Breaking the Yom Kippur Fast

Appears in
The Gefilte Variations
The Gefilte Variations

By Jayne Cohen

Published 2000

  • About

The fast begins before sundown on 10 Tishri (September or October) and lasts until the first stars appear the following night

At the close of Yom Kippur a voice issues from heaven and says, “Go and eat your bread joyfully, drink your wine in good spirit, for God has accepted your efforts”

—ECCLESIASTES RABBAH 9:7

Then my father came back to life, and in the evening he broke his fast after the Ne’ilah service.

—YEHUDA AMICHAI, “THE TIMES MY FATHER DIED”

When the first stars twinkle in the autumn sky, the piercing blast of the shofar, the ram’s horn trumpet ancient as Israel, is sounded at last. Spiritually refreshed now and confident of God’s compassionate judgment, Jews will break the long fast in the company of family or perhaps surrounded by friends at a potluck get-together.