Yom Kippur - Forgiveness and vidduy.
According to the Talmud, God opens three books on the first day of the year; one for the thoroughly wicked, another for the thoroughly pious, and the third for the large intermediate class. The fate of the thoroughly wicked and the thoroughly pious is determined on the spot; the destiny of the intermediate class is suspended until Yom Kippur, when the fate of everyone is sealed. The liturgical piece Unetanneh Tokef (attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz) states: ...
Yom Kippur: Encyclopedia II - Yom Kippur - Atonement
Yom Kippur - Atonement
Yom Kippur - Forgiveness and vidduy
According to the Talmud, God opens three books on the first day of the year; one for the thoroughly wicked, another for the thoroughly pious, and the third for the large intermediate class. The fate of the thoroughly wicked and the thoroughly pious is determined on the spot; the destiny of the intermediate class is suspended until Yom Kippur, when the fate of everyone is sealed. The liturgical piece Unetanneh Tokef (attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz) states:
God, seated on His throne to judge the world, at the same time Judge, Pleader, Expert, and Witness, opens the Book of Records. It is read, every man's signature being found therein. The great trumpet is sounded; a still, small voice is heard; the angels shudder, saying, "this is the day of judgment": for God's very ministers are not pure before God. As a shepherd musters his flock, causing them to pass under his rod, so does God cause every living soul to pass before Him, to fix the limit of every creature's life and to ordain its destiny. On New-Year's Day the decree is written; on the Day of Atonement it is sealed; who shall live and who are to die....But penitence, prayer, and charity may avert the harsh decree."
According to Maimonides, "all depends on whether a man's merits outweigh the demerits put to his account", so it is therefore desirable to multiply good deeds before the final account on the Day of Atonement (Yad, Laws of Repentance 3:4). Those that are found worthy by God are said to be entered in the Book of Life, hence the prayer: "Enter us in the Book of Life". Hence also the greeting "May you be sealed [in the Book of Life] for a happy year" ("Gemar Chatima Tovah"). In letters written between New-Year and the Day of Atonement, the writer usually concludes by wishing the recipient that God may seal his fate for happiness.
Penitent confession was a requisite for expiation through capital or corporal punishment. On Yom Kippur, every prayer (whether silent or communal) includes the vidduy, a standardised confession. It consists of the short vidduy and the long vidduy (the latter is omitted in the ne'ilah service). Both are arranged alphabetically, probably to aid the public in memorizing it.
Yom Kippur - Reconcilation with others
"The Day of Atonement absolves from sins against God, but not from sins against a fellow man unless the pardon of the offended person be secured" (Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:9). Hence the custom of terminating on the eve of the fastday (or in the 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) all feuds and disputes. Even the souls of the dead are included in the community of those pardoned on the Day of Atonement. It is customary for children to have public mention made in the synagogue of their departed parents, and to make charitable gifts on behalf of their souls.
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