Yom Kippur 2025 – 5786: Everything You Need to Know About the Holiest Day of the Year

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It is a day of fasting, prayer, repentance, and forgiveness, when we ask the Creator to seal us for a good and sweet year.

On this day, G-d forgave the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf and gave us the second Tablets of the Covenant. Ever since, Yom Kippur has been a special time each year for forgiveness, atonement, and spiritual purity.

🕰 When is Yom Kippur in 2025?

Yom Kippur 5786 begins on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, before sunset and ends on Thursday, October 2, 2025, after nightfall.

✡ Erev Yom Kippur – Preparing for the Holy Day

"Erev Yom Kippur" (the day before the fast) this year falls on Wednesday, October 1. On this day we prepare both physically and spiritually:

• Eating two festive meals: one in the morning and the pre-fast meal in the afternoon.

• Performing the Kapparot ritual.

• Immersing in a mikvah (for those who are able).

• Giving extra charity.

• Confession and personal prayer.

• Before sunset – lighting the Yom Kippur candles.

  
  

🍽 What is the Pre-Fast Meal (Seudah Mafseket)?

The Seudah Mafseket is the final meal before the fast begins. It is customary to eat foods that are light and easy to digest, such as poultry and fish, and to avoid salty or spicy dishes. When Grace After Meals is recited, the fast officially begins.

🕯 Yom Kippur Prayers

Throughout Yom Kippur, special and meaningful prayers are recited:

• Kol Nidrei – at the start of Yom Kippur, on the evening of October 1.

• Shacharit and Mussaf – including the Torah reading and a detailed recounting of the High Priest’s service in the Temple.

• Mincha – featuring the reading of the Book of Jonah.

• Ne’ilah – the final and climactic prayer of Yom Kippur, concluding with the blowing of the shofar and the proclamation: “Next year in Jerusalem!”

  
  

❌ What is Forbidden on Yom Kippur?

In addition to fasting (no food or drink), the Torah commands us to refrain from:

• Washing

• Anointing with oils/creams

• Wearing leather shoes

• Marital relations

  
  

📯 Shofar Blowing at the End of Yom Kippur

At the conclusion of the Ne’ilah service, after the fast ends on the evening of October 2, the shofar is blown. This blast symbolizes the closing of Yom Kippur and the start of a new year filled with forgiveness, hope, and blessing.

🎉 After Yom Kippur – A Fresh Start

Following the fast, we eat a festive meal and immediately begin preparing for the next mitzvot – building the sukkah and obtaining the Four Species for the upcoming Sukkot holiday.

Chabad of Foshan Invites You To Join Us

Join us for Yom Kippur prayers at Chabad Foshan – a warm and welcoming space where every Jew, regardless of background, can come together and pray on this holy day.

📌 For more details about prayer times and advance registration, please contact Chabad Foshan.

🕊 G’mar Chatimah Tovah!

May all our prayers be accepted, and may we all be sealed for a good, sweet, and blessed year.