Skip to content
Beit HaMikdash

יום הכפורים

The Day of Atonement

One person, one day, one room. The crowd is silent, and this page slows down with it.

Everything on this day is performed by the Kohen Gadol. The Mishnah tractate Yoma follows him from a week of preparation to the evening he leaves in peace.

The order of the day

Read slowly. Nine stages, from the Mishnah.

  1. Seven days of preparation

    1 / 9
    What you see
    A week before, the High Priest moves to a chamber in the Temple; a substitute is prepared in case he becomes unfit.
    What it means
    The whole nation's atonement rests on one person's readiness.
    Where it comes from

  2. Five immersions

    2 / 9
    What you see
    Through the day he immerses five times and washes hands and feet ten times, changing between golden and white linen garments.
    What it means
    Each stage of the day begins cleansed.
    Where it comes from

  3. The confessions

    3 / 9
    What you see
    He lays his hands on his bull and confesses for himself and his household; later for the priests; later for all Israel. Hearing the Divine Name, the people bow to the ground.
    What it means
    Atonement begins with naming wrongdoing aloud.
    Where it comes from

  4. The lots for the two goats

    4 / 9
    What you see
    Two identical goats; one lot reads 'For the Name', the other 'For Azazel'.
    What it means
    Leviticus 16's two paths of atonement.
    Where it comes from

  5. Into the Holy of Holies

    5 / 9
    What you see
    He walks between the curtains with coals and incense, places them on the Foundation Stone, and the chamber fills with smoke. He says a short prayer outside, 'so as not to frighten Israel'.
    What it means
    The site does not show the interior. See the Holy of Holies page.
    Where it comes from

  6. Incense before the Holy of Holies

    6 / 9
    What you see
    He fills a ladle with incense and a pan with coals, and walks the length of the Heichal to the space between the two curtains.
    What it means
    Leviticus: the cloud of incense covers the ark-cover, so that he does not die.
    Where it comes from

  7. The sprinkling

    7 / 9
    What you see
    He brings the blood of the bull, and then of the goat, and sprinkles once upward and seven times downward, counting aloud.
    What it means
    Purification of the Sanctuary itself on behalf of the people.
    Where it comes from

  8. The Torah reading

    8 / 9
    What you see
    He reads the Yom Kippur passages from the Torah to the people.
    What it means
    Word and service together, even on the day of the Holy of Holies.
    Where it comes from

  9. Leaving in peace

    9 / 9
    What you see
    In his own clothes, he is escorted home and holds a celebration for coming out of the Holy safely.
    What it means
    Awe gives way to joy.
    Where it comes from

The Name

Mishnah / Talmud: Recorded in the Mishnah or Talmud, the rabbinic texts that preserve Temple practice and law.

In his confessions the High Priest spoke God's Name as it is written. The Mishnah records that the people, hearing it, bowed to the ground. The site does not reproduce the Name and does not speculate about how it was pronounced.

כִּי־בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם לְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם מִכֹּל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם לִפְנֵי ה׳ תִּטְהָרוּ׃

For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the LORD.
The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation

Even on this day the Mishnah insists the service does not atone alone: it atones with repentance, and for wrongs between people only once the person wronged is appeased.