317. Taking a Personal Day: The obligation to rest on Yom Kippur

We have pointed out several times now how each holiday has a negative command not to perform labor and a positive command to refrain from performing labor. When it comes to Yom Kippur, the negative appears in Mitzvah #315, while the positive is here.

As with the other holidays, the purpose of this mitzvah is so that we should not let our usual daily activities distract us from the meaning of each of these special days. That’s especially important when it comes to Yom Kippur, the day on which we’re supposed to be repairing our personal relationships with God.

We have mentioned earlier (Mitzvah #298) that the prohibition of labor on Yom Tov is slightly more lenient than that of Shabbos. For example, one may cook necessary food on Yom Tov. This is not the case with Yom Kippur; the laws of prohibited labor are exactly the same on Yom Kippur as on Shabbos. (The Torah uses the phrase “Shabbos Shabbason,” “a day of complete rest,” but it can also mean “the Sabbath of Sabbaths.” That is to say that Yom Kippur is to the other holidays as Shabbos is to weekdays.)

Performing labor on Yom Kippur renders one liable to a penalty of kareis (spiritual excision), which is not the case with other holidays. (See Talmud Kerisos 2a.)

This mitzvah applies to both men and women in all times and places. It is discussed in the Talmud in the tractate of Shabbos (114a-115a) and is codified in the Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim 611. It is #165 of the 248 positive mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos and #31 of the 77 positive mitzvos that can be observed today in the Chofetz Chaim’s Sefer HaMitzvos HaKatzar.