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For those of you of the Jewish Faith, Yom Kippur starts at sundown tonight. Traditional practice includes fasting from sundown tonight until sundown tomorrow. Sexual activity and bathing during those hours is also refrained from. White is worn during this time.

Yom Kippur is a representation of death. For one day, believers encounter death in a very real form. All earthly pleasures are denied and suddenly the realization that we are not going to live forever is very clear in our minds. Enjoy today, for tomorrow we may die.

You don’t need to be Jewish to follow the practice of Yom Kippur. If you are anxious about the upcoming holidays of overindulgence, here is another practice that urges you to live a better life. Since so many of the major religions have a period of fasting at this time of year, it makes one believe that it is something within our physiological makeup that asks for this.

Beliefnet.com – Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement – by Rabbi David Wolpe