From Your Ohav Family: A last minute Pre-Yom Kippur check list.
As we approach this holiest day of the Jewish year, may we suggest the following to you for the Kol Nidre prayers and throughout the Yom Kippur holiday:
It is the common practice to not wear leather shoes or clothing on Yom Kippur as a sign of simplicity, harmony with all life, and abstinence from our usual material pleasures.
You are encouraged to wear your Tallit, starting at tomorrow night’s service, or to pick up one owned by Ohav. On Yom Kippur, each person is like one of God’s angels, according to Jewish legend. Wearing the Talliton Yom Kippur promotes this powerful individual and collective image.
Please don’t forget to bring some closed, non-perishable food with you, beginning tomorrow afternoon, for our high holiday food bank drive.
Please switch your cell phone/s to vibrate or off for the duration of our worship. Yom Kippur is a time for intense contemplation and silence. Taking a break from intrusive technologies in non-emergencies goes a long way toward fostering this contemplative atmosphere.
Please respect others’ need for silence by refraining from socializing while in the sanctuary.
Our annual Lashon Hara (gossip) cold turkey begins on Yom Kippur eve and continues through the end of the holiday. Give yourself a chance to refrain from gossip, good or bad, during the 25 hours of the holiday.
Finally, we encourage everyone to use this time for repentance, forgiveness, and starting anew in this new year 5780.
May God grant us, our families, our community, our nation, the people and state of Israel, and all humanity peace! Shanah tovah.