Yom Kippur 2014: Here are all the quotes, wishes and prayers to celebrate the Jewish Festival aka
Yom Kippur 2014: Here are all the quotes, wishes and prayers to celebrate the Jewish Festival aka "Day of Atonement'.Reuters

Yom Kippur, the sacred Jewish occasion to fast and offer prayer to the God almighty, is often celebrated as a promise to oneself that one would renew one's spirit and take a step forward towards spiritual fulfilment.

Considered to be the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur is a day, many Jewish believe, when God seals their fate for the coming year and that those who repent their sins will be granted a happy year ahead.

Here are 10 Quotes on Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement which could also be shared as wishes or prayers for the occasion.

  1. "The entire world is God's message of love to us. Yom Kippur is the time when we are most open to receive this message." – Rabbi Noah Weinberg
  2. "We should not be the same person the day after Yom Kippur that we were the day before Yom Kippur. We should be moving ahead, raising our lives to a higher level." – Rabbi Marc D Angel
  3. "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." –Mahatma Gandhi
  4. "Who can say 'I have purified my heart or I have been cleansed from my sins?' There is no person on earth so righteous that he never sins! Cast away the evil you have done and get a new heart and spirit." – Unknown
  5. "Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holy of holies of Jewish time. It is that rarest of phenomena, a Jewish festival without food. Instead it is a day of fasting and prayer, introspection and self-judgment when, collectively and repeatedly, we confess our sins and pray to be written into God's Book of life." – Jonathan Sacks.
  6. "You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest." – Tertullian
  7. "Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord." – Leviticus 23:27
  8. "People can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But you have to forgive yourself. Let go of what's bitter and move on." – Bill Cosby
  9. "When Jews appear for Divine judgment, the angels say to them: "Don't be afraid, the Judge...is your Father." – Midrash Tehillim
  10. "While we should not allow the burdens of the past nor the anxieties of the future to exert a destructive effect on our living, the constructive lessons of the past and a responsible attitude towards the future can guide us to a proper and responsible life." Rabbi Abraham J Twerski

Here are five quotations from some for the Major Hebrew scriptures that capture the essence and spirit of the festival:

  1. "If a person fasts for his/her sins, and goes again and does the same things, who will listen to her/his plead. And what has (s)he gained by humbling him/herself?" – Sirach or Ecclesiasticus 34:26
  2. "Who can say 'I have purified my heart, I am free of sin?' There is no man on earth so righteous that he never sins!" – Prov. 20:9
  3. "Peace, peace to the far and to the near!" – Isaiah 57:19
  4. "If a wo/man says, I will sin and repent and then I will sin again and repent, s/he is not in a position to repent. Likewise if s/he says: I will sin, and the Day of Atonement will atone for me, the Day of Atonement will not atone for her/him." – M Yoma 9:9
  5. "The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and confidence for ever." – Isaiah 32:17