Q. What are the Ten Days of Repentance?
A. The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah (1st Tishrei) and ending with Yom Kippur (10th Tishrei) are commonly known as the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) or the Aseret Yemei Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance. This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur.
Q. What is the deeper meaning behind these days? Why is there a period of time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?
A. One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe is the concept that G-d has “books” that he writes our names in, writing down who will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter G-d's decree. The actions that change the decree are “Teshuvah, Tefilah and Tzedakah,” repentance, prayer, and charity. These “books” are sealed on Yom Kippur. According to tradition, the judgment of most people, who are neither totally righteous nor wicked, is not concluded until Yom Kippur, but the entire ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is considered an auspicious time for drawing closer to G-d.
Q. How should I greet my friend during the Ten Days of Repentance?
A. The custom is to say to one's friend “Gemar Chatima Tova” (A good sealing) or Gemar Tov (A good conclusion), since it is presumed after Rosh Hashana that he has already been inscribed in the book of righteous people, and he only requires the sealing of his good decree on Yom Kippur.
Q. Are there any particular actions associated with repentance?
A. Among the customs of this time, it is common to seek reconciliation with people you may have wronged during the course of the year. The Talmud maintains that Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible.
Q. If the person I wronged does not know that I wronged him, should I seek reconciliation with him?
A. There is a dispute among the latter authorities whether one should go to him and seek reconciliation. On the one hand sins towards another person require one to ask forgiveness of the person he sinned against. On the other hand by telling him what one has done against him one causes him anguish and this may be needless if he will never find out about it.
Q. What is the custom regarding Kapparot?
A. Kapparot is practiced in its literal form only by some sectors of Orthodox Jews. Basically, you purchase a live fowl, and on the morning before Yom Kippur or earlier you wave it over your head and recite a prayer asking that the fowl be considered atonement for sins. The fowl is then slaughtered and given to the poor (or its value is given). Many Jews today simply use a bag of money instead of a fowl, waving it over their heads in the same way.
Q. Are there special Selichot (supplications) recited during the Ten Days of Repentance?
A. On most of the days the Selichot are in the usual format. The Sefardic Selichot have the same format for the entire period when they recite them, from the beginning of Elul. The Ashkenazim recite more Selichot during the Ten Days of Repentance and particularly on the Thursday or Monday preceding Yom Kippur, which is known as Zechor Bris.
