Yom Kippur Yizkor & N'ilah

Open to the community. American Sign Language interpreter provided.

Click to download the 2018 ~ 5779 High Holy Days booklet.

"Yizkor means 'may [God] remember,' from the Hebrew root zachor...Its primary purpose was to honor the deceased by committing to giving tzedakah [charity] in their memory, on the theory that the good deeds of the survivors elevate the souls of the departed. It also enhanced the chances for personal atonement by doing a deed of lovingkindness."* 

"Yom Kippur is the only day in the traditional Jewish liturgical year to have five services: in addition to the usual four shared with Shabbatot, Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah (evening, morning, Musaf, and afternoon¹), Yom Kippur has a concluding service called N’ilah (literally, "locking"). This name refers to the time of the locking of the gates of the Temple at the end of the day.  In this respect, too, the rabbinic liturgy for Yom Kippur emphasizes and imaginatively enacts the ritual activities of the now-destroyed Temple on the Day of Atonement.  But the image of 'locking the gates' in rabbinic prayer is also construed figuratively as referring to the closing of the gates of repentance at the end of Yom Kippur and the sealing of the Book of Life for another year."** 

* Source: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/yizkor-the-memorial-service/
**Source: https://urj.org/blog/2014/01/16/nilah-concluding-service-yom-kippur