By: Nomi Kaltmann as seen in ABC Australia
30 September 2025
Beginning on Wednesday evening, Jewish people around the world will mark Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement — the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar. We will not eat any food or drink any liquid, and will instead spend the day praying five separate times in the synagogue. According to Jewish tradition, Yom Kippur is the day on which we atone for our sins and our fate for the next year is sealed.
The prayers that we recite on Yom Kippur are solemn. The prayer that best reflects the gravity of the day is Unetaneh Tokef, during which we affirm the belief that on this day God is sifting through all human being, deciding who will live and who will die — the righteous and the unrighteous. For those who are neither wholly righteous nor wholly wicked, our deeds are carefully weighed to determine our fate:
All created beings pass before You,
like a flock of sheep.
As a shepherd examines his flock,
making his sheep pass under his staff,
so do You cause to pass [before You] every living soul,
and You count, reckon and are mindful of [them],
and You allocate the fixed portion
for the needs of all Your creatures,
and inscribe the verdict of their judgement.
Yom Kippur inspires a sense of awe in most Jews because, in our tradition, our lives hang in the balance. When we see our friends in synagogue, we use a greeting that reflects this gravity: Ketivah v’chatima tovah, “May you be inscribed for a good year ahead”. There is a certain humility knowing that, by the end of this 25-hour period, your fate will be sealed by God in the Book of Life for the next year.
Over the course of Yom Kippur, we recite the Avinu Malkeinu prayer at each one of the five services. Avinu Malkeinu — which means “Our Father, Our King” — captures both the closeness and reverence that we feel towards God on this holy day. Avinu reminds us of God’s love and compassion, while Malkeinu acknowledges God’s majesty and judgement.
On Yom Kippur, we ask for forgiveness and mercy. We turn to God as a caring parent who holds us with tenderness, and also as a ruler who guides us with justice. Like small children who are cheeky and misbehave, we know we haven’t been all good, but we ask God to love us as a parent loves a child, and find compassion and forgiveness extended toward us:
Our Father, our King, erase in Your abounding mercies
all the records of our [sins].
Our Father, our King, bring us back to You
in wholehearted repentance.
Our Father, our King, send a complete healing
to the sick of Your people.
Our Father, our King, rend the evil [aspect] of the verdict
decreed against us.
Our Father, our King, remember us
with a favourable remembrance before You.
Jewish tradition emphasises the importance of a second chance and the fact that it is never too late to change our behaviours and make amends. In the ten days leading up to Yom Kippur we dedicate ourselves to repairing our behaviour, taking on extra prayers and apologising to those we have hurt with our words and our deeds. These ten days are known as the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, the ten days of repentance — during which we trying to refine our character and be the best versions of ourselves before we begin Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.
The peak of the Yom Kippur service is the fifth prayer, Neilah. During this prayer, the Ark holding the synagogues Torah scrolls is left open, to symbolise our belief that the gates of heaven are still open up until the very last moment, and that we can still change our fate for the year ahead.
Throughout Yom Kippur Jews plead for forgiveness and renewal, but Neilah is the final opportunity to ask God for mercy before the Book of Life is sealed. It’s a climactic and urgent appeal, and as part of the service we prostrate ourselves fully during prayer — something that is not done at any other time of the year. Our bowing mirrors the way the high priest would prostrate himself in the Temple in Jerusalem on Yom Kippur. In that holiest moment of the year, when God’s presence was felt most strongly, the Jewish people would bow fully in awe and humility.
I wouldn’t say that I look forward to Yom Kippur each year, it’s a long and challenging 25 hours. In comparison to other joyous Jewish festivals, it is hard work. For a few weeks beforehand, there is a frantic energy in the air as people apologise to those they have hurt, make amends with those they have argued with and try to reduce their caffeine intake and hydrate themselves so they can last the entire fast.
Yet, every year I feel grateful for the fact I can face my mortality, try my best to become a better person, and pray my heart out in the hope that the year ahead will be a better year than the last.
Nomi Kaltmann is an Australian lawyer and journalist who often writes about Judaism.