Exeter Observes Yom Kippur
By LOGAN BECKERLE, CARLY CANSECO, AVNI MURARKA, SEAN RICARD, and COLBIE TIPPER
Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of atonement. It is one of the most sacred days in Judaism, where followers fast and reflect on the past year. These reflections are focused on introspection and repentance. At Exeter, many Jewish students, teachers, and other members of the community observe Yom Kippur. The fast and end of the holiday is concluded by the shofar, a traditional ram-horn trumpet, being played.
As Exonians were given the day off on Oct. 11 for Yom Kippur, some may assume that the day could be treated as a holiday or celebration. “Yom Kippur isn’t really a celebration,” senior Matt Grossman and co-head of Exeter Jewish Community (EJC) clarified. “It’s the Day of Atonement. It’s a day to count all your sins and apologize to yourself and to God for them and commit to living a better life.”
Upper Ethan Benenson, a fellow co-head of EJC, reflected a similar sentiment.“A big theme in Christianity is about repentance and about asking forgiveness for your sins. But in Judaism, we just have one day for it on Yom Kippur, and it comes just about a week after Rosh Hashanah, which is when we celebrate the New Year. Yom Kippur is one of the holiest days in the Jewish year, and it’s a time for reflection on the past year and starting to try to figure out how you can be a better person in the future.”
On campus, the observance of Yom Kippur is led by Rabbi Jennifer Marx-Asch and the leaders of EJC. “Rabbi plays the most central role; she leads services,” Grossman said. “But Rabbi isn’t just a spiritual leader—she is an intellectual and cultural leader for the Jewish community on campus. She is in every sense, in every essence, our leader, and we love her for it.”
Fellow EJC co-head and upper Elias Warner agreed: “Rabbi plays a very major role in the experience. She leads all the services, gives teachings, coordinates the events, and generally makes the holiday very meaningful.”
Though different from how some students are accustomed to observing Yom Kippur at home, students appreciate the services that the Academy offers. “The services and activities offered on campus are pretty good,” Grossman said. “We have a Rabbi and we have a good community that is willing to come together, listen to shofar, and pray, just in a less observant sense than say, a traditional synagogue.”
Benenson also described differences between his experience at Exeter and back home:“Back home, the only synagogue around was conservative, so men and women are separate. [Here,] pretty much all the prayers are the same [even though] the tunes are a little bit different. But back home, the services are much, much more comprehensive, and pretty much entirely in Hebrew.”
For day students, practicing Yom Kippur is easier, as they can go to local synagogues or practice through other means. For boarders, however, the lack of transportation presents an issue. “The challenges of observing Yom Kippur on campus for more religious students,” said Grossman, “are, if they want to listen to Torah or go to a more religious service, their access to that is pretty limited because of the way that Out-of-Towns work and the lack of transportation options to those services.”
“But the facilities on campus, I’d say, are more than enough for most people,” Grossman continued.
As a religious and affinity community, EJC does not just encompass students, but faculty as well. Many of these faculty voiced positive opinions for the school’s method of observing Yom Kippur. “I’m pleased that the school made the commitment to honor the day, in particular by not scheduling athletic events,” Instructor in Science Scott Saltman said. “While I am not a leader of EJC, I do strive to serve as a role model in our community. I hope students of all faiths recognize that it is important to me to take the time to share Shabbat and other traditions and observances.”
Many Jewish students appreciated having the Friday off; it helped to further their observance. “It helps to have Friday off before Yom Kippur,” Grossman said. “Yom Kippur is usually a day off for Exeter. It has been the past four years that I’ve been here, and that is a very considerate decision made on the part of the school administration.”
This allows time for Jewish students to prepare for fasting and/or time to attend services. Warner agreed, “I don’t feel like I encounter any challenges during Yom Kippur, we have the day off even when the holiday falls on a weekday, so that it gives us the space and time to observe it”.
Grossman explained that the services were also not limited to just the Jewish community at the Academy: “EJC has prepared for Yom Kippur by letting people know about the ceremonies and traditions that we have here at Exeter. We have students who come in and who are not Jewish who help us with services.”
On the eve of the Yom Kippur services, the community observes a tradition called Kol Nidre in which students pray on the eve of Yom Kippur. “The prayers are usually sung,” Grossman continued, “but unfortunately, we do not have a congregation to sing the songs. So instead we get two students, one on the cello, one on the piano, to play for us which is great.” For the past two years, seniors Roxane Park and Davido Zhang have done so, performing Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidre” for cello and piano.
For members of the Jewish community, Yom Kippur is about repentance and forgiveness, but it is also about reflection, which is something that anyone can apply to their own life. “I think the messages of Yom Kippur don’t just have to relate to the Jewish people,” Benenson explained. “That theme of reflecting on your faults, on your past year, and figuring out how you want to move on spiritually and emotionally and become a better person, that’s something that all Exonians and all people can take into account.”
“I hope that with the extra long weekend,” Benenson continued, “people take some time to honestly appreciate the message of Yom Kippur and see how it might apply to them.”
