Yom Kippur

Three books are opened on Rosh HaShanah: one for the wholly righteous, one for the wholly wicked, and one for the intermediates. The wholly righteous are at once inscribed and sealed in the book of life; the wholly wicked are at once inscribed and sealed in the book of death; and the intermediates are held suspended from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur. If they are found worthy, they are inscribed for life; if found unworthy, they are inscribed for death."
"Three books are opened on Rosh HaShanah: one for the wholly righteous, one for the wholly wicked, and one for the intermediates. The wholly righteous are at once inscribed and sealed in the book of life; the wholly wicked are at once inscribed and sealed in the book of death; and the intermediates are held suspended from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur. If they are found worthy, they are inscribed for life; if found unworthy, they are inscribed for death."
Eliyahu Zuta, 4

"[During] the last forty days in which Moses ascended Mount Sinai for the second time to bring the Torah, the Jewish people declared a fast day. The last day, which was the last of the forty, the Jewish people declared a fast and went to sleep while fasting, to prevent the domination of the evil inclination. The next day, they awoke and ascended toward Mount Sinai. They were crying as they approached Moses and he cried as he approached them, until that cry ascended to heaven. At that time, God took pity on them. The holy spirit foretold good tidings and consolations and said to them, "My children, I swear by my exalted name that this crying will be joyous crying and that this day will be a day of forgiveness, atonement and pardon for you, your children and grandchildren until the end of all generations."
"[During] the last forty days in which Moses ascended Mount Sinai for the second time to bring the Torah, the Jewish people declared a fast day. The last day, which was the last of the forty, the Jewish people declared a fast and went to sleep while fasting, to prevent the domination of the evil inclination. The next day, they awoke and ascended toward Mount Sinai. They were crying as they approached Moses and he cried as he approached them, until that cry ascended to heaven. At that time, God took pity on them. The holy spirit foretold good tidings and consolations and said to them, "My children, I swear by my exalted name that this crying will be joyous crying and that this day will be a day of forgiveness, atonement and pardon for you, your children and grandchildren until the end of all generations."

Leviticus 16;29-31

"This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must afflict your souls and not do any work--whether native-born or an alien living among you--because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must afflict your souls; it is a lasting ordinance.

Leviticus 16;12-16

[Aaron] is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the Testimony, so that he will not die. He is to take some of the bull's blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover. He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been.

Mishnah Yoma 8,1

"On Yom Kippur it is forbidden to eat, to drink, to bath, to anoint oneself, to put on sandals, or to have sexual intercourse."

Kuzari III.5, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi

And they fast on this day to approach a resemblance to angels, inasmuch as the fast is consumated by humbling themselves, lowering their heads, bending their knees and singing songs of praise. Then all the physical powers abandon their natural functions and enguage in spiritual functions, as though having no animal nature.

Jer. Talmud Rosh Hashanah 1.3

It is customary that if a man knows that he has to appear in court for trial, he wears black clothes and lets his beard grow, for he does not know what his verdict will be. However, the children of Israel do not act thus. On their day of judgment they don white clothes, trim their beards, eat, drink, and rejoice for they have confidence that the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform miracles for them.

Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver

Sin is " the failure to live up to the highest moral potentialities in one's self in any given situation".

Laws of Repentance 1,1 Maimonides

If a man has transgressed against any of the commandments in the Torah, whether affirmative or prohibitive, whether deliberately or accidentally, when he does Teshuvah and turns from his sin, he is under obligation to confess before God, be blessed, as it is said, "When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to commit a trespass against the Lord, and that soul be guilty; then they shall confess their sin which they have done" (Num. 5:6--7). This is verbal confession and is an affirmative command- ment. What is the confession?

The sinner says, "Pray, 0 God, I have sinned, I have done iniquitously, trespassed before you and done such and such things; indeed, I am sorry and ashamed of my actions, and I will never return and do this act again." That is the essence of confession. The more the sinner confesses and enlarges on his sin, the more praiseworthy he is.

Laws of Repentance 2,2 Maimonides

"What is repentance? That the sinner should abandon his sin and remove it from his mind and resolve never to repeat it again..., and he should regret what he did"

Understanding the High Holyday Service, Rev. Dr. Jeffrey M. Cohen

It is significant that our formulae of confession are all couched in the plural, as if to suggest that it is society which fosters the climate and conditions wherein sin is engendered in the heart of the individual. An unfeeling society will nurture despair on the part of the disadvantaged. From despair flow crime and sin. An irresponsible society will, similarly, breed delinquency, violence and sin. The plural formulation indicates that, though the individual commits the act, society at large must bear the responsibility.

It will be noted that, through the confession, there is not one reference to sins of neglect or omission in the performance of specific ritual practices. The catalogue of sins is restricted to the domain of ethics and morals, as if to emphasize that no Jew who strives after piety may ignore his responsibilities to his fellow man.

Rabbi Isaac Luria

Why was the Confession composed in the plural, so that we say, 'We have sinned," rather than, "I have sinned"? Because all Israelis one body and everyone of Israel is a limb of that body; that is why we are all responsible for one another when we sin. So, if one's fellow should sin, it is as though one has sinned oneself; therefore, despite the fact that one has not committed that iniquity, one must confess to it. For when one's fellow has sinned, it as though one has sinned oneself.

"Kol Nidre", "All Vows". From the evening Yom Kippur liturgy

Light is sown for the righteous, and for the upright of heart happiness

With the knowledge of the Omnipresent,
And the knowledge of the congregation,
In the Assesmbly that is Above,
And in the Assembly that is Below,
We ask pemission
To pray with the transgressors.

All vows, renunciations, promises, obligations, oaths, taken rashly, from this Yom Kippur till the next may we attain it in peace, we regret them in advance. May we be absolved of them, may we be released of them, may they be null and void and have no effect. Such vows are not vows, such renunciations not renunciations, and such oaths not oaths.

And forgive the whole congregation of Israel, and the stranger who lives among them, because all the nation is in error.

Forgive now the sins of this people in Your great mercy, as you have promised to forgive them from Egypt until now.

As we have been promised: And God said "I have forgiven according to your words".

The High Holy Days, JPS Polpular Judaica Library

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn day of the Jewish year and is the climax to the Days of Awe. It is the day on which the Jew as an individual, and the nation as a whole, are cleansed of their sins and granted atonement. The concept that man can achieve atonement for his sins is basic to Judaism. Man is a dynamic organism, who has free choice to do good or evil, but even having committed evil he can regain his former purity through atonement. Judaism sees life as a sort of ladder. Man either goes up or down, but is never stationary. With each good decd he raises hirnsclf to a higher spiritual level and with each evil one he sinks lower. Yom Kippur adds a new dimension: however low man has fallen he can pull himself up again. Yom Kippur is a day "unto you", for man, of which he stands in urgent need in order to become reconciled to God, and, which God has made available to man for his own sake.

The Midrash illustrates the point in its own picturesque fashion: Wisdom was asked, "What is the punishment of the sinner? "It answered, "Evil will persecute the sinners." Prophecy was asked the same question and answered, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." The Torah was asked. It replied, "If he brings a sin- offering, he will be atoned for." When God was asked, He said, "Let him repent and his sin shall be atoned."

The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, Version 1, Chapter 4

"Once, as Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai was coming forth from Jerusalem, Rabbi Joshua followed after him and beheld the Temple in ruins. "Woe unto us!" Rabbi Joshua cried, "that this, the place where the iniquities of Israel were atoned for, is laid waste!". "My son," Rabbi Johanan said to him, "be not grieved; we have another atonement as effective as this. And what is it? It is acts of loving - kindness..."

Mishnah Yoma, 8, 8

"If one says: I shall sin and repent, sin and repent, no opportunity will be given to him to repent. [If one says]: I shall sin and Yom Kippur will procure atonement for me, Yom Kippur does not procure atonement for him. For transgressions between man and the Omnipresent Yom Kippur procures atonement, but for transgressions between man and his fellow Yom Kippur does not procure atonement until he has pacified his fellow."

Pesikta Rabbati, 40

"The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: Remake yourselves by repentance during the ten days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, and on Yom Kippur I will hold you guiltless, regarding you as a newly made creature... For if you are moved to penitence during these days, then when you come before Me on Yom Kippur, even if your sins reach from heaven to earth, I will make them as white as snow.

Bab. Talmud, Rosh HaShanah, 17b

"And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed" - R. Johanan said: Were it not written in the text, it would be impossible for us to say such a thing; this verse teaches us that the Holy One blessed be He, drew his robe round Him like the reader of a congregation and showed Moses the order of prayer. He said to him, "Whenever the Jewish people sin, let them carry out this service before Me, and I will forgive them."

"As Yom Kippur Comes to a Close". from Moments of Trancendance: Inspirational readings for Yom Kippur

We have not succeeded in answering all your problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things.