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I'll respond to your questions one at a time.
By what other names is it known?
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Yom Kippur is also known as the "Day of Atonement" (Yom HaDin) and is
part of a period known as the "Days of Awe" or the "Days of
Repentance." It is also known as the "Sabbath of Sabbaths" (Shabbat
Shabbaton).
Yom Kippur
URL: http://www.bry-backmanor.org/holidayfun/highholydays.html
Quote: "Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are considered High Holy Days in
the Jewish religion. Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New
Year and Yom Kippur is also known as the Day of Atonement. These two
days and the days in between are known as the Days of Awe or the Days
of Repentance."
Yom Kippur: FAQ
URL: http://www.zipple.com/holidays/yomkippur/yomkippurfaq.shtml
Quote: "Yom Kippur is also known as Shabbat Shabbaton, the highest of
Sabbaths, so anything prohibited on Shabbat is prohibited on Yom
Kippur."
When is it celebrated?
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Yom Kippur is celebrated beginning at sunset on the 10th day of
Tishri, the 7th month of the Jewish year. In 2002, Yom Kippur begins
on the evening of September 15th. In 2003, Yom Kippur begins on the
evening of October 5th.
Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur
URL: http://www.classbrain.com/artholiday/publish/printer_145.shtml
Quote: "Yom Kippur begins on Sunday, September 15th at sundown. Yom
Kippur means the Day of Atonement or ‘Afflict the Soul.’ This is the
most sad, yet sacred, day of the Jewish Year. It is the ‘Sabbath of
Sabbaths.’ It is on the 10th day of Tishri, the 7th month, and is a
day of fasting, prayers, and reflection."
Jewish Holidays for 2000 - 2003
URL: http://www.amfi.org/jewishcalendar2000etc.htm
What does it celebrate?
***********************
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is believed that
God seals a persons fate for the coming year during Yom Kippur.
It celebrates Moses's return from Mt. Sinai with the replacement set
of Ten Commandment tablets. It represents the repentance of the Jewish
people and God's forgiveness of them.
YOM KIPPUR: Origins
URL: http://www.everythingjewish.com/YomK/YK_origins.htm
Quote: "The first Yom Kippur took place after Moses returned from his
second trip to Mt. Sinai with the replacement set of tablets
containing the Ten Commandments. He had broken the original set when
he returned the first time to discover the children of Israel
worshipping a golden calf rather than G-d, who brought them out from
Egypt....Moses successfully pleaded with G-d on their behalf, and on
the first of Elul, he ascended the mountain, this time for a second
set of tablets. In Moses' absence, the nation fasted from sunrise to
sunset. Moses descended the mountain on the tenth of Tishri. Upon
returning, Moses found the nation truly repentant and announced that
G-d had forgiven them. He decreed that the tenth of Tishri would
remain a day of atonement for all generations."
YOM KIPPUR: The Day of Atonement
URL: http://www.amfi.org/kippur.htm
Quote: "Following the Golden Calf, Moses pleaded with God to forgive
the Jewish people. Finally, on Yom Kippur, atonement was achieved and
Moses brought the second set of Tablets down from Mount Sinai. From
that day forward, every Yom Kippur has carried with it a special power
to cleanse the mistakes of Jews (both individually and collectively)
and to wipe the slate clean."
How was it observed in Jesus' day?
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The following sites shed some light on how Yom Kippur was observed in
Jesus's day.
Yom Kippur and the Foundations of Dreams
URL: http://www.uucf.org/sermons/001015yomkip.html
Quote: "In ancient Israel, the people of Israel would gather before
the temple in Jerusalem and confess their sins. The sins would be
confessed to the High Priest who would ritually place them upon a goat
and then drive the goat out into the wilderness. There it would surely
die, and the sins were thus forgiven and atonement was made."
What did the High Priest do differently on Yom Kippur?
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The following sites explain how the High Priest's actions on Yom
Kippur were different than on other days.
Yom Kippur
URL: http://www.roshpinah.org/feasts/Yom%20Kippur.html
Quote: "On this day, the high priest went to the Holy of Holies with
the sacrificial blood to make atonement for the people’s sins. He
sprinkled the blood on the Ark of the Covenant. Prominent at Yom
Kippur as well was the ceremony of the scapegoat. The priest laid his
hands on the head of the animal, which then symbolically carried away
the sins of the people."
Yom Kippur in Bible Times
URL: http://biblicalholidays.com/Yom-Kipppur/yom-kippur-bible-times.htm
Quote: "The high priest is entirely responsible for the Day of
Atonement. He began preparing for this day a week early. He stayed in
the high priest chamber in the temple court and studied the laws of
the Day of Atonement. It was very important the priest not make a
mistake. An error could cost him his life and the nation of Israel’s
atonement. The high priest spoke a word this day that was unspeakable
all other times. During the services he voiced the Holy name of God,
YHWH or Yahweh ten times during the ceremony. When the people heard
the Holy Name they fell on the ground in reverence."
Note: Read this entire page for even more details!
High Priest Garments
URL: http://biblicalholidays.com/Yom-Kipppur/priest_garments.htm
What is a scapegoat?
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The scapegoat is the sacrificial goat upon which the sins of the
Jewish people was placed during Yom Kippur. The following sites
explain in greater detail.
Yom Kippur - Day Of Atonement
URL: http://www.shofar.org/shalom/8710_yom_kippur.htm
Quote: "For this ceremony the high priest brought forward two goats as
sin-offerings to God for the people. One goat, reserved by lot 'for
the Lord', he sacrificed on the altar. He sprinkled its blood eight
times before the 'mercy seat' in the inner sanctuary--the Holy of
Holies--and between the staves of the Ark of the Covenant. (This was
another magical rite 'to make atonement for the holy place, because of
the uncleanliness of the Children of Israel, and because of their
transgressions...')...Then he solemnly confessed the people of their
sins, which he placed, in magical transference, upon the head of the
second goat, the 'scapegoat' which was destined for the appeasement of
Azazel, the evil demon who infested the wilderness. This animal was
led ceremoniously up a high cliff and flung down the precipice to its
death. The instant this was done, the vast multitudes who thronged the
Temple area and all the surrounding hills of Jerusalem, received the
concluding signal. It was the waving from one of the Temple gates of a
strip of white wool, symbolizing purity. When the people saw it
flutter, they shouted for joy. They took it as a sign that their sins
had been forgiven."
YOM KIPPUR: Origins
URL: http://www.everythingjewish.com/YomK/YK_origins.htm
Quote: "Using a goat, called Azazel, often translated as scapegoat,
the High Priest would place his hands on its head and confess the sins
of the nation, essentially laying the blame on the head of the animal.
The goat was then pushed off a high cliff to fall to its death."
How is it observed today?
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The following sites give plentiful details about how Yom Kippur is
celebrated today. Read the complete pages for more details on
observances.
Yom Kippur
URL: http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm
Quote: "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....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 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 (Is. 1:18).
Some people wear a kittel, the white robe in which the dead are
buried."
The Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur
URL: http://www.holidays.net/highholydays/yom.htm
Quote: "On the eve of Yom Kippur the community joins at the synagogue.
Men put on prayer shawls (not usually worn in the evenings). Then as
the night falls the cantor begins the "Kol Nidre", it is repeated 3
times, each time in a louder voice. The Kol Nidre emphasizes the
importance in keeping vows, as violating an oath is one of the worst
sins....An important part of the Yom Kippur service is the "Vidui"
(Viduy) or confession. The confessions serve to help reflect on ones
misdeeds and to confess them verbally is part of the formal repentance
in asking G-d's forgiveness. Because community and unity are an
important part of Jewish Life, the confessions are said in the plural
(We are guilty)."
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