Israeli Orthodox Jews gear up for Yom Kippur holiday with atonement rituals

Devout members of the Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, branch of Judaism on Tuesday were preparing for the upcoming Yom Kippur holiday throughout their traditional neighborhood of Jerusalem by performing various ceremonies representing atonement and repentance, as documented by an epa-EFE reporter in the ancient Middle Eastern city. Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and involves a 25-hour fasting period coupled with constant prayer, as well as the obligation to give to charity. It became a widely-recognized term across the world after the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria.