Why Sneakers On Yom Kippur. I remember as a kid going to synagogue on Yom. On Yom Kippur, we remove our shoes, which represents transcending our physical bodies.
Work is forbidden, and atonement for sins of the previous year is expressed through "afflictions," including fasting and refraining from washing or bathing, sexual relations, wearing leather shoes, and applying lotions or creams. Throughout the day, we pray continuously. Two reasons: On this day, when our connection to G‑d is bared, we are compared to angels, who have no physical needs.
Yom Kippur has many particularities — repeating "Kol Nidre" three times; Leonard Cohen's take on "Una Taneh Tokef "; bagels for breakfast.
Non leather shoes/sneakers are worn outside the house as shoes.
The book of Jubilees claims that the brothers sold Joseph on Yom Kippur. Work is forbidden, and atonement for sins of the previous year is expressed through "afflictions," including fasting and refraining from washing or bathing, sexual relations, wearing leather shoes, and applying lotions or creams. Reading this as a reference to the sale of Joseph, Eleh Ezkarah tells how Caesar fills his palace with shoes, and executes ten sages as a punishment for this crime.