Summary: Shai Held. Ask a Jew about the meaning of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), and you are likely to hear that it is a day of repentance and forgiveness, a day when sins are atoned for and new beginnings become possible. That is an accurate portrayal of the Yom Kippur we experience each year, but it is actually very different from the Yom Kippur described in the Torah. Reprinted from Parashat Aharei-Mot 5774 in Rabbi Held's new book, The Heart of Torah (JPS, 2017)
