Hong Kong’s Jewish community set to celebrate Yom Kippur
Followers will reflect upon their deeds in the past year and look to atone, repent and forgive on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar
The Jewish community in Hong Kong will be celebrating Yom Kippur next week, the holiest day in Judaism.
Services for the event, also known as the Day of Atonement, will begin on the evening of October 11 with a candle lighting, which marks the beginning of a 25-hour fast.
This will be followed by the Kol Nidre, a prayer indicating the start of the evening service.
During this period, Jews will also refrain from working.
Services will then continue throughout the night until the end of the fast the following day on October 12.
Yom Kippur occurs every year on the 10th day of Tishri -–the seventh month of the Jewish year.
The central themes of Yom Kippur are atonement and repentance. “A person will think about what they did [in the past] year. ‘Did I do good? What did I do wrong?’ How they will improve themselves ... and society,” Netanel Meoded, Chief Rabbi of the Hechal Ezra Synagogue in Tsim Sha Tsui, said. “Fasting [allows you] to open your mind to think ... and try to elevate yourself to something else.”