Yom Kippur to the Messianic Jew

This painting from the Dutch painter Maurycy Gotlieb is a famous picture of Jews fasting in a synagogue during Yom Kippur.

Between Personal Redemption and National Atonement

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is one of the most solemn days in the Jewish calendar as the Scriptures command us in Leviticus 23: 27–28: “On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves …, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.” For Israel, this day has always been about reconciliation with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But, after the destruction of the Temple, due to a lack of options with no Temple standing, fasting, prayer, and repentance became the instruments through which Israel sought forgiveness.

We stand in a unique place. We believe the ultimate fulfillment of Yom Kippur was accomplished in Messiah Yeshua, who entered not into an earthly sanctuary, but into the heavenly one (Hebrews 9:11–12). His once-for-all sacrifice is our assurance of eternal redemption. Yet, while we rest in this assurance, we remain part of the people of Israel, bound by heritage, covenant, and destiny. Thus, Yom Kippur can not be understood as a relic of the past but as a living day of deep reflection, communal solidarity, and intercession.

Where We Differ from Traditional Jewish Views

Our Jewish brothers and sisters, faithful to the Torah as they currently may understand it, approach Yom Kippur through prayer, fasting, and repentance, seeking God’s mercy without a Temple or a blood sacrifice. They rely on texts such as Hosea 14:2: “Take with you words and return to the LORD…” as evidence that prayers and repentance work together to bring forgiveness. From their perspective, the covenant continues through Israel’s faithfulness and God’s mercy.

We, however, already met the Messiah who revealed Himself to us. We know that forgiveness cannot rest only in our fasting or affliction, since they’re imperfect and would never be enough. We need the atoning blood of Yeshua. As the prophet Isaiah wrote (Isaiah 53:5–6): “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,… and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The difference, therefore, is not in the seriousness of sin or the need for repentance. It is in the foundation: traditional Judaism does not yet see the cross, whereas we live from it.

How Messianic Jews Should Approach Yom Kippur

For those of us who actually want to celebrate Yom Kippur, the main struggle will be the question of identity. On the one hand, we know with certainty that “by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). On the other hand, we belong to a stiffnecked people still crying out for atonement without recognizing the One who has already made it possible. This is not simply an intellectual tension but a practical one, felt by each individual as we fast, in our souls as we join the communal prayers. Yom Kippur has an altruistic side that can't be ignored, as, in our spirits, we intercede for Am Israel.

This tension is not a contradiction, I must say. The Scriptures themselves prepare us for it. Daniel, though righteous before God, confessed his people’s sins as his own: “We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled” (Daniel 9:5). Nehemiah, too, prayed: “Even I and my father’s house have sinned” (Nehemiah 1:6). These men did not separate themselves from their people’s guilt but entered into solidarity with them. In the same way, we stand with Israel, bearing their cry, even as we know that Yeshua’s sacrifice has already secured our forgiveness.

Real believers in Yeshua should naturally welcome Yom Kippur as a day of identification and intercession. We do not fast to earn God’s forgiveness, but to humble our hearts before Him on behalf of our nation. Paul’s words in Romans 9:2–3 are clear: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” If the apostle, a redeemed believer, could still grieve so deeply for his people, Israel, why shouldn’t we join in the prayers, interceding for their eyes to be opened?

There is also a prophetic role that we should consider. When we fast with Israel (even while resting in Messiah’s finished work), we act as fulfilling a covenantal sign. Our presence embodies the Redemption that already came, although still not yet embraced by our People. In this way, Yom Kippur is a memorial of the past but also a rehearsal for the future. Zechariah foresaw a day when “Israel will look upon the One whom they pierced and mourn for Him as for an only son” (Zechariah 12:10). Then, Yom Kippur is a call to pray as redeemed people for a nation not yet redeemed. That personal salvation in Yeshua does not absolve us from corporate responsibility. On the contrary, it makes it deeper and stronger.

To join The Way of the Messiah is to willingly carry His burden for His people, the burden that made Him weep over Jerusalem: “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” (Luke 19:42). Therefore, we should not run from this tension but embrace it as a personal calling, our main ministry as Talmidei Yeshua. Yom Kippur is not about our personal standing before God, it’s about standing in the breach for Israel. It’s about asking the Father that the veil would be lifted, that our nation would finally see its Redeemer, and that the promise of Romans 11:26, “all Israel will be saved”, would become reality. Our fasting and prayer must take on a new meaning, and we must leave empty rituals and act altruistically from a basis of intercessory love. We enter Yom Kippur to wrestle, in prayer, for our people’s salvation. We cry out for Israel to experience what we already know: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).

Each believer will probably decide this Yom Kippur how best to observe the day in practical terms. Some will join their people in the synagogues, others fast privately with their families or with their local congregations. Meanwhile, we can read Leviticus 16 and Psalm 51, then read Hebrews 9 and 10, Romans 3, and Jeremiah 31. We can make restitution when needed and confess to one another, and ask forgiveness when necessary. We’ll certainly fast and pray, and let our lives be a living Hak’hel, a united people hearing the Word, returning to God, and sending the gospel out as a testimony of both God’s justice and His mercy.  But I hope that one day, we may see the development of a unified Messianic halachah for Yom Kippur observance in Israel. If Yeshua comes soon enough, we won’t need it surely, but for now, our calling is clear: to humble ourselves, to intercede for our people, and to keep our eyes fixed on the One who has already made atonement once and for all.