Posted on 09/17/2012 2:20:54 PM PDT by IsraelBeach
Petition To Make Jewish Day of Atonement Yom Kippur A US National Holiday
By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
New York, New York --- September 16, 2012 ... Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, the most holy day in the Jewish religion is not recognized as a national holiday in the US. It is a day set aside around the world for all Jews to “afflict the soul,” to atone for the sins of the past year. But yet, the sacred holiday of Yom Kippur has not been accommodated with the respect that it deserves in the US.
We are hoping that an online petition located at www.YomKippur.us will gather support from both Jews and Christians, to reach thousands through the Internet, using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to request of Congress to make Yom Kippur a national holiday.
Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. The Jewish Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.
In Israel, the small, vibrant democratic nation comes to a stand still. A complete freeze where cars, buses, trains and planes do not move. The only sounds are those of people praying and the children who take to the street on their bicycles. All is closed except for the Beit Knessets (Temples), the Israel Defense Forces and the police.
Most of the holiday, whether in Jerusalem, New York or LA is spent in the synagogue, in prayer. In Orthodox synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall. The services end at nightfall, with the blowing of the tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar.
Yet, this holiest of holy days is not honored in the US while other religious holidays such as Christmas are. The Christmas Day holiday includes decorations, emphasis on family togetherness, and gift giving. Christmas was designated a federal holiday by Congress and President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870. Yet, Jesus, who is celebrated in Christmas was a Jew who observed Yom Kippur.
Other US national holidays are January 1, 2012 - New Year's Day, January 16, 2012 - Martin Luther King Day, February 20, 2012 - Presidents Day (also known as Washington's Birthday, May 28, 2012 - Memorial Day, July 4, 2012 - Independence Day, September 3, 2012 Labor Day, October 8, 2012 - Columbus Day, November 11, 2012 - Veterans' Day, November 22, 2012 - Thanksgiving Day, and December 25, 2012 - Christmas Day.
Yet one of the oldest and holiest holidays known to man is not honored - Yom Kippur.
Why?
It appears that there has never been a formal request made to Congress for Yom Kippur.
Perhaps those who wanted to sponsor Yom Kippur as a US National Holiday never thought that it would be approved by a Congress which is primarily made up of Christians, Protestants, Baptists and Catholics. But if one looks at the record of who actually supports the Jewish state of Israel - the Christians are among Israel's greatest allies.
Imagine a Christian or Protestant being in a Muslim country on Christmas Day? They would feel alone, isolated. No Christmas carols, no Christmas trees, no lights, no glass ornaments - decorations, no Santa Claus - nothing.
This is the isolation that most Jews feel on Yom Kippur in the US.
Many Jews are expected to be at work. Whether being an attorney, judge, electrician, student, salesman, teacher or baseball player. The US calendar which respects Christmas from Maine to Washington, and in several states Easter and Good Friday, totally ignores Yom Kippur.
The Israel News Agency is requesting that all Jewish organizations in the United States support an effort to make Yom Kippur a national holiday. It starts with the co-sponsoring of a petition which will be sent to every Jewish member of Congress to support and pass.
These members include: Senate - Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Al Franken (D-MN), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
In the House - Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman (D-CA), Eric Cantor (R-VA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Stephen Cohen (D-TN), Susan Davis (D-CA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Bob Filner (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Jane Harman (D-CA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Sander Levin (D-MI), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Jared Polis (D-CO), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and John Yarmuth (D-KY).
Yom Kippur is the most important holiday of the Jewish year. As such, it should have the respect and recognition of and by the American people as a holiday observed and celebrated no less than Christmas and or Easter.
Please sign this petition and make Yom Kippur a US national holiday.
Also join our Facebook page for the latest information on this campaign.
Yom Kippur is considered one of the High Holidays. But yet in the US, it is not a holiday at all. Let's make it one!
Gonna have to change the Hebrew calendar so it always falls on a Monday, then.
No thanks. Enough already.
We have a better chance of making Ramadan a National US Holiday.
(At least while the muzzie in cheif is in the White Hut.)
Hey if the 0bama regime stays in power it will never happen because, as a muzzie, he hates the Jews and no one will be working anyway, so everyday is a holiday.
This almost looks as if a back door tactic to get that very thing passed. It wouldn’t take thirty seconds before it would be demanded too!
Enough what?
Not a good idea.
Jews are less than 2% of the population, probably a smaller percentage than Mormons.
Jews are vastly influential for their numbers, of course, but it’s a bad idea to have every tiny minority demand that its holy days be recognized by the majority.
And then comes Eid and Ramadan. Let’s just leave well enough alone.
Christmas is the sole Christian religious holiday, as all the rest are more or less secular. Or at least non-specifically religious.
And Christians are upwards of 75% of Americans.
Don’t forget Kwanzaa!
July 24
Wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a national day of repentance.
And we can start the repenting with Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Charles Schumer
In the House - Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Stephen Cohen (D-TN), Susan Davis (D-CA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Bob Filner (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Jane Harman (D-CA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Sander Levin (D-MI), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Jared Polis (D-CO), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA),
It is a mitzvah to use your vacation day to.fast and pray.
IMHO, none of the above are suitable subjects for nation-wide celebration: they are too religion-specific and far too sacred to be cheapened by being imposed on citizens with differing beliefs...
(Can you spell, "First Amendment"?)
Pioneer Day. Should be a National Holiday, obviously.
Also Christmas has become a worldwide holiday even in countries where few people are Christian.
Many of the present “Christmas” symbols have little or nothing to do with the birth of Christ as such: Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, etc.
I’ve got a lot of friends that are Jewish and I love the food but no. It’s not an American holiday, it’s got nothing to do with America as a whole.
This is a stepping stone trying to get America put under the law. The keeping of Jewish feast days is part of the Sinaitic covenant God made with the Jews. Christians understand the feasts as prophetic signposts, “shadows of things to come,” and are not to be kept having been nailed to the cross. Col. 2:14, 16,17 lumps the feasts (holydays, KJV) in with keeping kosher, new moons, and the Sabbath.
Gal. 4:21-31 begins by saying, “Tell me, you that desire to be under the law,” and then gives an allegory comparing the old covenant keeping of the Sinaitic law - which would include keeping Yom Kippur - to children of Hagar the slave woman, and Christianity to children of the freewoman (Sarah). Judaism is a type of religious slavery, in other words, of which Christians have been set free.
Now comes the Yom Kippur push. I see it as a back door attempt to Judaize Christian America. I am 100% opposed to this new thing they want to impose on us. My highest authority is the Bible, and that includes the passages cited above. As a Christian, I am commanded to NOT keep the law. They Jews are only about 2$ of the population of America, they are under the law, and desire to be so, why are they now making a push to put the rest of us under the law?
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