At sundown tomorrow, Bermuda's Jewish community will begin marking Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement is considered to many to be the most holiest and most solemn day of the Jewish religious calender.

Technically, the Sabbath is the most sacred day, but because of a fasting requirement Yom Kippur is generally thought to be more sacred.

In biblical law the penalty for violating the Sabbath -- death -- is much more severe than the penalty for violating Yom Kippur which is excommunication.

Also the more important the holiday, the greater number of aliyot (Torah honours) given out. On the Sabbath, seven aliyot are allocated. Yom Kippur, the second most important day in the Jewish calender, six aliyot are allocated.

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah (last Saturday) and Yom Kippur have special significance because Jewish tradition says it is during this period that God passes judgment over every individual. But He reserves his final judgment until Yom Kippur.

According to the The Jewish Book of Why, the Ten Days of Penitence are regarded as man's last chance, through his actions, to influence God to reconsider an unfavourable decision.

Yom Kippur (from sundown tomorrow to sundown on Monday) enables Jews to atone for sins against God, but not for those committed against humans. Hence it is customary for Jews to seek reconciliation with anyone whom they may have offended in the course of the year in a bid to begin the religious exercise with a clear conscience hoping to be inscribed into the Book of Life.

The holiday greeting, as Yom Kippur approaches, is `g'mar chatima tova' or `may you be sealed in the Book of Life for good'.

A strict 25-hour fast is observed commencing from sunset until nightfall the next evening.

According to the Encyclopaedia of Judaism, every male 13-years of age and over and every female over the age of 12 is obligated to fast. On the advice of their doctor, those who are sick may take medication and small amounts of food and liquids and the ill may be forbidden to fast altogether.

Normal Sabbath restrictions apply on Yom Kippur along with the five statutory rules of mortification: abstention from food and drink; marital relations; wearing leather shoes, using cosmetics and lotions and washing any part of the body other than fingers and eyes.

Various traditions and customs both at home and at the synagogue on the eve of Atonement Day and afternoon prayers are recited earlier than normal.

A se'udah mafseket, `final meal', is eaten before lighting the festival candles and a special memorial light is kindled to burn throughout the day.

Leather shoes are replaced by non-leather shoes or slippers before they leaves for the synagogue.

Universally on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Kol Nidre declaration of annulment of hasty vows made by man to God is recited.

The colour white -- a symbol of purity and forgiveness -- is used heavily during the services. A white curtain (parokhet) adorns the synagogue's Ark and the Scrolls of the Law and the reader's desk and other furnishings are also draped in white.

In some congregations the rabbi, cantor and other officiants wear a white kitel or gown. The tallit (prayer shawl) is worn continuously at all services.

Five services are held on Yom Kippur beginning with Kol Nidre -- the common name for the initial evening service -- soon after fasting commences. Festive Morning, Additional and Afternoon prayers follow with the concluding service being the Ne'ilah.

Each service has its own special features and characteristic liturgy, but common to all of them is the confession of sins, the viddu'i.

The Encyclopedia of Judaism said: "Both the shorter confession and the longer one are written in the first person plural to emphasise collective responsibility for the individual, and the individual's responsibility for his community.'' The Morning service includes a prescribed Torah reading (Lev. 16), a Maftir passage (Num. 29:7-11) on the various festival sacrifices, a Haftarah prophetical reading (Isa. 57:14-58:14) which describes a fast day truly acceptable to God, a penitential Selihot and other hymns. A Yizkor (memorial prayer) is recited to memorialise close relatives and provides an opportunity for the community as a whole to express its common loss.

The Additional Service (Musaf) features a reader's repetition of the Amidah during which a number of liturgical hymns are interjected. Another principle feature of the Additional Service is the Avodah.

Inserted in the confessions -- is the Elleh Ezkerah martyrology. This is the account of the ten martyrs who were tortured for defying a Roman emperor's ban on studying the Torah.

The Jewish Community of Bermuda will hold a Yom Kippur service Sunday, September 22 at 7 p.m. at Unity Centre in Hamilton. Another service will be held on Monday, September 23 at 10 a.m. at Unity Centre in Hamilton. A closing service will be held later that day at 6 p.m. at The Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club in Paget.