Jewish community prepares for Yom Kippur

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Sunday is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and the most holy day of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur begins at sundown Sunday night, and goes 25 hours until sundown on Monday.

“It’s a chance for us to come together as a whole community, and do some important thinking, and important praying and celebrating,” said Rabbi Peter Stein from Temple B’rith Kodesh in Brighton.

It’s a new beginning for followers of the Jewish faith. The new year starts this weekend. and Jewish leaders like Rabbi Stein are already preparing.

“Part of it is preparing the prayers and readings. Thinking about what poetry and other things to include in the service. Second part is preparing sermons, and other messages. What do I want people to be learning and thinking about?” said Stein.

One thought that remains is the safety of the congregants during the holiday. During last Friday evening’s Rosh Hashanah service at Temple B’rith Kodesh, a man caused a disturbance and had to be removed by the temple’s security team. He was taken into custody by Brighton Police. Stein says security will be enhanced this weekend.

“We work very closely with the Jewish community’s Security Director, and with the Brighton Police Department. They’ve all been professional, very supportive and helpful in every way, and (that) they were already in place in the incident we had last week was evidence of that. The security team did an outstanding job,” said Stein.

Meanwhile, bakery shops like Malek’s Bakery on Monroe Avenue in Brighton are busy with all sorts of pastry orders to be eaten before or after the holiday fasting period begins.

“So traditionally people eat a nice meal, often their family meal before the holiday, often people will eat a lot of carbs, or eat cake, or something they think is gonna hold them for the day. That’s really a matter of personal preference,” said Naftali Hanau.

For the faithful, we asked what does Yom Kippur mean to them?

Audrey Abrams said, “Especially as you go into Yom Kippur you get much more introspective about where you are in life, or I get much more introspective where I am in my life, and how do I want to be a little better for the coming year.”

According to Chabat.org, it is the year 5784 in the Hebrew calendar.