"Sometimes it looks like a yeshiva": secular teenagers who are drawing closer to religion

In recent years, and especially since October 7, teenagers from secular and traditional homes are drawing closer to religion. A JPPI survey found that nearly half of teenagers (46%) say their friends observe more Jewish practices. The phenomenon includes Torah classes, challah separations, tzitzit and tefillin, and occurs "under the radar" of the education system. Experts are divided on whether this is a global process or a reaction to events.

In recent years, and especially since October 7, there has been a growing closeness of teenagers from secular and traditional homes to religion and tradition. A survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) found that nearly half of teenagers aged 15-18 (46%) say their friends now observe more Jewish practices than in the past, including laying tefillin, prayer, modesty, and lighting candles. The phenomenon includes Torah classes, challah separations, more modest dress, and reading Psalms, and occurs "under the radar" of the state-secular education system. The article quotes Or (a pseudonym), a 17-year-old from Petah Tikva, who observed Shabbat for the first time last September following a "segula" (spiritual remedy) that was circulated on social media, and has since kept Shabbat, holidays, and fasts. Yael Edelstein, a former school principal and head of the staff of the Council for State-Secular Education, says the education system struggles to address these questions, creating a vacuum filled by bodies offering one-dimensional answers. Hezki Shoham of Bar-Ilan University argues this is a global process, but does not foresee a mass return to religion.