Secular

National-religious men overrepresented in IDF reserves as haredim stay absent, IDI analysis finds

National-Religious men were found to have increased in service substantially from the start of the war until 2025, while the participation of secular men decreased the most of any group.

|ByJONAH DAVIDOV
THE ZIONIST identity didn’t overcome the Jewish identity, nor did the opposite occur: An IDF soldier puts on tefillin.
RABBI ABRAHAM Joshua Heschel presents the Judaism and World Peace Award to Martin Luther King Jr., 1965.

As I turn 80, I hope my life is and continues to be a journey that inspires others - opinion

Will I ever be religious? I do not know. But, as Baruch ben Michael said in his Ethics, “All things perfect are as difficult as they are rare.”

|ByNATHAN LOPES CARDOZO
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) people in Tel Aviv in June.

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community feels misunderstood. Here’s why - opinion

If haredim see that they are treated with understanding, respect, and sensitivity, they will more readily change and adapt in the service of the greater good

|ByMOTI LEITNER
POLICE ARE seen dragging an ultra-Orthodox protester away during a demonstration against a cafe operating on Shabbat while secular protesters demonstrate in support of the cafe in central Jerusalem, on July 11, 2026.

When Shabbat becomes a battleground - opinion

I sat on my balcony watching around 50 haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men and children harass a new cafe’s patrons and staff in Jerusalem’s city center, angry that it was operating on Shabbat.

|ByATARA RUDERMAN

Is Israel's secular nationalism how God preserves Judaism? - opinion

There are millions of Jews whose sole affiliation with Judaism is their love and commitment to the State of Israel. Their nationalistic loyalty is merely the hidden hand of God.

MAY 5, 2023ByMOSHE TARAGIN
FLOWERS, SIRENS and songs are all cross-cultural, international symbols.

Can we find a compromise between religious and secular Jews? - opinion

Statistics do not lie. The reality is that the haredi sector is expanding, and will likely eventually become the majority in Israel.

MAY 3, 2023ByMENACHEM BOMBACH
THE WRITER addresses the demonstration last Wednesday, outside the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, calling for a broad consensus.

A call for compromise between religious and secular

Rabbi Menachem Bombach speaks at a demonstration calling for a broad consensus between the different groups within Israeli society that are currently in conflict.

MAY 1, 2023ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Rabbi Menachem Bombach

Have religious Israeli Jews given up on Israel's secular society? - opinion

At the heart of the crisis plaguing Israel lies the age-old divide between religious and secular Israel.

APRIL 28, 2023ByMOSHE TARAGIN
DO WE still share a common narrative?

Tel Aviv residents protest plans for new yeshiva in city center

A small community synagogue in central Tel Aviv is planned to turn into a 250-student yeshiva, and the local resident are not happy about it.

APRIL 1, 2023ByWALLA!
A YESHIVA in Bnei Brak: The Greeks, during the Hellenistic period, decreed to uproot the law of the Torah from the life of the Jewish people.

Crohn's disease: An unexpected bridge between Israelis - opinion

When we see ourselves on the same side, with a common challenge, that common challenge builds ties that matter and last.

MARCH 25, 2023ByBARBARA SOFER
‘No one is exempt from this disease, in which the body turns on its own digestive system’

Zionists didn’t wait for the Messiah - opinion

To those who believed in waiting for the Messiah, they said we can return to Israel without a Messiah.

MARCH 5, 2023ByURI PILICHOWSKI
GOD’S PROVIDENCE is perceived in Israel’s success. Former prime minister David Ben-Gurion said, ‘In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles… Life is more than blind forces.’

Can you have morals without religion?

Even without divine instructions, humans are expected to act upon basic moral instincts and their innate sense of right and wrong.

FEBRUARY 18, 2023ByMOSHE TARAGIN
Human beings are weak by nature (Illustrative).

Israel: A Jewish democracy or religious state? - opinion

The Israeli government should strike a balance between the demands made by the ultra-Orthodox sectors and the needs of Israeli citizens in general.

FEBRUARY 12, 2023ByLIOR AKERMAN
BNEI BRAK: The combination of ultra-Orthodox large families who are unemployed, lack a regular income and the basic education required for knowledge and occupation, has led to extensive poverty among this sector, says the writer.

Majority of young Israelis fear for Israel's democracy - survey

A majority of Israeli youth and university graduates, both Jewish and Arab, responded that they feared for the future of Israel’s democracy.

DECEMBER 28, 2022BySAM HALPERN
Israelis protest against head of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, on October 29, 2022.