PETA approved atonement (Leviticus 23:28)

In Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah God writes down in a "book" (sometimes referred to as the Book of Life) the prospects of the next year for each person. During the next 10 days, Jews have the chance to reflect on their lives, repent, and atone for their shortcomings. The last day to appeal your entry in this "book" is on Yom Kippur which literally means Day of Atonement. People fast for 25 hours from sunset to sunset, refraining from any food or drink including water. Most of that time is spent in the synagogue for prayer. At the end of that day, the "books" are sealed.

While not all of these traditions are specifically written in the Bible, it loosely relates to the duties of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement as written in Leviticus 16. The High Priest performed multiple animal sacrifices to atone first for his sins and then for the sins of the nation for the coming year. Intermixed with these sacrifices, he cleansed himself through five ritual baths and four sets of special clothes. This is the only time of year anyone can enter the most holy part of the temple and only the High Priest may enter. And this isn’t like a frowned upon offense with a slap on the wrist. Two of Aaron sons, the first High Priest of Israel, were improperly making offerings and they were consumed by the fires their offerings (Leviticus 10:1-3).

So the immediate question is why don’t Jews do these animal sacrifices any more? The direction I’m most commonly pointed is that God set aside the Temple in Jerusalem as the only place to properly offer sacrifices (such as Deuteronomy 12:5). After the second temple was destroyed with little hope of return the Jewish leadership decided that there no longer was a proper place to make these offerings and as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, God is a stickler for the rules when it comes to proper sacrifices. Jews are waiting for the third Temple to be built in the Messianic Era before continuing the tradition of animal offerings. Their modern sacrifices are comprised of worship, prayer, and seeking after God. All of which are heavily featured on this day of atonement.

If you know why Don Drysdale said “I bet right now you wish I was Jewish, too.”