64% of Israelis Will Fast on Yom Kippur
Sixty-four percent of Jewish Israelis will fast and 46 percent will pray on Yom Kippur, according to a survey.
According to Ynet News, which conducted the survey along with a social dialogue organization called Gesher, more than 80 percent of Jewish Israelis would spend the day either praying, reflecting or spending time with family. A slight majority of secular Israeli Jews plans to stay at home, while virtually all religious Jews will attend synagogue.
A variety of Yom Kippur activities outside of the synagogue exist for secular Israelis, including the popular pastime of bicycling on roads that, for one day every year, are almost entirely devoid of cars.
Only half a percent of Israelis said they would travel on the holy day.
The poll surveyed 502 respondents over the age of 18, and its margin of error was 4.3 percent.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
