Yom Kippur: A Day of Celebration

Solomon Ibn Verga, Citing Marcus, Roman Cousel, Late 2nd Temple Period

The king too would speak warmly to the high priest and assure him that he would honor him when he came out of the sanctuary in peace. After this, they would announce that the high priest was going out to his chamber in the sanctuary, and then the people would go out to accompany him, and go before him in perfect order. And this I have seen with my very eyes: first to go before him would be all those who were of the seed of the kings of Israel (for the more important a man, the nearer he stands to the high priest); after them went all those who were descended from the kings of the house of David, all in their proper order, one following another. A herald would go before them crying, "Give honor to the house of David!" After them came the house of Levi, and a herald crying, "Give honor to the house of Levi!" There were thirty and six thousand of them, and all the prefects wore clothing of blue silk, and the priests, of whom there were twenty-four thousand, clothing of white silk. After them came the singers, and after them those who played upon instruments, and after them the trumpeters, and after them the guards of the gate, and after them the incense-makers, and after them the curtain-makers, and after them the watchmen, and after them the treasurers, and after them a class called kartoftlos, the chair-bearers, and after them all the workingmen who worked in the sanctuary, and after them the seventy of the Sanhedrin, and after them a hundred priests with silver rods in their hands to clear the way, and after them the high priest, and after him all the elders of the priesthood, two by two. And the heads of the academies stood at vantage points and cried, "Lord High Priest, may you come in peace! Pray to our Maker to grant us long life that we may engage in His Torah."

When the procession reached the foot of the mountain of the sanctuary, they would there pray for the continuance of the kingship of the house of David, and after that for the priests and for the sanctuary, and the noise was so great, because of the great number of the people crying Amen, that the birds flying overhead fell to the earth. Then the high priest would bow to all the people and turn aside in tears and awe. And the two prefects of the priesthood would lead him to his chamber, and there he would separate from all his brother priests. So much for his entrance. But when he came out the honor was doubled, for all the people that were in Jerusalem passed before him, most of them carrying torches of white wax, and all of them dressed in white clothing; and all the windows were garlanded with embroideries, and lit with candles. Priests have told me that often the high priest could not reach his home before midnight, because of the press of the people passing before him, and because of the great numbers, for although all the people were fasting, they did not go home until they had seen whether they could not reach the hand of the high priest and kiss it. The day afterward he would make a great feast and invite friends and relatives, and declare a holiday because he had come out of the sanctuary in peace.