Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. The cut off penalty for failing to observe the Day of Atonement's self-denial communicates the severity of the failure: the community member who continues ordinary life on the day of atonement treats as ordinary the most extraordinary day of the covenant calendar. The cut off — separation from the covenant community — is the consequence of the non-observance that is itself a form of self-separation from the atonement the day provides.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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