Yom Kippur, Mortality and the Kittel

At Yom Kippur, a Simple Garment Shrouds Jews in 'Holiness'

RNS's Ansley Roan discusses the significance of the kittel, a garmet worn by many Jews on Yom Kippur, in this week's full text article, linked above.

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"We begin by wearing this white kittel Yom Kippur night," said Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, a professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. "It is as if you are preparing your body for death. The rest of Yom Kippur day, you are like you're dead -- you don't eat, you don't drink, you don't engage in sex."

All of those practices help people think about their own mortality, which is a significant aspect of Yom Kippur, said Small, who leads a Reconstructionist congregation.