Yom Kippur, known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. This year it is celebrated on October 3-4. Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with an approximate 25-hour period of fasting and prayer, spending most of the day in synagogue services.

Its central themes are atonement and repentance, to release the “sins or transgressions” of the past. The message of Yom Kippur from the Torah is about discernment:

“Just as God separated the light from the darkness (Gen 1:4) so we are called to discern between the realms of the holy and the profane, the sacred and the common, and the clean and the unclean.”