Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur this year starts on Sunday evening, September 24. As you all may have learned, Yom Kippur is a day to look back at your past year and see where you may have gone wrong. It is the perfect time to reflect on your year and see what improvements you may want to make for this upcoming year. 

Aside from what we all know about yom kippur, here are some traditions that you may not know of: 

Firstly, we have the tradition to wear white. We have all heard of this tradition but may not understand the reasoning. White is worn to symbolize purity and a fresh start for the upcoming new year. 

A second well-known tradition is to not wear leather shoes. This is a bit of an odd one, but this is done to take away wealth and class from our appearance. Not wearing leather is meant to humble us in a way to show that we all have things to work on about ourselves.

Gmar chatima tova USY!

I wish you all an easy fast. 

Penina Berger 

International Religious Education Vice President 2023/24