A large part of DeKalb’s Jewish community celebrated Yom Kippur, an important day of religious atonement, Friday at the Holmes Student Center.

Both Hillel, NIU’s Jewish student organization, and Congregation Beth Shalom, a DeKalb synagogue, gathered for the special service with more than 100 people in attendance.

Yom Kippur is the most important day of the year for the Jewish community, said Avi Bass, former Hillel adviser.

“The name ‘Yom Kippur’ means ‘Day of Atonement,’” Bass said. “It is a day that we take to look at ourselves and seek forgiveness from God. And we also seek forgiveness from other people on an individual basis.”

Yom Kippur is the most serious holiday and is a profound time of introspection for identifying faults and deciding to do better in the next year, said Harvey Blau, NIU professor of Mathematical Sciences, and Beth Shalom, choir director.

In the Jewish tradition, God seals the “Book of Life,” said to contain the names of the righteous, at the end of Yom Kippur, said Hillel President Daniel Spivak. This is the last time to demonstrate repentance and make amends.

Yom Kippur also is a day of remembrance.

“We also take time to remember our dead, including the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust,” Spivak said.

Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath, meaning no work can be performed on that day. The Jewish community also does a 25-hour fast beginning at sunset on the previous evening and ending after nightfall on Yom Kippur. They refrain from eating and even drinking water, Bass said.

“We not only clean our souls, but we also clean our bodies,” Bass said.