SE’UDA HAMAFSEKET The meal before the fast has a special sanctity. The Torah states, “You shall afflict yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening to evening” (Lev. 23:32). On this the Talmud says, “Do we indeed afflict ourselves on the ninth? Do we not fast on the tenth? Rather, the verse is telling us that one who eats and drinks on the ninth is considered as if he had fasted on both the ninth and tenth” (Rosh HaShana 9a–b; Yoma 81b). So this meal is part of the service of Yom Kippur itself. Some say it was ordained because Yom Kippur is a festival, and we honor festivals by eating and drinking. This is impossible on Yom Kippur itself, which is a fast, so the Torah ordained that we should celebrate the festival before the fast (Beit Yosef, Oḥ 604). Others say it was to preclude the interpretation of the Sadducees, who understood the Torah to be saying that we should fast for two days, the ninth and tenth (*Shibolei HaLeket,*307). Yet others say that our ability to eat a festive meal on the eve of the day of judgment it is an expression of our faith in God’s forgiveness (Or Yesharim).