High Holidays · Yom Kippur
What are the five afflictions of Yom Kippur?
The tradition names five inuyim (afflictions) that we take on for Yom Kippur: no eating or drinking, no washing for pleasure, no anointing the body, no wearing leather shoes, and abstaining from marital relations.
The five afflictions, one by one
For roughly twenty-five hours, from sunset to the following nightfall, we set down five ordinary comforts. We do not eat or drink. We do not wash for pleasure. We do not anoint the body with oils or lotions. We do not wear leather shoes. And we abstain from marital relations. Each one is small on its own; together they lift us, for a day, out of the body's usual demands and toward the work of the soul — תשובה, teshuvah (return).
Where this comes from
The Mishnah in Yoma 8:1 sets out these five afflictions as the shape of the day. The Torah calls Yom Kippur a day on which תְּעַנּוּ אֶת נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם — "you shall afflict your souls" — and the sages read that phrase as these concrete practices. The point is not suffering for its own sake, but a gentle stepping back so the heart can hear itself before Heaven.
What to do
Begin the afflictions before sunset as Yom Kippur enters, and keep them until nightfall the next day. Set out canvas or fabric shoes in place of leather ahead of time. If a health condition touches any of these — especially eating and drinking — that is a real halachic question, not a failure of piety: ask your rabbi and your physician before the day begins.
Source: Mishnah, Yoma 8:1.
When you want the exact hour that the afflictions begin and end in your own city, let My Jewish Day (siddur, zmanim, the Hebrew calendar) hold the times so your heart is free for the day itself.
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