This is an article, published in the November 1, 1973 edition of The Sentinel explaining the reaction of the Chicago Jewish community to the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in Israel a month earlier. The article announces that the community has declared “Yom Kippur Sheni,” a second Yom Kippur, one month after the first, as a day of fasting, praying, and contributing to Israel in “commemoration of the desecration of the Day of Repentance by the surprise attack on Israel last month.” Rabbi Simeon Maslin, one of the organizers of the event said that “the observance of a second Yom Kippur will provide the opportunity for truly sacrificial giving in memory of our fallen brothers.” According the article, the special day was a nationwide event in which “Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Traditional Jews” were participating. The second Yom Kippur was fixed to coincide with the end of the shloshim, the thirty-day mourning period, for the soldiers who had died in battle. The main objective of this event was to raise money for an emergency campaign to support the extra needs in Israel due to the war. The article illustrates the responsibility felt by the Jewish community living outside of Israel to financially support their fellow Jews in Israel.
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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.
Yom Kippur War – The Yom Kippur War began on October 6, 1973 when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on the most holy day of the Jewish year. Taking Israel by surprise, the Egyptian and Syrian armies hoped to win back areas they had lost to Israel in 1967. Egypt attacked the Sinai Peninsula and Syria threatened the Golan Heights. Despite the initial shock, the Israeli army ultimately triumphed. This war is considered Israel’s most devastating due to the number of fallen and wounded soldiers, the IDF’s unpreparedness, and mistakes made in battle. The war officially ended about three weeks later on October 24 with a ceasefire, though there were still battles of attrition until the disengagement began in January 1974. The war had many social and political implications. The surprise attack and the large number of dead and wounded soldiers harmed Israeli morale and resulted in large public protest. The Agranat Commission was set up to investigate the failings of the military and political authorities involved. The commission’s report resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir and of the leading IDF commanders, David Elazar, Eli Zeira, and Shmuel Gonen (Goradish). In the long term, the Yom Kippur War is considered one of the main reasons for changes in Israel’s political map and the shift to right-wing rule in 1977. It is also viewed as the event that led to the peace treaty with Egypt.
The Chicago Sentinel - The Chicago Sentinel, a weekly newspaper for the Chicago Jewish community, was one of the longest continuously published Jewish weeklies in the United States. The first issue of the Sentinel was published on February 4, 1911. The newspaper focused on cultural events and included many eye-catching illustrations and photographs. It also published short stories and reports about events in the various Jewish communities. The Sentinel differed from many other English-language, often highbrow, Jewish weeklies, because it reached out to the Zionist immigrants who preferred to read in English and not Yiddish. The Sentinel is a treasure trove for social, cultural, and religious historians who are interested in American Jewish life outside of New York during the twentieth century.
