The Ten Days of Repentance
The "ten days of repentance" include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the days in between, during which time Jews should meditate on the subject of the holidays and ask for forgiveness from anyone they have wronged. They include the Fast of Gedaliah, on the third day of Tishri, and Shabbat Shuvah, which is the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Shabbat Shuvah has a special Haftarah that begins Shuvah Yisrael (come back, oh Israel), hence the name of that Shabbat. Traditionally the rabbi gives a long sermon on that day.
It is held that, while judgment on each person is pronounced on Rosh Hashanah, it is not made absolute until Yom Kippur. The Ten Days are therefore an opportunity to mend one's ways in order to alter the judgment in one's favor.
Read more about this topic: High Holy Days
Famous quotes containing the words ten, days and/or repentance:
“Our challenge as parents is to be patient enough to allow our children to take ten minutes to do something that would take us two seconds. We need to allow our children to develop what I call their “struggle muscle.” This is developed the same way any other muscle develops, through regular exercise.”
—Stephanie Martson (20th century)
“Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished.
...penned in the language of truth, and divested of those expressions of servility which would persuade his majesty that we are asking favors and not rights.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 3:3.