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New York Times Slants Reporting on Yom Kippur in Israel

(CAMERA) Ricki Hollander - On Oct. 5, the New York Times posted a report about Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day of the year, that is observed throughout the Jewish state of Israel. Headlined "For Believers, a Day of Atonement. For Others, a Giant Playground," it fleetingly mentions that "more than half of Israeli Jews attend synagogue on Yom Kippur." Its primary focus is on highlighting the secular entertainment of Israel's Jewish citizens on that holiday. It emphasizes that a minority of non-Jewish Israeli citizens - labelled "Palestinians" - find the national celebration of Judaism's holiest day "restrictive." According to a 2019 poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, 61% of Israeli Jews were planning to attend synagogue on Yom Kippur and 72.5% were considering fasting on that day. Yet the dispatch downplays the religious significance of the national holiday to the majority of Israel's Jewish citizens while highlighting the inconveniences of the holiday's observance to its non-Jewish citizens. It also emphasizes that Palestinian workers from the West Bank are "depriv[ed] of a day's wages" due to the shutdown of the Jewish state.
2022-10-13 00:00:00
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