Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv | The Day Israel Stands Still
Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of atonement, and is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. On this Jewish holy day in Israel, Tel Aviv comes to a standstill. In this video, I explore the traditions, quiet streets, and significance of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and learn about the true meaning of Yom Kippur in Judaism.
Yom Kippur comes during a month of Jewish holidays called the High Holy Days or Days of Awe. In 2022, I spent Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, documenting the secular celebrations out on the streets of Tel Aviv, as well as the more sombre, religious Jewish services taking place inside synagogues, where observant jews were fasting for 25 hours.
00:00-01:03 – Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv: Introduction
01:04-02:45 – DISCLAIMER: This was filmed before the Israel-Gaza War
02:46-04:54 – Rules for Jewish Holy Days: A Rabbi Helps Out
04:55-08:22 – A Secular Start to Yom Kippur
08:23-09:25 – Is Everyone Happy to See Cyclists on Yom Kippur?
09:26-11:14 – Tashlich: Casting Sins into the Water
11:15-13:09 – Bicycles on Highways for Yom Kippur: Tel Aviv’s Silent Streets
13:10-18:37 – Inside a Yom Kippur Synagogue Service
18:38-19:30 – Breaking the Fast after Yom Kippur
19:31-21:12 – The Many Faces of Judaism
#yomkippur #judaism #worldreligions #dayofatonement #holyday
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NOTE: This video was filmed and edited before the war in Gaza. Its style, therefore, does not reflect the gravity of the situation today, and the suffering millions are going through in the occupied territories. With one exception, I am publishing this series in the order that I filmed it, so this episode does not cover the war, and is just a glimpse into a Jewish holiday. You can find videos about the war, occupation, and their impacts on Palestinians on my channel, and more will be published in the future.
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Having lived in Apartheid South Africa and being conscripted, I want to make sure that its understood, the degradation and violence destroys the oppressors as much, or even more than it does the victims. I need two hands to count the number of friends who's lives were never the same after that terrible time. They were not the happy boys I met, they had seen the abyss and couldn't look away or be at peace ever again. No land is worth your soul.
I like how you mentioned your disclaimer, it was much needed to mention and I applaud your effort to report on something like this in spite of the situation, it's a brave thing to do, to publish this video now. I have a small constructive criticism however, if you would allow:
It's not a "war" if it's just one side funded by the largest world economies bombing children hospitals – and the other side is 2 million starving civilians + a dozen angry morons with a couple of old AKs. By branding it as a war we are sadly helping the biased media narrative.
These cities are older than israel.
War? It’s a genocide.
An uncomfortable watch. While this offers an on-the-ground insight into life in Israel, to be fair, the state of Israel has been meting out injustice and outright barbarism to the Palestinians and even it's allies since 1948 (& before under British rule). I realise we still have to get on with our lives while some truly terrible things are happening in the world, but it's disturbing to be watching YK celebrations in Israel, darkly juxtapositioned to events a year later. Obviously, Judaism is far from alone in failing to translate acts of purification into anything meaningful, but in Israeli society, these seem at best tokenistic and at worst, an onanistic self-indulgence, given the intolerable conditions in the nearby occupied land. I understand your determination to upload this diary and latest journey. I understand that this is perhaps a true test of your mettle as an explorer and, dare I say, as a journalist, but you will soon need to update your honorable disclaimer at the beginning of these videos as leaks from within Israel are showing that the IDF itself, enacting the "Hannibal directive" was responsible for much of the carnage on 7th Oct.
I BLESS ISRAEL! Within every fiber of my being! I Bless her! AND! She has every Right to do what she will do to her murderers. Almighty may go above and beyond what the Land of Israel does! Shalom My Beloved Israel