On the eve of Yom Kippur (Prayer). Artist Jakub Weinles (1870–1935)
The Historical Uniqueness and Centrality of Yom Kippur
Published: April 5, 2014
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Last Updated: September 7, 2026
כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם לפני י־הוה תטהרו.
Mishnah, Yoma 8:8-9; Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b-87a; Shabuoth 12b-14a.
Mishnah, Yoma 8:9; Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b. This concept was developed in medieval times by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon – Maimonides (Sefer Hamada, Laws of Teshuva 1:2-4; 2:9).
See J.B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (=ANET; 3rd edn with Supplement; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969), pp. 331-334; J. Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible; New York: Doubleday, 1991), pp. 1067-1070; J. Klein, “Akītu,” in D.N. Freedman (ed.),The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), vol. 1, pp. 138-140.
Since we do not know the exact date when Yom Kippur was celebrated for the first time in Israel, it is impossible to say whether we are comparing festivals hundreds of years apart or whether they overlap.
T.M. Willis, Leviticus (Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009), p. 139. According to Lev 16:1 (“after the death of the two sons of Aaron”), chapter 16 follows chapter 10 that reports the death. Therefore, chapters 11-15 are “inserts specifying the impurities that can pollute the sanctuary (15:31), for which the purgation rite of chap. 16 is mandated;” see Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, p. 1011.
The Rabbis dedicated a special Talmudic tractate to Yom Kippur – Yoma [= “The Day”] – in Mishnah, in the Tosefta, and in both Talmudim – the Jerusalem as well as the Babylonian.
Pesher means “commentary,” “interpretation.”
The version of the verse here differs a bit from MT version. Thus, instead of MT: מעוריהם, – Q1pHab 11.2 reads: מועדיהם. This reading can be a tendentious change in the Scroll (so B. Nitzan, Pesher Habakkuk: A Scroll from the Wilderness of Judaea (1QpHab), [Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1986], p. 190; Hebrew), or simply mistaken interchange of the graphically similar letters ר and ד.
The כהן הרשע (Kohen haRasha, “Wicked Priest”) is wordplay with כהן הראש (KohenhaRosh, “high priest;” see, for example: 1 Chr 27:5; 2 Chr 19:11; 24:11 [// 2 Kgs 12:11]; 26:20; 31:10; 2 Kgs 25:18 // Jer 52:24; cf. also 2 Chr 24:6 // 2 Kgs 12:8). The identification of the “Wicked Priest” (as well as “the Righteous Teacher”) in Pesher Habakkuk depends primarily also on the dating of the Scroll itself. In fact, it is still disputed among the scholars after almost 60 years of research; see Nitzan, Pesher Habakkuk, pp. 132-136; M.J. Bernstien, “Pesher Habakkuk,” in L.H. Schiffman and J.C. Vanderkam (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), vol. 2, pp.647-650 esp. 649.
See Nitzan, Pesher Habakkuk, p. 190; J.H. Charlesworth et al. (eds), The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations – Volume 6B: Pesharim, Other Commentaries, and Related Documents (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck / Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002), pp. 180-181; W.H. Brownlee, The Midrash Pesher of Habakkuk (Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 24; Missoula, MO: Scholars Press, 1979), p. 179, and the exposition on pp. 180-189.
See, J.M. Baumgarten, “Yom Kippur in the Qumran Scrolls and Second Temple Sources,”Dead Sea Discoveries 6 (1999), pp. 184-191 esp. 185.
See Talmon, “Yom Hakkippurim in the Habakkuk Scroll,” pp. 551-552; Bernstien, “Pesher Habakkuk,” p. 650. “An early stage of the calendar controversy appears to be reflected in Miqṣat Ma’ase haTorah (MMT),” see S. Talmon, “Calendars and Mishmarot,” in L. H. Schiffman and J.C. Vanderkam (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), vol. 1, pp.108-117 esp. 115-116.
See Sascha Stern, “Qumran Calendars: Theory and Practice,” in T.H. Lim (ed.), The Dead Sea Scrolls in Their Historical Context (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 2000), pp. 179-186 esp. 184-185. See also below in this study regarding the dispute between Rabban Gamliel II and Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, as related in the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 25a-b.
See in detail, Isaac Kalimi, “The Day of Atonement in the Late Second Temple Period: Sadducees’ High Priests, Pharisees’ Norms, and Qumranites’ Calendar(s),” in T. Hieke and T. Nicklas (eds.), The Day of Atonement: Its Interpretations in Early Jewish and Christian Traditions (Themes in Biblical Narrative 15; Leiden: E.J.Brill, 2012), pp. 75-96.
