Yom Kippur In NYC: Everything You Need To Know

NEW YORK CITY — The city's more than 1 million Jewish people will celebrate Yom Kippur on Friday, a high holiday of atonement marked by fasting and reflection. The holiday, considered the most important in the Jewish faith, begins at sundown tomorrow and ends at sundown on Saturday.

Synagogues and Jewish groups across the city will host services Friday evening to mark the start of Yom Kippur. The holiday is a time to atone for sins committed in the past year and often involves prayer, fasting and reading scripture.

Because most of the holiday falls on a Saturday, most people observing won't have to worry about missing work. Alternate side parking rules are suspended on Saturday in observance of the holiday.

Many organizations hold "break fast" meals to celebrate the end of Yom Kippur. The day's final prayer service, called the Neilah, is usually closed by blowing a shofar, or ram's horn.

(For more on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University will host a series of Yom Kippur services on Friday and Saturday, with separate services catering to the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform traditions. All services will be at NYU's Kimmel Center for University Life at 60 Washington Square S. in Manhattan. Tickets can be reserved online.

The City Congregation, a humanistic Jewish congregation, hosts secular Yom Kippur services that include personal reflections from members and a time to remember loved ones who have died, according to its website. The congregation's Kol Nidre service, held the night before Yom Kippur, starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday at The Watson Hotel at 440 West 57th St. in Manhattan.

Union Temple in Prospect Heights will offer Yom Kippur services throughout the day on Saturday, including a special service for kids at 9 a.m. The temple is located at 17 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

Yom Kippur comes between two other major Jewish holidays — Rosh Hashanah, the start of the new year on the Hebrew calendar, ran from last Wednesday through Friday; and Sukkot, a weeklong celebration recalling the Israelites' journey through the desert, starts on Oct. 4.

(Lead image by מינוזיג - MinoZig via Wikimedia Commons)