Stuff to Blog About and More: Yom Kippur

Jewish people from all over the world will honor Yom Kippur or the "Day of Atonement" .

Yom Kippur is the most important holiday for the Jewish people. It is a day in which they feel atonement and repentance for the past year and make amends to be a better person. Atonement and repentance are felt through fasting and abstaining from physical pleasures.

Yom Kippur occurs on the tenth and final day of the Ten Days of Repentance which begin with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. According to Jewish tradition,during the Ten Days of Repentance, a Jew tries to amend his behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God and against his fellow man. At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers himself absolved by God.

Many observers of the holiday spend their day in the synagogue, in prayer. Services can last for most of the day and end at nightfall, with the blowing of the shofar. Then at sunset there is a feast or breaking of the fast.

FTC: Your Rights: Credit Reporting

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, has prepared a brochure, Your Access to Free Credit Reports, explaining your rights under the FCRA and how to order a free annual credit report.

A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you've been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

How do I order my free report?

You can order your free annual credit report online at annualcreditreport.com, by calling 1-877-322-8228, or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

When you order, you need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. To verify your identity, you may need to provide some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.

A Warning About "Imposter" Sites

The FTC advises consumers who order their free annual credit reports online to be sure to correctly spell annualcreditreport.com, or link to it from the FTC's website to avoid being misdirected to other websites that offer supposedly free reports,but only with the purchase of other products. While consumers may be offered additional products or services while on the authorized website, they are not required to make a purchase to receive their free annual credit reports.

For more information on free annual credit reports, read Your Access to Free Credit Reports.