By Naftali Silberberg

Imagine you could go back in time... What would you do differently, now that you have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and the added maturity and wisdom which comes with age and experience? There are so many things you would change that you probably wouldn't even know where to begin. Would you start with your teenage years when you dreadfully mistreated your parents, completely unappreciative of all they had done for you?

By Aron Moss

Question: I find Yom Kippur depressing. Why spend a day focusing on our sins and failures? Do we need to be reminded how far we are from being perfect?Answer: Yom Kippur is a celebration of being human. And being human means being imperfect. Human failure is so predictable, G-d has placed on the calendar an annual day of forgiveness. It is not an optional holiday only for those who happen to have sinned. Yom Kippur comes every single year for every single person.

By Jay Litvin

People think that teshuvah (repentance) is only for sinners. But even the perfectly righteous individual must do teshuvah -- i.e., "return" to elevate his perfect past to the level of his more perfect present Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi You stand in this moment. Many such moments lay behind you. Many more, G-d willing, before you. In each of these moments there is, there was, there will always be a choice. A decision of importance or one concerning a simple day-to-day task. A choice between disciplining your child or accepting his or her behavior as a natural part of development.

Fasting:
On Yom Kippur, women over 12 years old and men over 13 must fast.
In addition, the biblical commandment to "afflict" ourselves during Yom Kippur includes abstention from the following: eating, drinking, bathing, wearing of leather footware, marital relations and personal "anointing" (use of body lotions etc.). If unable to fast for health reasons, consult your Rabbi.

Clothing and Jewelry:

A Fasting Meditation

By Aron Moss

Question:
I understand that fasting on Yom Kippur is supposed to make me focus on my soul rather than my body. But by around lunch time I am so hungry that for the rest of the day all I can think about is food. Doesn't this defeat the purpose? How can I become more spiritual with a growling stomach?

By Yanki Tauber

I shouldn't have..." "If only I'd known..." Whether it's an outright wrong, an unwise decision or a missed opportunity, we humans tend to harp on the past, often to the detriment, or even paralysis, of our present endeavors and future potentials. Some would advise us to let bygones be bygones and get on with our lives. We are physical beings, and the laws of physics (at least as they stand now) dictate that time runs in one direction only.

What follows is a how-to guide to the basics of Yom Kippur observance. For a more in-depth guide of Yom Kippur
PREPARING FOR YOM KIPPUR

Kaparot:
The Kaparot (atonement) service is performed early morning with a live chicken (or alternatively with money) which is then donated to charity.

By Yanki Tauber

How many are we? There's our animal self, which hungers and lusts and bares its fangs when its turf is challenged; our emotional self, which loves and fears, exults and agonizes; our intellectual self, which perceives and analyzes and contemplates the other selves with smug detachment; our spiritual self, which strives and yearns, worships and venerates.