1. Yom Kippur fulfilled in part
   Yeshua's atoning sacrifice is the kippur for our sins. As Rav Saul said in Romans 3:23-26,

since all have sinned and come short of earning God's praise. By God's grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before him, through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua. God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God's righteousness; because, in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past; and it vindicates his righteousness in the present age by showing that he is righteous himself and is also the one who makes people righteous on the ground of Yeshua's faithfulness.

See also Hebrews 7:25-27 ("and consequently, he is totally able to deliver those who approach God through him; since he is alive forever and thus forever able to intercede on their behalf. This is the kind of cohen gadol that meets our need - holy, without evil, without stain, set apart from sinners and raised higher than the heavens; one who does not have the daily necessity, like the other cohanim g'dolim, of offering up sacrifices first for their own sins and only then for those of the people; because he offered one sacrifice, once and for all, by offering up himself."); Hebrews 9:12 ("he entered the Holiest Place once and for all. And he entered not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting people free forever."); and Hebrews 9: 24-28 ("For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place which is not man-made and merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God. Further, he did not enter heaven to offer himself over and over again, like the cohen hagadol who enters the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer death many times - from the founding of the universe on. But as it is, he has appeared once at the end of the ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of himself. Just as human beings have to die once, but after this comes judgment, so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, I will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to deliver those who are eagerly waiting for him.")

2. Yom Kippur in Prophesy
   
   Yom Kippur also points towards the Second Coming of the Messiah, for which each of us must be continually prepared. See Matthew 24:27-31 and the Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids in Matthew 25.
   
   Scripture teaches that, in the end of days, an evil ruler will arise. In Jewish theology, he is called Armilus; in Christian theology, the Antichrist. According to Scripture, he will desecrate the rebuilt Temple with an image of himself and cause the sacrifices mandated in the Torah to cease; he will persecute the Jewish people forcing them to flee into the wilderness. See Daniel 10-12, Zechariah 12:9-14, Matthew 24:3-25:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and Revelation 8-12. But the Lord will execute great wrath upon those who stand against Israel and will establish the Messianic throne recognizing that Messiah is King over all the earth. Ibid.
   
   And we are on notice to be continually prepared because no one knows when the return will occur. In Matthew 24:27-31, Messiah, as a preface to the Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids, said:
   
   

For when the Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east and fills the sky to the western horizon. Wherever there's a dead body, that's where you find the vultures. But immediately following the trouble of those times, the sun will grow dark, the moon will stop shining, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, all the tribes of the Land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with tremendous power and glory. He will send out his angels with a great shofarim and they will gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Then Yeshua imparts the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, which is clearly about being ready for the return of the King.

In his letter to the Romans, Rav Saul foretold of what happens to Israel during this time when he wrote,

For, brothers, I want you to understand this truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed, so that you won't imagine you know more than you actually do. It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra'el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness; and that it is in this way that all Isra'el will be saved. As the Tanakh says, "Out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer; he will turn away ungodliness from Ya'akov and this will be my covenant with them, . . . when I take away their sins." … for God's free gifts and his calling are irrevocable. Romans 11:25-29

1. During the Temple period, the preparations, conduct of the sacrifices, and observance of this Holy Day was of supreme importance because all was meant to atone for all of Israel's sins. Failing to properly observe the rituals could render the sacrifices unacceptable and void the intended atonement.
   
   
2. Preparing the High Priest Because of the importance of the ceremonial cleanliness of the High Priest on this feast, great pains were taken to ensure his ceremonial cleanliness was achieved and maintained through this time. The High Priest was sequestered in the Temple from a week before Yom Kippur until the Day.
   
   If, for any reason, the High Priest became unclean, he became ineligible from being able to perform his duties. If, for any reason, the High Priest was unable to perform his duties, the task went to a pre-designated substitute who also maintained ritual purity.
   
   It is also noteworthy that the High Priest did not conduct any Temple services other than on Yom Kippur. During the year, all of his duties were faithfully practiced so that he could conduct the Yom Kippur service fully in accordance with the Law so that Israel's sins could be covered by the Yom Kippur offerings.
   
   
3. The Morning Portion of the Service
   
   The Temple service began at dawn. The ashes on the altar were cleared and four fires, vice the normal three, were lighted. The additional fire marked the Day as different. Otherwise, except for the washing of the priest, this portion of the service was the same as other days.
   
   Normally the priest was required to wash only his hands and feet for ceremonial purity, but on Yom Kippur the High Priest was required to totally immerse himself in a specially designed bath. He would do this publicly so that it could be ensured that he had properly cleansed himself. Of course this was done behind a curtain but his shadow could be observed. The High Priest would engage in this cleansing procedure five different times.
   
   
4. The Afternoon Portion of the Service
   
   
   1. This portion of the service was the focus of the Yom Kippur observance.
      
      
   2. Confession of the High Priest The afternoon service began by moving to the Court of the Priests in the Temple, where a young bull awaited the High Priest. The High Priest would press his hands upon the bull's head, identifying himself with his substitute, and confess his sins thus transferring them to the bull.
      
      
   3. The Two Goats Next two priests escorted the High Priest to the eastern side of the altar to two goats that were identical to each other. Two golden lots were placed inside a golden vessel - one inscribe with the Hebrew letters yud-hay-vav-hay (for Chatat, the sacrifice to the Lord), and the other with Azazel (for the "scapegoat"). The High Priest randomly drew a lot in each hand and held one hand to one goat and the other to the other; the lot in the hand determining which goat was for what part of the sacrifice. (Both are considered part of the same sacrifice.) Once it was determined which was which, Azazel was marked with a crimson strip of wool tied to one of its horns. It was then turned to face the people whose sin would be placed upon his head. The other goat was left to face the large stone altar where he would be made a sin offering.
      
      
   4. The Sin Offering for the Priesthood Now the High Priest returned to the young bull and again pressed his hands upon his head now confessing the sins of the priesthood. This bull was then slaughtered by the High Priest with its blood collected in a golden bowl.
      
      
   5. Burning the Incense Next the High Priest took an empty, golden fire pan and walked up the ramp to the altar. He then filled the fire pan with hot coals from the fires burning atop the altar. Taking two handfuls of incense, he placed them into a golden ladle. With the fire pan in his right and the ladle in his left, the High Priest exited the Court of the Priests, crossed the Holy Place of the Temple and entered the Holy of Holies. Once inside the Holy of Holies, the High Priest poured the incense onto the hot coals waiting for the fragrant cloud of smoke to fill that room.
      
      
   6. Sprinkling the Blood Once the smoke of the incense filled the Holy of Holies, the High Priest left the Holy of Holies and retrieved the golden bowl filled with the bull's blood and again entered the Holy of Holies. He carefully sprinkled the blood before the Ark of the Covenant; once upward and seven times downward counting out loud to avoid error. After this, he exited the Holy of Holies placing the golden bowl in a stand.
      
      
   7. Chatat The High Priest then proceeded to the Court of Priests where Chatat was positioned. He then slaughtered Chatat collecting its blood in another golden bowl and entered the Holy of Holies a third time. He, again, carefully sprinkled the blood before the Ark of the Covenant; once upward and seven times downward counting out loud to avoid error. After this, he sprinkled the outside of the veil covering the entrance to the Holy of Holies with the blood of the bull and did the same with the blood of the goat. He then proceeded to the altar, located in the Court of the Priests, after mixing the remaining contents of the two bowls and sprinkled the contents on the horns of the altar.
      
      
   8. Azazel The High Priest now turned his attention to Azazel. He approached the goat, laid his hands on the goat's head and confessed the sins of the people transferring them to Azazel. The goat was then led through the Eastern Gate of the Temple by a priest into the wilderness with Azazel never to be seen again. Until the priest who escorted Azazel into the wilderness returned and reported Azazel as departed, the people waited. Once the report was given, the afternoon service continued with the High Priest completing the sacrifice of the bull and the goat on the altar with the remains being taken outside Jerusalem to be burned.
      
      
   9. Conclusion of the Yom Kippur Services After this, the High Priest addressed those gathered reading the Yom Kippur Torah portions to confirm that all the Law required had been accomplished. Then the burnt offerings, vice the sin offerings made during the afternoon portion of the service, for Yom Kippur were made. As the sun began to set, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies a final time to remove the fire pan and ladle returning to perform the regular evening Temple service and, thus, bringing that Yom Kippur to a close.
      
      

1. General Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.
   
   As always, any of these restrictions can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved. In fact, children under the age of nine and women in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are not permitted to fast, even if they want to. Older children and women from the third to the seventh day after childbirth are permitted to fast, but are permitted to break the fast if they feel the need to do so. People with other illnesses should consult a physician and a rabbi for advice.
   
   Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue, in prayer. In Orthodox synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall. The services end at nightfall, with the blowing of the tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar. See the handout on Rosh Hashanah for more about the shofar and its characteristic blasts.
   
   It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). Some people wear a kittel, the white robe in which the dead are buried.
   
   
2. Traditional Liturgy
   
   The evening service that begins Yom Kippur is commonly known as Kol Nidre, named for the prayer that begins the service. "Kol nidre" means "all vows." In this prayer we ask the Lord to annul all personal vows we may make in the next year. It refers only to vows between the person making them and the Lord, such as "If I pass this test, I'll pray every day for the next 6 months!"
   
   Historically this prayer has often been held up by anti-Semites as proof that Jews are untrustworthy (indicating that we do not keep our vows), and for this reason the Reform movement removed the Kol Nidre prayer from its liturgy for a while. In fact, the reverse is true: we make this prayer because we take vows so seriously that we consider ourselves bound even if we make the vows under duress or in times of stress when we are not thinking straight. This prayer gave comfort to those who were converted to Christianity by torture in various inquisitions, yet felt unable to break their vow to follow Christianity. In recognition of this history, the Reform movement restored this prayer to its liturgy.
   
   There are many additions to the regular liturgy. Perhaps the most important addition is the confession of the sins of the community, which is inserted into the Shemoneh Esrei (Amidah) prayer. Note that all sins are confessed in the plural (we have done this, we have done that), emphasizing communal responsibility for sins.
   
   There are two basic parts of this confession: Ashamnu, a shorter, more general list (we have been treasonable, we have been aggressive, we have been slanderous...), and Al Chet, a longer and more specific list (for the sin we sinned before you forcibly or willingly, and for the sin we sinned before you by acting callously...) Frequent petitions for forgiveness are interspersed in these prayers. There's also a catch-all confession: "Forgive us the breach of positive commands and negative commands, whether or not they involve an act, whether or not they are known to us."
   
   It is interesting to note that these confessions do not specifically address the kinds of ritual sins that some people think are the be-all-and-end-all of Judaism. There is no "for the sin we have sinned before you by eating pork" (though obviously these are implicitly included in the catch-all). The vast majority of the sins enumerated involve mistreatment of other people, most of them by speech (offensive speech, scoffing, slander, tale-bearing, and swearing falsely, to name a few). These all come into the category of sin known as "lashon ha-ra," which means "the evil tongue;" in Judaism, this is considered a very serious sin.
   
   The concluding service of Yom Kippur, known as Ne'ilah, is one unique to the day. It usually runs about 1 hour long. The ark is kept open throughout this service. There is a tone of desperation in the prayers of this service. The service is sometimes referred to as the closing of the gates; think of it as the "last chance" to get in a good word before the holiday ends. The service ends with a very long blast of the shofar