To seal the verdict
“On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed,” says the prayer. The Day of Atonement is the last chance to change the verdict of the coming year.
Through the Ten Days of Awe a person takes stock and returns to good. Yom Kippur is the summit of that path: a whole day given to prayer, fasting and repentance, free of the cares of the body and the everyday.
Tradition teaches that Yom Kippur atones for wrongs between a person and God. But it does not cover sins against other people until you have made peace with the one you wronged. So on the eve it is customary to ask forgiveness of those close to you.
Teshuvah, tefillah, tzedakah
Teshuvah — return
Repentance and a return to good: to admit the wrong, regret it and resolve not to repeat it. Not self-reproach, but a turn toward the better.
Tefillah — prayer
On Yom Kippur there are five services — more than any other day. The words of confession are said together, by the whole community, in the plural: “we have sinned.”
Tzedakah — charity
Good deeds and help for those in need. As the sages say, “teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah avert the severity of the decree.”
Confession and reconciliation
The central prayer of the day is the vidui, the confession. It is recited many times, with a light beat on the chest, listing wrongs in alphabetical order (Ashamnu, Al Chet). One says “we,” not “I”: the community answers for all together.
But no prayer replaces living reconciliation. Before asking forgiveness of Heaven, tradition bids you make peace with the person — return what is owed, speak a kind word, let go of the grudge.
On Rosh Hashanah it is written — on Yom Kippur it is sealed.