Yom Kippur, which is observed from sundown Tuesday to sundown Wednesday, is considered the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It’s a high holiday that follows Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
by Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY
But it’s not exactly a “happy” holiday. So don’t tell someone “Happy Yom Kippur.”
“This isn’t a day of raucousness and partying,” says Becky Sobelman-Stern, the chief program officer at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. “Yom Kippur is not about being happy. It’s about thinking. It’s about self examination.”
Yom Kippur translates from Hebrew to English as Day of Atonement. Traditionally, Jews spend the holiday fasting and reflecting on sins committed over the past year.
Even if you’re not Jewish, you can acknowledge the holiday, and it is indeed respectful to share well wishes to your friends and colleagues who do observe.
So, what should you say or write? There are some options.
The traditional Yom Kippur greeting
“G’mar chatima tova” is the customary greeting on Yom Kippur. In English, it means “May you be sealed in the Book of Life.”
According to Jewish tradition, one’s fate is decided on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur.
“Our lives are in the balance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur depending on how we act,” says Rabbi Andrea London of Beth Emet synagogue in Evanston, Illinois.
“The fully righteous are inscribed (in the Book of Life) for the year, the wholly evil are not inscribed and the rest of us need to work to make amends and make sure we have more good deeds than bad, if we want to be sealed for another year of life,” she adds.
Rabbi Sarah Krinsky of Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC, says “not many moderns hold this literal theology.” She’s among them, but that doesn’t stop her from sending the message “g’mar chatima tova” for Yom Kippur.
Of note: The “ch” sound in “chatima” is not pronounced like the English word “chat.” Instead, it should sound more like guttural utterance from the throat because it comes from the Hebrew letter Chet. “G’mar hatima tov” is also acceptable to say.
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