Yom Kippur 2020 / יוֹם כִּפּוּר 5781
Yom Kippur (pronounced Yom Ki-POOR)
The Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) began on sunset on Sunday, September 27 and ends at sundown on Monday, September 28, 2020.
What it is: Yom Kippur is the last and most important of Judaism’s 10 High Holy Days, which begins on Rosh Hashanah (Friday, September 18, Sunday, September 20), the Jewish New Year.
Yom Kippur (Hebrew: יוֹם כִּפּוּר or יום הכיפורים), Also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jewish traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days (or sometimes “the Days of Awe”).
“Happy Yom Kippur” isn’t really appropriate for this holiday.
“Yom Tov” or “Gud Yuntif” is more appropriate
“Yom Tov” translates literally into “good day”, it’s meant to refer to the high holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. It’s used as a greeting by both Ashkenazi (Eastern European) and Sephardic (Spanish or Portuguese) Jews. Ashkenazi Jews also use the Yiddish phrase “Gud Yuntif”, which has the slightly awkward transliteration of “Good good day”