Yom Kippur translates from the Hebrew as “the day of atonement.” It is a festival, established by Adonai with Moshe, as “an everlasting covenant,” a festival that all who fear the G-d of Abraham, Issac and Jacob are expected to observe.

There are no special accoutrements (like special prayer shawls or religious ornamentation, or even the carrying of a Swiss Army knife) that help celebrate this holiday. Instead, it is generally celebrated by wearing as much white clothing as possible to represent the washing away of sins, and is often accompanied by the observance of a fast.

One note I want to make about the celebration of Yom Kippur. While generally, the fast on Yom Kippur is observed with a complete fast from all foods, please note that one can fully and faithfully celebrate the Yom Kippur fast without going to unhealthy extremes.

For example, if you are on medication, it is not a breaking of your fast to take your medication on Yom Kippur. Remember the principle that must guide all Judeo-Christian observance: the preservation of life comes before all else.

Likewise, those who require special dietary considerations, such as diabetics, would be well advised to not observe a total fast, but a partial one. (For example, fast from sweets or something, but eat what you must to keep your blood sugar levels at a healthy balance.)

Finally, remember that among most messianic congregations, we are interested in following the pure, written Torah, but not necessarily the centuries of hallekah that have descended from Rabbinic oral Torah traditions. (Not that they are without value in some instances, but as a rule, the written Torah takes precedence over the oral Torah among the messianic community.)

Here’s an example of what concerns me. At our congregation this weekend, I overheard another member of our kehilat explaining how to observe the Yom Kippur fast to another member. She was insistent that the fast include all liquids, even water, from sundown to sundown. She then went on to repeat strict regulations on exceptions to the water portion of the total fast, insisting that the new member “try not to even drink water, but if you do, only take one ounce and, even then, you must not take water more than once every 15 minutes.”

This level of legalistic observance is overkill and is what Messiah Yeshua was referring to when he talked about the Pharisees of his day perverting the Torah into “a burden no one can bear.” In other words, be graceful in your observance of the Yom Kippur fast; it should be an observance of joy, not one of burden!