Days they carry longest.

Yizkor

Yizkor is the memorial prayer service recited on Yom Kippur afternoon. The word means remember. In it, the names of those who have died are spoken aloud and held in community — parents, spouses, children, siblings, friends, anyone whose absence is still felt.

Yizkor is not only for those who have experienced a recent loss. It is for anyone who has ever loved someone who is gone. There is something about speaking a name aloud in a room full of people who are also speaking names that is unlike almost any other human experience. The tradition understands that grief is not private. It belongs in community.

At Neshamah, we offer a free, open-to-all Yizkor service. No ticket is required. No synagogue membership is required. It is simply a sacred space, offered freely, for anyone who wants to come and remember someone they love.

Neilah

Neilah is the closing service of Yom Kippur — the final hour of prayer as the gates of heaven are about to close. The word neilah means the locking of the gates. There is an intensity to this service that is unlike anything else in Jewish worship. The room is tired and hungry and also, somehow, more awake than it has been all day. The shofar sounds one final time as Yom Kippur ends, and the fast is over.

Breaking the Fast

After 25 hours of fasting, the break fast is one of the most joyful moments of the Jewish calendar. The relief of eating again, the warmth of gathering with people who just shared something profound together — there is a quality to the break fast meal that a regular dinner simply cannot replicate.

At Neshamah, we break the fast on the beach. Our Beach Break Fast at the ocean’s edge in Delray Beach as Yom Kippur ends has become one of the most beloved and distinctive traditions in our community. Golden light, the sound of the waves, the fast over, surrounded by people you have just spent a full day praying alongside. It is a moment that stays with people.

Attending Yom Kippur Services at Neshamah

The Neshamah Institute offers a full High Holy Day experience led by Rabbi Amy Rader and Musical Director Sharon Shear. Neshamah is not a traditional synagogue. We are a dues-free, membership-free community where your Jewish identity does not have to be earned or paid for before you are welcome.

Our Yom Kippur services include Kol Nidrei evening, the full Yom Kippur morning and Musaf service, Yizkor, Neilah, and the Beach Break Fast. All services are available both in person at Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach and via livestream for those participating from home or from outside South Florida.

Because we take the safety of every person in our community seriously, all attendees are required to pre-register before arriving. Professional security is present at every service. Please do not arrive without a ticket — entry cannot be guaranteed for those who have not registered in advance.

Tickets are affordable, financial assistance is available, and no one is ever turned away for financial reasons. Yizkor is offered free of charge and requires no ticket.

Whether you are attending Yom Kippur services for the first time, returning after years away, or looking for a community that feels different from what you have experienced before — we are here, and the door is open.

Find tickets and full service details at niboca.org/high-holy-days/