Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה, Yehudah, "Judah") is the religion of the Jewish people, based on the principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), as further explored and explained in the Talmud. Judaism is among the oldest religious traditions still practiced today and is considered one of the world's first monotheistic faiths. At the core of Judaism is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. In 2007, the world Jewish population was estimated to be 13.2 million people—41 percent in Israel and the other 59 percent in the diaspora. The traditional criterion for membership in Judaism or the Jewish people has been being born to a Jewish mother or taking the path of conversion.

Jewish tradition maintains that the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham (c. 1800 BCE), the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people. According to the traditional Jewish belief, God also created another covenant with the Israelites (the ancestors of the Jewish people), and revealed his laws and commandments (Mitzvot) to them on Mount Sinai in the form of the Written Torah. Traditional Judaism also maintains that an Oral Torah was revealed at the same time and, after being passed down verbally for generations, was later transcribed in the Talmud. Laws, traditions, and learned Rabbis who interpret these texts and their numerous commentaries comprise the modern authority on Jewish tradition. While each Jew's level of observance varies greatly, the traditional practice of Judaism revolves around the study and observance of God's Mitzvot.

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The Hebrew month preceding Rosh Hashanah, Elul, is designated as a month of introspection and repentance. In preparation for the Jewish New Year, special prayers are recited. Psalm 27 is added at the end of morning and evening prayers, and the shofar (ram's horn) is blown at the end of morning services on weekdays (except for the eve of Rosh Hashanah itself). Among Sephardi Jews, Selichot are recited at dawn on weekdays throughout the month. Also, many complete the entire Book of Psalms twice during the month. It is customary to increase the giving of charity (Tzedakah) and to ask forgiveness from friends.

At midnight on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah, Ashkenazi Jews begin reciting selichot. On the following days, however, they generally recite the selichot before the regular morning prayers. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, extra prayers are recited and many fast until noon.

Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה rōsh hashānāh, beginning of the year) is the Jewish New Year, and falls on the first and second days of the Jewish month of Tishri (September/October). The Mishnah, the core work of the Jewish Oral Torah, sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and Sabbatical and jubilee years.

Rabbinic literature describes this day as a day of judgment. God is sometimes referred to as the "Ancient of Days." Some descriptions depict God as sitting upon a throne, while books containing the deeds of all humanity are opened before Him.

Prayer services are longer than on a regular Shabbat or other Jewish holidays, and include (on weekdays) the blowing of the shofar. On the afternoon of the first (or the second, if the first was Saturday) day, the ritual tashlikh is performed, in which sins are "cast" into open water, such as a river, sea, or lake.

The "ten days of repentance" include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the days in between, during which time Jews should meditate on the subject of the holidays and ask for forgiveness from anyone they have wronged.^[1] They include the Fast of Gedaliah, on the third day of Tishri, and Shabbat Shuvah^[2], which is the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Shabbat Shuvah^[3] has a special Haftarah that begins Shuvah Yisroel, hence the name of the Shabbat. Traditionally the rabbi gives a long sermon on that day^[1][4].

It is held that, while judgment on each person is pronounced on Rosh Hashanah, it is not made absolute until Yom Kippur. The Ten Days are therefore an opportunity to mend one's ways in order to alter the judgment in one's favor.^[1]

Yom Kippur (יום כפור yom kippūr, "Day of Atonement") is the Jewish festival of the Day of Atonement. The Hebrew Bible calls the day Yom Hakippurim (Hebrew, "Day of the Atonement/s").

In the Hebrew calendar, the ninth day of Tishri is known as Erev Yom Kippur (Yom Kippur eve). Yom Kippur itself begins around sunset on that day and continues into the next day until nightfall, and therefore lasts about 25 hours.^[5]

Jews fast throughout Yom Kippur and attend synagogue for most of the day. There are five prayer services, one in the evening (sometimes known as "Kol Nidre" from one of the main prayers) and four consecutively on the day.^[5]

There is a Kabbalistic belief that, though judgment is made absolute on Yom Kippur, it is not registered until the seventh day of Sukkot, known as Hoshana Rabbah. The service for this day therefore contains some reminiscences of those for the High Holy Days, and it is treated as a last opportunity to repent of sins that may have been missed on Yom Kippur.

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