Secular

Café Basimta: The Jerusalem café where Shabbat, religious freedom, and evangelism collide - opinion

Secular Israelis began showing up, buying coffee not because they wanted to hear about Jesus, but because they wanted to make a point about religious coercion.

|ByJONATHAN FELDSTEIN, DAVID NEKRUTMAN
The writers – Jonathan Feldstein (L) and David Nekrutman – outside Café Basimta, not on Shabbat.
The empty streets in Tel Aviv, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and the holiest of Jewish holidays. Israel came to a standstill for 25-hours during the high holiday of Yom Kippur when observant Jews fast and Israelis are prohibited from driving, October 2, 2025.

In the shadow of October 7: How Yom Kippur has changed for some secular Israelis

The October 7 attack has affected all Israelis somehow. Some have questioned God’s existence. Others have gotten closer to religion, and sought connection to spirituality.

|ByLINDA GRADSTEIN
A Jewish man blows a shofar at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City during the final Selichot prayers ahead of Yom Kippur, September 19, 2026.

Most Israeli Jews fast on Yom Kippur, while over half take part in prayer services, survey finds

Only a small number of those reported to be fasting partially or not at all are older people, according to the survey data, suggesting that the reasons are more linked to health or principle.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Haredi protestors stand under a bridge, blocking a road near Bnei Brak on Wednesday, 17 June.

Bnei Brak Municipality allegedly blocked road with dumpsters before Shabbat in protest - report

Tensions rise between secular and haredi residents in Bnei Brak as police say, "Secular people also intentionally provoke haredim, drive recklessly, and do burnouts."

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

Is Israel a Jewish ghetto or Hebrew kingdom in our ancestral homeland? - opinion

Israelis and Jews have yet to decide due to the harsh public debate in the country for the past couple of years.

APRIL 11, 2024ByITAMAR BEN-DAVID
An illustration of lit candles and in the background the Israeli flag on December 17, 2023

Wartime Purim unity bridges secular-religious divides

Kesher Yehudi hosts unlikely encounter between haredi and secular Israeli families amid hostage crisis.

MARCH 29, 2024ByTANIA SHALOM MICHAELIAN
SECULAR AND haredi mark and even celebrate an introspective Purim, this past Sunday.

Is secularism too seductive? Haredi youth should be allowed to serve in the IDF - opinion

The free market in ideas demands that the haredim accept the consequences of allowing their youth to encounter the full range of possibilities of the human experience.

MARCH 13, 2024ByDAN PERRY
HAREDI MEN protest outside the IDF recruiting office in Jerusalem.

Secular unease at municipal elections results in Jerusalem, fear of change in city governance

A Tale of Two Jerusalems: Secular Unease Rising as ultra-Orthodox parties win over half the seats in Jerusalem’s City Council, indicating a potential change in the city’s governance.

MARCH 5, 2024BySIMCHA PASKO/THE MEDIA LINE
A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024.

Tolerance and respect is key amid wartime municipal elections - opinion

As Israel holds local elections today, which by definition emphasize disagreements and generate division and contrariness, here are two examples that show a different way.

FEBRUARY 27, 2024ByTOVA HERZL
AN INSCRIPTION with an excerpt of Lord Allenby’s address at the dedication of the YMCA in Jerusalem in 1933 is on display at the entrance to the complex.

A look at competitive victimhood in Israeli society

RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS: As Israel continues to navigate the complexities of its societal fabric, this study offers a crucial insight into the mechanisms of conflict and perception among its people.

FEBRUARY 9, 2024ByNECHUMI YAFFE
WHEN QUESTIONED about discrimination in state budget allocations, ultra-Orthodox respondents overwhelmingly felt they were treated unfairly, while secular respondents tended to deny such discrimination.

What is the real meaning of unity in Israel these days? - opinion

You can’t open a newspaper, listen to the news, or scroll through social media without reading about the way the people of Israel have come together to fight for survival.

DECEMBER 29, 2023ByJONATHAN LIEBERMAN
BEIT MIDRASH LE’MAASEH: Men and women from across the political spectrum and the religious scale sit around one table.

Secular groups warn: 'The war must not be used to push religion in army bases'

They say that allowing groups such as the Noam Party into bases violates the rights of gay soldiers, due to its homophobic nature.

DECEMBER 6, 2023ByYUVAL BARNEA
Noam Party leader MK Avi Maoz, December 5, 2022.

Reciprocity must be precondition in secular-religious relations in Israel - opinion

Without reciprocity, the use of the concept of “liberalism” is mere demagoguery.

OCTOBER 3, 2023ByURI REGEV
CONFRONTATIONS TAKE place at the onset of Yom Kippur on Sunday evening, at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, over the issue of the placement of a partition between men and women for a High Holy Day service there.

Israel's chief rabbi: Secular Jews have lower intelligence, are jealous of haredim

"They do not find satisfaction in life; everything is driven by the desires of this world," Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said.

OCTOBER 1, 2023ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef speaks during a ceremony of the Israeli police for the Jewish new year at the National Headquarters of the Israel Police in Jerusalem on September 22, 2022.