This is a sign from the year 5744 (1983) announcing the time to light candles at the beginning of Yom Kippur and the time that Yom Kippur ends. The sign was sponsored by the ultra-orthodox organisation Agudat Israel in Jerusalem and was printed by the Committee Acting for the Observance of Shabbat. The yellow sign has a picture of two Shabbat candlesticks on the left-hand side and a verse from the Torah “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) at the top. In a box in the centre of the poster is the date of Yom Kippur and the times of the beginning and end of the fast. This poster indicates that candles are not only lit on the eve of the Shabbat but also on Yom Kippur and that Yom Kippur is also named Shabbat Shabbaton, a double Shabbat. It is also customary to light a memory candle, ner zikaron, at this time.
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Yom Kippur – Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the Jewish year. The date of Yom Kippur is 10 Tishrei, and it marks the end of the ten-day period beginning with Rosh Hashanah which is called the High Holy Days and the Ten Days of Repentance. According to tradition, God evaluates each person’s life and writes their name in either the Book of Life or the Book of Death during the Ten Days of Repentance; on Yom Kippur, the books are sealed. While reflection and prayer take place throughout the ten days, Yom Kippur is the most solemn day, and it is traditional to pray, fast, and refrain from bathing and wearing leather shoes. It is also traditional to give tzedakah (charity), during this time period. Another unusual custom is wearing a tallit for all of the prayers, when it is usually only worn during the day, and in some communities men wear a special white robe named a kittel. There are five services on Yom Kippur, beginning with the Kol Nidrei prayer and the Maariv service in the evening. Prayers are resumed the following day with Shacharit (morning service) and the Musaf (additional service) which includes a description of the special ceremonies that took place in the Temple on Yom Kippur. Later in the day is the Mincha service, during which the Book of Jonah is read, and the day comes to close with the Neilah service, considered to be the final opportunity to ask God to be written in the Book of Life, which ends with the congregation saying the Shema and the blowing of the shofar.
Agudat Israel – Agudat Israel is the political wing of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. It was established in Europe in 1912 as a response to the defeated motion at the 10th World Zionist Congress to fund religious schools. The motion was sponsored by the religious Zionist party, Mizrahi and as a result of its failure, several Mizrahi members resigned from the party and the Zionist organization and formed Agudat Israel. Before the creation of the State of Israel, Agudat Israel was anti-Zionist and opposed the creation of a political Jewish state. After 1948, the party represented the interests of the ultra-Orthodox in the Knesset. Agudat Israel runs its own school system in Israel, outside of the state religious school system.
