The Holiday of Yom Kippur and Ramadan - Essay Example

Number] The Holiday of ‘Yom Kippur’ and ‘Ramadan’ Introduction This essay compares and contrasts thefasting pattern of Jews and Muslims. For Jews, it is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for them; for the Muslims, it is Ramadan, which is their holiest month of the year. Both of these holidays have similarities and differences but the underlying purpose of repentance and purity is the same. Religious Roots Yom Kippur (the day of antonement) (House 137) is the most holy day for Jews and similarly Ramadan is the holiest month for the Muslims. Both of them are fasts; for Jews, it’s a single day, for Muslims, it’s a whole month. Despite the international tension and dividing events, some people among the Muslim and Jewish community still attempt to seize this occasion of similar holidays to narrow this gap in order to reach across the political divides to find a common ground, even if it is through the spiritual links between the religions of both communities. The Holidays of Yom Kippur and Ramadan both have spiritual roots, yet for different religions. Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday whereas Ramadan, which ends with eid-ul-fitr, is for Muslims (Blass 22); both of these involve fasting but in different patterns. Each of these holidays is in a period which is not fixed in the Gregorian calendar; rather, it has roots in their traditional calendars. Both Muslims and Jews follow a lunar calendar, yet their calculations are not the same. This determines the fact the Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday for Jews, falls during the Muslims holy Month of Ramadan only once in almost three decades. The literal meaning of word Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. This Jewish holiday begins 10 days after Rosh Hashanah. The Biblical reference to this holiday is “You should do no work throughout that day. For it is a Day of Atonement ("Yom Kippur") on which expiation is made on your behalf before the Lord your God. Indeed, any person who does not practice self-denial throughout that day shall be cut off from his people " Leviticus 23:27. Ramadan, on the other hand, is the 9th month of Islamic calendar (Cornell 21). It is compulsory for all adult Muslims as the month of fasting. It is said in the Quran: “O you who believe, fasting is decreed for you, as it was decreed for those before you, that you may attain salvation” Al-Baqara [2:183]. Duration Yom Kippur is a 25 hour fast, this holiday ends in a day (Escobar 53), whereas Ramadan is a whole month of fasting from dawn till sunset everyday. Both of these, although, are celebrated according to the Jewish and the Islamic calendars. Purpose Since both of these holidays are religious, it is natural that their purpose is to seek repentance for the sins committed in hope that they will get pardoned by their higher power. Both these holidays aim for the believers to seek purity in regard to their souls and avoid what would stain it throughout the year, not just on the holy day(s). Besides their main role to improve relations between man and God, both holidays also attempt to bloom positive relationships among people, to evoke passion among them to help each other. During the month of Ramadan, it is a custom for rich people to offer meals which are called ‘iftar’ to those who are less fortunate in the public places, once the sun sets and fast is to be broken/opened. Yom Kippur, too, ends with statement that the entire Jew community must undertake, promising that they will to the best of their abilities aim to help poor and show kindness to others and of course, try refraining from intentionally committing any sin. In Jewish belief, the purpose of Yom Kippur is to bring about resolution among the people and between God and the individuals. Jews also believe that this is the day when the fate of human beings is decided by God. So, according to Jewish tradition, it is also the day when God decides the fate of each human being. Ramadan is celebrated by Muslims in order to purify themselves of all evil and set aside the distractions of food and comfort to realize what the poor people go through everyday, thus, making them more modest and humble, better human beings. Rituals and intensity A significant part of fasting is that the people are forbidden to eat or drink anything unless they are young children, the women giving birth or people with medical conditions that forbid them to perform the fasting ritual. The acts of sex are forbidden strictly so are the moral evils like lying, backbiting etc which annul the fast. The focus centre is begging for forgiveness for the sins committed intentionally or unintentionally throughout the year, by praying as much as possible. Yom Kippur has further restrictions, it involves total abstinence during the 25 hours, not only food and drinks. It also includes restriction on tobacco, the sexual relations, etc for those who are more observant of faith: wearing outwear made of leather, driving vehicles, bathe, using luxuries like electricity etc. which are allowed in Ramadan, that is because this Arab holiday lasts for a whole month and these restrictions will trigger chaos in the society. So the restrictions during Ramadan are from dawn till sunset. Another ritual during Yom Kippur is that the priests of high regard enter the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem and intercede for the sins of nation (Escobar 53). For Muslims, a ritual during this holy month is to break away from the regular world and spend the last part of Ramadan (Ramadan is divided into three portions) in mosque for males and secluded places in houses for females to ponder over spirituality and prayers without other worldly distractions. This ritual, however, is not mandatory but highly rewarded in Muslim belief. Effect on Daily Life During Yom Kippur, the Jewish communities completely shut down, even the one’s who are settled in the communities that are non-Jewish take the whole day off. A significant part of this Jewish fast is spent in synagogue; that is where you are not to be tempted by food, or think about it, the rest of it is spent in sleep. It is easier for Jews, since they only need to take one day off. In Ramadan, the Muslims still have to go to their work during day. Although in Muslim countries the business hours are cut down, in the non-Muslim world, the business doesn’t stop or accommodate for this month of fasting, the Muslims must perform this spiritual ritual regardless, and wake up each day at dawn to eat and abstain from food till sunset. This is because it is almost impossible to halt these activities in business world for a whole month, and neither does Islam require the Muslims to restrain from work during the month of Ramadan. Variability of timings The occurrence of Yom Kippur is pretty much always during months of September or in October (Conard 62) and the duration is fixed since the fast is from dawn of one day to the darkness or sunset of the next. Ramadan migrates every year as it follows secular calendar, it travels through all the twelve months in the year. When Ramadan happens to be in summer, it has longer fasts then those in winters which are considerably short. Allowing hunger to be experienced at all times of a year is for the complete understanding of its purpose. Ending/Breaking the Fast The breakfast of Yom Kippur is one of the most celebrated and awaited moments for the Jews throughout the year, to gain purity yet the Jews only get to do it for one day in a year. Muslims, on the other hand, get to do it for an entire month and then celebrate the month of abstaining from all what is restricted by celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr on 1st of Shawal that is the 10th month in the Islamic calendar for the first three days of that month (Penprase 142). My Views Conclusion In conclusion, both these religious holidays can be used to reduce the gaps and differences between these two communities, by looking at the similarities they have rather than highlighting differences that are prevalent between these two communities. This is because in the multi cultural world of today, peaceful co existence is very important, yet it needs to be deeply rooted rather then done for the sake of just living together because that eventually results in violence between cultures anyway, if it’s not actually believed in. So, the holidays of Yom Kippur and Ramadan offer a tremendous opportunity for both Jews and Muslims to look beyond the barriers and initiate peace. This could be start of a peaceful and friendly relationship between the two, by starting to pick out similarities they might find many others and realize that everyone has spiritual base to bond over and make this world a better place with a lot less violence and hatred. Works Cited Blass, Rosanne J. Celebrate With Books: Booktalks for Holidays And Other Occasions. UK: Libraries Unlimited, 2005. Print. ‎ Conard, Mark T. The Philosophy of Film Noir, US: University Press of Kentucky, 2007. Print. ‎ Cornell, Vincent J. Voices of Islam: Voices of tradition. London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Escobar, Mark. On Bits and Pieces. NY: Xlibris Corporation, 2007. Print. ‎ House, Paul R. Old Testament Theology. London: InterVarsity Press, 1998.Print. Penprase, Bryan E. The Power of Stars: How Celestial Observations Have Shaped Civilization. London: Springer, 2010. Print. ‎ Read More