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religious-secular divide

Avi Goldberger surrounded by music, May 2026 (Roy Elman)
Peoples of Israel
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'We try to create a kind of escapist bubble'
Avi Goldberger, pub owner who brings everyone together
By Sarah Tuttle-Singer
In this week's Peoples of Israel, a new series featuring the mosaic of personalities walking the Land, we meet a 9th generation Jerusalemite who unites the city over a good drink
Naftuli Moster, then-executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Yaffed, speaks at a news conference, July 24, 2019. (Yaffed via JTA)
June 20, 2025, 4:38 pm
Once the poster child of the US yeshiva reform movement, Naftuli Moster now has regrets
The founder of Yaffed, a group decrying lack of secular education in Haredi schools, is having a reckoning fueled by distrust of progressive politics and concern for his former community
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Families attend an open day at Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, close to the Gaza and Egyptian borders in southern Israel, on March 28, 2025. (Courtesy)
April 1, 2025, 5:00 pm
Open day at religious-secular kibbutz on Gaza border draws 20 families wanting to join
Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, where members fought terrorists in deadly battles on October 7, is a ‘microcosm of Israeli society’ where decisions are reached by ‘listening to one another’
By Sue Surkes
Israelis from different walks of life meet at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem under the aegis of Rivon4 (Rivon4)
November 12, 2024, 8:17 am
Upstart grassroots org calls for mending societal rifts as Israel begins its ‘4th quarter’
Set on building a mass movement for change, Rivon4 urges Israelis from all sectors to imagine — and act for — a united future
By Sue Surkes
The Orthodox Jewish group Rosh Yehudi sets up a gender divider made of Israeli flags at a public prayer service in Dizengoff Square, Tel Aviv, on Yom Kippur, September 24, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash 90)
October 9, 2024, 10:12 pm
Supreme Court orders Tel Aviv to allow public Yom Kippur prayers with gender partition
Justices criticize municipal authority for what they said was discrimination against Orthodox worshippers, express frustration at Tel Aviv’s refusal to compromise
By Jeremy Sharon
A secular man and an ultra-Orthodox man fight during a protest against the drafting of Haredi Jews to the military, outside the IDF army recruitment office in Jerusalem, May 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 21, 2024, 2:02 am
Poll: Israelis hopeful about smoothing civil divides but split on trust in government
Pew survey finds 19% on the left trust leadership, compared to 75% on the right; observant Jews more optimistic about prospects for religious cohesion than secular Israelis
By Elana Kirsh
Illustrative view of a swimming pool in Jerusalem on July 7, 2020.(Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 25, 2024, 1:55 pm
High Court upholds decision to compel Jerusalem public pool to open on Shabbat
Har Homa Community Administration, which battled against municipal requirement it open on weekends, says ruling is blow to democratic rights of residents, most of whom are Orthodox
By ToI Staff
Jews pray for the army's success in the war against Hamas and the return of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on January 10, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 11, 2024, 4:52 pm
‘Impoverished, broken and in pain’: Thousands at Western Wall mass prayer for hostages
With 100 days of captivity fast approaching for abductees, crowds seek their salvation through God
By Canaan Lidor
Alina Plahti, who was killed at the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, was buried separately from other Jews at a cemetery in her home city of Beit She’an. (Courtesy)
November 14, 2023, 2:25 am
The Jewishness of some Hamas victims sparks bitter disputes over their burial
At the rabbinate’s insistence, two non-Jewish Israelis have been buried ‘outside the fence’ despite their families’ wishes, while others fight to cremate their loved ones
By Canaan Lidor
Shai Graucher on a mobile laundry truck his charity provides to IDF soldiers. (courtesy)
November 11, 2023, 8:43 am
Israeli charity aims to provide it all for soldiers, including mobile laundry and spas
With a special orientation towards reserve soldiers and evacuee families, the Klal Yisroel Organization also wants to bridge the religious-secular divide
By Gavriel Fiske
Aviel Zaguri, left, and his brother Meir stand outside their yeshiva in Netivot, Israel, on October 15, 2023. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)
October 17, 2023, 1:27 pm
In Netivot, poverty compounds the problems of a battered border city
Thousands of the frontline city’s residents are riding out incessant Hamas artillery, citing faith, defiance — and lack of better options
By Canaan Lidor
Jewish worshippers pray at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City, during the Birkat HaKohanim priestly blessing at the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, October 2, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
October 2, 2023, 8:16 pm
Worshipers hail ‘remedial’ priestly prayer in Jerusalem after Tel Aviv confrontation
Many at the vast event at the Western Wall describe it as a corrective experience
By Canaan Lidor
United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni speaks at a UTJ event in Kibbutz Hafetz Haim on September 30, 2023. (Screen capture/Twitter)
October 1, 2023, 3:13 am
Haredi MK: Yom Kippur scuffles prove anti-gov’t protesters waging ‘religious war’
Moshe Gafni says confrontations show activists ‘are not referring to judicial reform,’ claims warnings that reforms would harm economy disproved: ‘The economy is excellent’
By ToI Staff
Israel Zeira, head of Rosh Yehudi, an Orthodox group, speaks with police officers during protests after the group set up a gender divider for a Yom Kippur public prayer event at Dizengoff Square, in Tel Aviv, September 24, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90)
September 29, 2023, 4:56 pm
Judge rejects Orthodox group’s petition over canceled permits for its Sukkot events
Tel Aviv District Court judge urges Rosh Yehudi, municipality to come to agreement on planned gatherings in city, after Yom Kippur altercations; jurist cites ‘reasonableness law’
By ToI Staff
Protesters shout at Israel Zeira (right), founder of the Orthodox Jewish group Rosh Yehudi, which set up a gender divider for a public prayer event on Yom Kippur in Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, on September 24, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash 90)
September 29, 2023, 11:11 am
Fearing religious takeover, activists see ‘secular awakening’ in Yom Kippur fray
The breaking up of a prayer event over gender segregation has galvanized liberals worried about a slide into coercion, with battle lines mirroring divisions found in overhaul fight
By Canaan Lidor
Activists from the Rosh Yehudi organization set up a divider made of Israeli flags ahead of a public prayer event in Dizengoff Square, Tel Aviv, on Yom Kippur eve, September 24, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash 90)
September 28, 2023, 9:38 pm
Tel Aviv yanks religious group’s permits for Sukkot events after Yom Kippur fracas
Municipality casts Rosh Yehudi’s use of physical gender barriers as ‘severe’ violation of permit conditions, says now-nixed plans could have caused another public disturbance
By Michael Horovitz
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