Ten Days of Repentance

During this time Jews focus on taking stock of their lives, making amends with people and asking for their forgiveness, repenting for their sins and seeking out closeness with God.

The term "Ten Days of Repentance" appears in such early sources as the Jerusalem Talmud, the Pesikta Rabbati, and the writings of the Geonim, and has been the predominant title since the period of the Rishonim.

This repentance may be expressed as early morning penitentiary prayers (known as selichot), giving of charity, acts of kindness, self-reflection, or extra zehirut (spiritual vigilance).

[1] The period is described as a special one in the Talmud: Maimonides provides a fuller description: According to Nahmanides, "on Rosh Hashana He [God] sits on the throne as a true judge, and afterwards in the Ten Days of Repentance He pardons the crime of His servants".

In many editions of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur machzor (holiday prayer book), these words are crowned in smaller type with the words [respectively] fast, voice, charity to suggest that repentance includes fasting, prayer recited in a loud voice, and donations to charity.