Rosh Hashanah most widely observed festival
New JPR report shows 74 per cent of UK Jews celebrate New Year
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
A new report from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) shows that Rosh Hashanah has overtaken Pesach as the most widely observed Jewish festival, with its combination of home and synagogue rituals. It is described as “a great coming-together at both the communal and familial levels”.
The report, written by the JPR’s Dr David Graham, and based on responses made in 2022, shows that almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of Jews in Britain will light candles at home and eat apples and honey to celebrate the New Year. Interestingly, larger families are more likely to eat apples and honey than smaller families or single people.
JPR found that 15 per cent of Jews only participate in synagogue services on the High Holy Days with a further 18 per cent doing so on these days and/or on some other festivals. The survey also found that 57 per cent of Jews had attended at least one in-person synagogue service during Rosh Hashanah 2022.
While COVID-19 restrictions had been fully lifted by the time Rosh Hashanah was celebrated in September 2022, there were still vestiges of concern from some community members, and online services and events were being held, especially by non-Orthodox Jewish communities. Online services have become more established since then, so these data may not be typical given that they were gathered at a time when the repercussions of the pandemic were still quite significant.
Unsurprisingly, the more strongly religious and more Orthodox Jews are, the more likely they were to have attended an in-person synagogue service. The Orthodox and the “very strongly’”religious were more likely to have attended in-person synagogue services than to have observed Rosh Hashanah rituals at home, although most did both.
JPR also asked respondents whether or not they usually fast on Yom Kippur, and just over half (56 per cent) said that they did so every year. Almost one in five (18 per cent) said they “never” fasted, and a further 13 per cent said they did not fast “due to health reasons”
JPR’s Executive Director, Dr Jonathan Boyd, said: “Previously, our data have shown that Pesach was the most popular Jewish festival, but in our most recent research, it seems that Rosh Hashanah may have overtaken it – at least in 2022. This may have been a post-pandemic factor – after the challenging years of 2020 and 2021, it is likely that more people than usual came together in some way on Rosh Hashanah 2022 – but either way, it demonstrates the ongoing resonance of the High Holy Days period for British Jews today. And coming together this year probably matters even more than usual – after the intense challenges of the past 12 months, many of us need community more than ever.”
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