If during the night of Yom Kippur, the High Priest started to doze off, the young priests would snap fingers loudly in front of him and say, “Our Master High Priest, please stand up and do an exercise on the floor,” and thus they kept him awake all night. Prominent people of Jerusalem would not sleep and would make their voices heard to support the High Priest.
Abba Shaul said, “They adopted this practice also in the provinces, except that they used the time for frivolities.” Elijah the Prophet met Rav Yehudah and told him, “You ask why the Messiah is not here yet? It is Yom Kippur, yet how many virgins lost their virginity this night in Nehardea!” Rav Yehudah asked, “And what does God say about it?” Elijah answered, “Sin waits at the door (that is, I, God, created the desire for illicit relations.).” Rav Yehudah asked again, “And what does the Accuser say? Elijah told him, “Accuser has no say on Yom Kippur.” The Gematria of Accuser (Satan) is 364, and on Yom Kippur, which is the day 365, he has no power.”
Normally, they would start the Temple service by taking away some ashes from the Altar at the rooster's call. On Yom Kippur, when more had to be done, they started at midnight. There was more to do at the festivals, and then they started the service after the first third of the night had passed.
Art: The Rooster By Edwin John Alexander
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