Choose ONE of the four Yom Kippur Jewish text excerpts your teacher provides and write an evidence-based textual analysis essay. Your essay should include a thesis, 2–3 pieces of textual evidence, and commentary that explains how the evidence supports your claim.
Reading A — Leviticus 16 (Day of Atonement / Avodah ritual)
Teacher: paste the excerpt here (or link/handout reference).
Write an essay that analyzes how this text uses ritual actions (e.g., purification, offerings, the role of the priest, the people’s participation) to communicate its understanding of atonement.
In your response:
State a thesis about what the passage suggests is needed for atonement (and for whom).
Use 2–3 specific pieces of textual evidence (quote or paraphrase precisely).
Explain how the details of the ritual function as meaning-making (what the ritual implies about sin, community, holiness, responsibility, or repair).
Optional extension: connect your analysis to one other Jewish idea we’ve studied (e.g., teshuvah, covenant, ethical obligations, communal vs individual responsibility).
Reading B — Isaiah 58 (Fasting, justice, and authentic repentance)
Teacher: paste the excerpt here (or link/handout reference).
Write an essay that analyzes the text’s argument about what counts as meaningful religious practice on a fast day.
In your response:
State a thesis about the relationship the passage draws between ritual fasting and ethical action.
Use 2–3 pieces of textual evidence (quote or paraphrase precisely).
Analyze at least one rhetorical/literary feature (commands, contrasts, repeated phrases, images, tone) and explain how it strengthens the text’s message.
Optional extension: explain how this passage might challenge or reshape someone’s understanding of Yom Kippur today.
Reading C — Jonah (repentance/teshuvah and divine mercy)
Teacher: paste the excerpt here (or link/handout reference).
Write an essay that analyzes how the narrative develops ideas about repentance and mercy.
In your response:
State a thesis about what the story suggests motivates repentance and what mercy is for.
Use 2–3 pieces of textual evidence (quote or paraphrase precisely).
Analyze at least one narrative choice (character actions, dialogue, irony, ending, shifts in perspective) and explain how it shapes the reader’s understanding of Yom Kippur themes.
Optional extension: compare Jonah’s perspective to the perspective implied by another Jewish text/teaching you know.
Reading D — Rabbinic text (e.g., Mishnah Yoma 8:8–9 and/or Talmud Yoma 85b)
Teacher: paste the excerpt here (or link/handout reference).
Write an essay that analyzes the text’s reasoning about what Yom Kippur can and cannot accomplish.
In your response:
State a thesis about how the passage defines the limits of atonement (e.g., between a person and God vs. between people).
Use 2–3 pieces of textual evidence (quote or paraphrase precisely).
Explain how the text supports its claim (definitions, distinctions, examples, cause/effect logic).
Optional extension: discuss how this view might shape community practices around apology, restitution, or reconciliation.