For the Jewish community, Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year and marks the end of 10 long days of introspection.

Last year all in-person events were cancelled because of the pandemic, but now people can finally return to synagogues across Kent to mark the occasion.

However, some members of the community say that they still feel unsafe as a minority group in the county.

Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement, and is the most solemn yet sacred day in the Jewish calendar.

From sunset last night until sunset today (a total of 25 hours), Jews make sacrifices in their life to reflect on the past year and ask for God's forgiveness.

Many will remove all of life's pleasures during this time - they won't wear make-up, perfume or leather shoes. Some will also refrain from showering and will fast for the entire duration of Yom Kippur.

Rabbi Zalman Lewis said: "It's a very holy day, for 3000 years Jews have been taking this day to get in touch with the essence of who we really are as human beings.

"This is the one day of real deep reflection, it has really been in the DNA of Jews for thousands of years."

The end of the ceremony is marked by the blowing of the shofar

Rabbi Lewis is also the student chaplain at the University of Kent, and believes that there should be more awareness for Jewish students taking part in religious occasions, with term times completely arranged around Christian holidays.

He added: "There is no synagogue in Canterbury, so it's actually very challenging for Jewish students.

"This year Yom Kippur is earlier than ever, so Jewish students will be just arriving on campus now, they may not have even met anyone yet. They then have to make that difficult choice of going out and socialising or observing Yom Kippur."

In recent years, Jewish students on the Canterbury campus have been subjected to abuse with discriminatory graffiti sprayed onto the side of major accommodation sites.

Holly Porton, a Jewish student studying Architecture at the University of Kent believes that there is more pressure on Jewish students than ever before.

She said: "Usually I feel perfectly safe on campus but there have been incidents such as the spray painting, and recently with various Palestine marches there is definitely a pressure on the small number of Jewish students.

"For some people that can be very difficult as there is a real pressure to say the right thing and not cause a fuss because they don't have a large group to back them up in these situations."

For Holly, moving to Canterbury was a big cultural change from her North London home, with no synagogue and a lack of Kosher food in the city centre.

However, her non-Jewish flatmates are supporting her through Yom Kippur and they plan to go out for a celebratory meal to break the difficult 25-hour fasting period.

Holly is the only Jewish person in her house

However, not all Jews will stick to a strict fasting regime during this time.

Annette from the Kent Liberal Jewish Community believes that the introspection of Yom Kippur is most important, rather than being deprived and miserable.

She laughed: "If you're so hungry that all you can think about is eating a sandwich, in my mind I would say just go and eat a sandwich and then come back and focus on what Yom Kippur is really about. I'm a liberal though so not everyone would agree with that."

Annette revealed that she is still nervous about her security in public and so didn't wish to be photographed, through fear of possible consequences.

In Kent, hate crimes against the Jewish community have been an ongoing problem, with horrific vandalism to the Chatham Memorial Synagogue two years ago fuelling that fear.

However, Annette will still be attending her local synagogue to mark Yom Kippur, after last year's services had to be held virtually.

She said: "Our first in-person service was only in August and our particular community is very small so we could spread out. It's not the same on Zoom so it means a lot to be able to hold two in-person services for Yom Kippur.

"I know some synagogues are using a booking system to restrict numbers or using a bigger hall. "It's a bit like Christmas - the way some people only go to church on Christmas day... some Jews only go to synagogue for Yom Kippur.

"I think my main message to people would just be that we are normal people, respect us and try to understand our culture for what it is."

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