Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur
By Annet Wijnand

In the period from the Festival Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur there are ten days. In Jewish tradition these days are called the Days of Awe. During these days we search our hearts. We want to look at the things that are not right.

I teach the group children between the age of 9-12 years. The name of the group is: Beth Chinuch. This means in Hebrew: House of Education. This group in our Congregation Beth Yeshua in Amsterdam, Holland has about 15 children. When the children are one year before the age of Bar or Bat Mitsvah they are also taught Hebrew and learn the portion of the Bible to read.In this group we often have discussions. We search the Scriptures to find answers. The Torah is our guide. In the Torah we can read that  we are constantly drifting  apart from God and choose our own way of life.  We can read in Leviticus 16 about this special day. During Yom Kippur we are all dressed in white and sitting together in our class. We pray and ask God  if  He will open our hearts and we ask Him if He wants to show us what not right in our lives.

Then we have 3 questions:

1: Are there things in your life which you know they are not good and stand between you and God? Examples: Do you  have a fight with your brother or sister? Are you disobedient to your father or mother? Did you say bad things about your schoolmates?
We are talking about this and share our thoughts with each other.2: Leviticus 16:6-10 described the two goats. What does this remind us of?

3: How can you make things right with God and how can you change? The bible teaches us that if we come to God  and confess the things we have done He will forgive us and the blood of Yeshua purifies us from all sin. But we also need to change.1 John 5:3-5 says that loving Go’d means obeying  His commands. Moreover His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone who has God as his or her Father overcomes the world. And this is what victoriously overcomes the world: our trust. We do overcome the world when we believe that Yeshua is the Son of God.

We like to study in the Tenach and B’rit Chadasha and we speak with each other about what we discover. And so we are able to find answers. At the end we thank God for His teaching and ask Him if He wants to help us to change and do His commandments. Immediately after Yom Kippur is finished by blowing the shofar we enjoy the Lord’s Supper, in Hebrew: Seudat HaYeshua, with matzot and wine or grape juice.  This we do with our whole congregation. The children stand together in a circle and also they remember what Yeshua did for us. They are thankful for this great love of God.