Prof Suresh Chander

suresh.chander@gmail.com

The killings in Manchester somedays ago, carried out on Yom Kippur, shocked not only the Jewish community but all who value peace and faith. Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a day not of anger or revenge but of deep repentance, fasting, and prayer. Its very purpose is to cleanse, to forgive, and to renew. That such a day should be stained by violence is a tragic contradiction.

And yet, if we pause, we find that the idea of a sacred cycle culminating in a day of forgiveness or renewal is not unique to Judaism. It runs like a quiet thread through many faiths, pointing to a profound unity beneath different practices.

In Judaism, Yom Kippur comes at the end of the Ten Days of Awe, which begin with Rosh Hashanah, the New Year

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