The three essential components of Yom Kippur are Teshuvah (repentance), prayer and fasting. Children under the age of nine are not allowed to fast. The sick, pregnant, and recently pregnant, are also relieved from fasting.  “The Day of Atonement” is the longest synagogue service of the Jewish year and is usually observed in all white, or the Kittel (white robe used to bury the dead).

Find out more about Jewish holidays on Judaism 101.