A member of an Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, walks through the neighborhood on Yom Kippur, one of the most important holidays of the Jewish year.
(CNN) - Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
Services during Yom Kippur are held continuously through the day and include readings from the Torah and the reciting of prayers expressing regret or asking for forgiveness.
Yom Kippur services conclude with closing prayers and the blowing of the shofar, a ritual musical instrument carved from the horn of a ram.
How it began: According to Jewish tradition, the origins of Yom Kippur date back to the time of Moses, after the people of Israel made their exodus from Egypt.