corona restrictions turn Jerusalem on Saturday mornings into a block-party of holiness
Clip FROM prime time with dr Gina; december 21, 2020
Gol Kalev: “Like everywhere else around the world, we have a spike of Covid cases here and new restrictions, but we tend to look at the half-full here in Jerusalem and stay optimistic, and one of the side-effects if. you will, of the restrictions occurs here every Saturday morning when observers Jews go to Synagogue. Because of the restrictions, a lot of those services are now held outdoors and what this creates is when you walk around the streets of Jerusaelm on Saturday morning, especially in certain neighbors, it feels like you are going into a block party of holiness – service after service after service.
And therefore you see a lot of secular Israelis who normally would not go in, sort-of linger, participate for a few minutes, look at it from a distant, and this relates to the nature of Israeli secularism, that unlike elsewhere, Israeli seculars are believers – 63% of Israelis fast on Yom Kippur, 93% attend the Passover Seder and the vast majority of secular Israelis have a Mezuza on their door with biblical verses.
So the religiosity is very much there amongst secular Israelis but it’s latent and maybe the Corona restrictions provides a few more touch-points between the Israeli and his religiosity.”
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