Men make their way into the Congregation Bais Yehuda Synagogue at 360 N La Brea Ave before sunset O

Men make their way into the Congregation Bais Yehuda Synagogue at 360 N La Brea Ave before sunset Oct. 8, 2008 to honor Yom Kippur, the holiest and most somber day on the Jewish calendar. Jews in the Southland will head to synagogues at sundown tonight to mark the beginning of Yom Kippur -- the Day of Atonement -- the holiest and most somber day on the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur, which concludes at sundown on Thursday, is a period of self- scrutiny and repentance. It concludes the High Holy Days -- a 10-day period that began with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Lt. Katarina Thomas of the Los Angeles Police Departments West L.A. station said there likely would be extra police patrols around synagogues for Yom Kippur. Many Jews fast for Yom Kippur and spend much of the time in synagogues. Congregants are encouraged to examine their lives and relationships and ask God for forgiveness for the sins they may have committed over the past year. According to rabbinical accounts, Yom Kippur is the day on which Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the second set of Commandment tablets and announced Gods pardon to people for worshipping a golden calf. Obser! vant Jews believe that God inscribes the names of the righteous in the Book of Life and those of the wicked in the Book of the Dead during the period of the High Holidays. For that reason, the traditional greeting among Hebrew-speaking Jews on Yom Kippur is Chatima Tova, which is shorthand for may your name be written in the good book. Yom Kippur services begin with the Kol Nidre, an ancient prayer that literally means “all vows” or “all promises.” The last service of the day ends with the sounding of the shofar, or rams horn.: (Photo by Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)