Yom Kippur services will be held on campus today and Saturday.

The services, hosted by the Hillel Student Jewish Organization and Congregation Beth Shalom of DeKalb, take place in the Holmes Student Center’s Regency Room tonight at 7:15 p.m. Morning and afternoon services begin at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 22. Hillel and Beth Shalom, the local Jewish congregation, collaborated to put this together, said Jeffrey Hecht, Hillel faculty adviser.

Yom Kippur is the Jewish holiday also known as the Day of Atonement. It is celebrated as a day to repent sins.

During Yom Kippur, the Jewish community participates in a 25-hour fast. Fasting begins at sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur and continues through the holiday until nightfall. The fast signifies concentration on prayers and repentance rather than physical needs, said a former Hillel adviser that preferred to retain anonymity.

Yom Kippur is considered a complete Sabbath, meaning no work can be done on that day. Students at NIU are often excused from classes to observe the holiday when it falls on class days. Most of Yom Kippur is spent praying in a synagogue or spent making amends with people. Yom Kippur is preceded by the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah Sept. 13, which is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. It also takes place before the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins five days after Yom Kippur.

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