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Erev Yom Kippur

On the day preceding Yom Kippur, known as Erev Yom Kippur (lit. 'eve day atonement'), a number of activities are customarily performed in preparation for Yom Kippur. These activities generally relate to the themes of the holiday, but are forbidden or impractical to do on Yom Kippur itself.

According to the Talmud, "Yom Kippur does not atone for sins between a person and his fellow until he has appeased his fellow." Thus, it is common practice on Erev Yom Kippur to request forgiveness from other individuals for misdeeds one has done to them. The Talmud records no less than 14 stories attesting to the importance of the day for repairing relationships with one's spouses, parents, children, coworkers, the poor, and other individuals. The day before a major Jewish holiday is often devoted towards preparing for that holiday (as with burning chametz before Passover or obtaining the Four Species before Sukkot); for Yom Kippur, the appropriate preparation is to seek forgiveness from one's fellow man. Nevertheless, one should not ask forgiveness if this will cause further harm (for example, by bringing up an insult the victim was unaware of).

According to halakha, one must eat on Erev Yom Kippur. A variety of reasons have been suggested for this requirement, among them:

Many Orthodox men immerse themselves in a mikveh on this day. Opinions differ on whether this is a technical act to remove ritual impurity, or else a symbolic one to symbolize one's cleansing from sin on Yom Kippur.

The kapparot ritual, in which either money or a chicken is given to charity, is performed by some on Erev Yom Kippur as a means to enhance atonement.

In this day's morning prayer service (Shacharit), additional selichot prayers are recited. In the afternoon prayer (Mincha), the long confession is recited, just as it is on Yom Kippur itself. This confession is recited before the last Erev Yom Kippur meal (the "Separation Meal" - in Hebrew se'udah hamafseket or aruha hamafseket), in case one becomes intoxicated at this meal and is unable to confess properly afterwards, or else because a person might choke to death at that meal and die without confessing (seemingly an unlikely possibility, but one which reminds a person of their mortality).