Yom Kippur and its Restrictions

These Halachos of Yom Kippur and its Restrictions are based on the Mishna Berura, reflecting Ashkenazi practice.

Atonement

• Yom Kippur only provides atonement for those who do teshuva if they believe that it cleanses from sin; one who dismisses it as being ineffective at doing so will indeed not receive atonement (R 607:6)
• Interpersonal sins: Yom Kippur does not provide atonement for aveiros (sins) that one did to another person unless one has first appeased them. See our section on seeking forgiveness for interpersonal sins here (SA 606:1)

The Restrictions Applying on Yom Kippur

• The following are prohibited on Yom Kippur, starting from sunset at the start of the 10^th of Tishrei (plus the extra time we add on beforehand as ‘tosefes’ – see our treatment of this here) and ending at nightfall at the end of the day (plus the time we add on afterwards for tosefes):
  1. Doing Melacha – the activities forbidden on Shabbos, be it on a Torah or Rabbinic level, are also forbidden on Yom Kippur
  2. Eating and drinking
  3. Washing oneself
  4. Anointing oneself
  5. Wearing leather footwear
  6. Marital intimacy (consequently a husband and wife must act as if she is niddah) (SA 611:1-2)
• (1) and (2) are forbidden on a Torah level and carry the punishment of ‘kares’, spiritual excision, when done intentionally.
• (3) to (6) do not carry the punishment of kares and the poskim debate if these are Torah (based on the passuk ‘ve’inisem es nafshoseichem’, ‘and you shall afflict yourselves’) or Rabbinic prohibitions.
  • In practice we are strict to treat them as Torah prohibitions (which is relevant when dealing with cases of doubt – in cases of doubt we are strict on Torah prohibitions and lenient on Rabbinic ones) (SA 611:1, MB 2-3).

Ill People Fasting

• One who has an illness to the point where their life might be endangered by fasting may not fast on Yom Kippur.
  • The same applies to a pregnant lady when the pregnancy which may be put at risk due to the fast as well as to nursing mothers in cases where fasting may impact a mother’s milk supply in a way that could endanger her baby.
• We will not go into these halachos in this forum; one who has an illness etc where this might be relevant should speak to their Rav sufficiently in advance of Yom Kippur to ensure that their Rav has time to consult medical professionals to determine whether they should fast, and if not, what quantities they should eat and drink and at what time intervals (as where possible, those who are allowed to eat on Yom Kippur should restrict the amounts they eat and drink within each timeframe of a few minutes).