Shofar blasts
Photo: Index open
Apple dipped in honey
Photo: CD bank
_a.jpg "צילום: ישראל ברדוגו")
Synagogue
Photo: Israel Bardugo
Poll: Most Israelis will visit synagogue on holidays
Some 70% of Israeli Jews plan to attend synagogue at least once during High Holydays; 71% consider Rosh Hashana meal the most important element of the holiday
Some 70% of Israeli Jews plan to visit the synagogue during the High Holydays for at least one prayer service, and 44% said they would attend all services, a poll conducted for Ynet and the Gesher Institute revealed.
The survey was conducted by the Mutagim Institute among 500 Hebrew-speaking Israelis Jews who are a representative sample of the population.
The poll found that 25% of respondents plan to visit the synagogue every day during the holidays, 19% said they would make an effort to show up for as many services as they could, 6% would stay at the synagogue throughout Yom Kippur and 20% would arrive for one prayer on Yom Kippur.
The remaining 30% do not plan to visit the synagogue at all.
Asked what was most important for them to do during Rosh Hashana, 71% replied that it was the family holiday meal. Thirty percent preferred the shofar blasts, 23% would not give up the custom of eating an apple dipped in honey, and 7% stated they would use the holiday to travel abroad.
According to Gesher director-general Shoshi Becker, the poll showed that "the nation is divided on the prayers and synagogue services. It appears that this holiday is becoming much like Rosh Hashana across the world – a time for Shana Tova greetings and family meals, when the traditional elements such as prayers and blasting the shofar are mainly important for the traditional, religious and haredi public."
