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The Israelites at Mount Sinai

Yom Kippur

Moses led the Israelites away from Egypt into the desert of what we now call the Sinai Peninsula. When they reached Mount Sinai, the Lord told Moses to climb the mountain.  There, God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. Moses was gone a long time, and the people waiting for him became very scared.   Everyone gave their golden jewelry and other gold possessions so that they could be melted together to make a golden calf that they could worship.  An altar was built before it, and sacrifices were made.  After the ceremony, everyone sat down to eat and drink, dance and play.  They felt safe now that they had a golden calf to worship! This did not make God very happy.  The stone tablets with the 10 Commandments were complete, so He told Moses to go down to the people and straighten things out.  When Moses arrived in the camp, he saw the golden calf and the way everyone was acting.  He became so angry he smashed the stone tablets on the ground.  He ordered the golden calf to be melted down and ground into powder.  Some of this was scattered on the ground and he even had it mixed with water and made the people drink it! The Israelites were sad and embarrassed by how they had acted when Moses was away, and begged for forgiveness.  Eventually, God asked Moses to return to the mountain where he gave him another set of stone tablets on which were written the 10 Commandments. The most holy day of the year for those who follow the Jewish faith is Yom Kippur.  Jewish tradition traces this "Day of Atonement" back to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, when they asked for and received forgiveness for their sin of idolatry.    There is a Jewish calendar that is different from our regular calendar. Yom Kippur is always celebrated on the 10th day inTishrei (the name of a month). The date in our calendar changes from year to year, but it is always in September or early October.

Learn more about Moses

Baby Moses       Moses and the Burning Bush      Let My People Go!      Passover

A little more about Yom Kippur

September 2013
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