Judaism Fast Facts

CNN Library

Updated 12:30 PM ET, Thu August 16, 2018

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Yom Kippur is Judaism's day of atonement, when devout Jews ask God to forgive them for their transgressions and refrain from eating and drinking, attending intense prayer services in synagogues.

Photos: Photos: Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur – Yom Kippur is Judaism's day of atonement, when devout Jews ask God to forgive them for their transgressions and refrain from eating and drinking, attending intense prayer services in synagogues.

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During the holiday, the streets in Israel's cities are nearly empty in respect of the holiday. Businesses, public transportation and even Israeli television and radio broadcasts are suspended, according to Israel's tourist information website.

Photos: Photos: Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur – During the holiday, the streets in Israel's cities are nearly empty in respect of the holiday. Businesses, public transportation and even Israeli television and radio broadcasts are suspended, according to Israel's tourist information website.

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Yom Kippur – Israeli children ride their bikes on an empty street during Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv.

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Men and women participate in a Selichot prayer ahead of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Selichot is Hebrew for forgiveness.

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Yom Kippur – Men and women participate in a Selichot prayer ahead of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Selichot is Hebrew for forgiveness.

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Yom Kippur – A child walks in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood.

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Yom Kippur – Romanian Jews, seen through a glass door, attend a religious service ahead of Yom Kippur at the Great Synagogue in Bucharest, Romania.

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Yom Kippur – Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men roll a Torah scroll ahead of Yom Kippur in Jerusalem.

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An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man whips another ultra-Orthodox Jew with a leather strap as a symbolic punishment for his sins during the traditional Malkot ceremony, ahead of Yom Kippur, in Jerusalem.

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Yom Kippur – An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man whips another ultra-Orthodox Jew with a leather strap as a symbolic punishment for his sins during the traditional Malkot ceremony, ahead of Yom Kippur, in Jerusalem.

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Yom Kippur – An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights a candle ahead of Yom Kippur in Jerusalem.

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Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men participate in a Tashlich ceremony at the Mediterranean Sea, in the southern Israeli port city of Ashdod. Tashlich, which means '"to cast away" in Hebrew, is the practice by which Jews go to a large flowing body of water and symbolically "throw away" their sins by throwing a piece of bread or similar food into the water before the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

Photos: Photos: Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur – Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men participate in a Tashlich ceremony at the Mediterranean Sea, in the southern Israeli port city of Ashdod. Tashlich, which means '"to cast away" in Hebrew, is the practice by which Jews go to a large flowing body of water and symbolically "throw away" their sins by throwing a piece of bread or similar food into the water before the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

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Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men pray along the Ayarkon River in the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv.

Photos: Photos: Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur – Ultra