Ha, funny name Yom Kippur! What does it mean?
You don't know what "Yom Kippur" is?! It's the Jewish holiday of the Day of Atonement. The Bible calls the day Yom Hakippurim. It is one of the Yamim Noraim (Hebrew, "Days of Awe"). The Yamim Noraim consist of Rosh Hashanah, which is the first two days of the Ten Days of Repentance, and Yom Kippur, which is the last of the ten days.
In the Hebrew calendar Yom Kippur begins at nightfall starting the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (which falls in September/October), and continues until the next nightfall.
Yom Kippur will occur on the following dates in the next few years:
2005: October 13
2006: October 2
2007: September 22
2008: October 9
2009: September 28
2010: September 18
Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of repentance, considered to be the holiest and most solemn day of the year. Its central theme is atonement and reconciliation. Eating, drinking, bathing, cosmetics, wearing leather (including shoes), and conjugal relations are prohibited. Fasting begins a bit before sundown (called 'tosephet' Yom Kippur, the 'addition' of fasting a bit of the previous day is required by Jewish law), and ends after nightfall the following day.
In recognition of Yom Kippur, law schools will cancel all evening classes on Wednesday, October 12th, and both day and evening classes on Thursday, October 13th.