Rabbi Joe Wolfson shares his experience of Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, the remarkable outdoor prayer services that brought together thousands of secular and religious Israelis, and reflects on how the nation is navigating a uniquely religious moment in its history.

Featured Guest
Rabbi Joe Wolfson – Leader of JIC Tel Aviv community and Director of JLIC’s Abraham’s House, a beit midrash (learning center) serving as an incubator for societal impact.

Key Topics Discussed
Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv: A City Transformed

• Why Tel Aviv is “the greatest city in the world to spend Yom Kippur”
• The 25-hour silence: a secular city embracing sacred time
• Outdoor tefillot (prayer services) at Kikar Atarim by the sea, drawing up to 5,000 people
• 90% of attendees are non-synagogue regulars – prayer without walls
• The healing of religious-secular tensions from previous years

Israel’s Current Religious Atmosphere

• The powerful experience of praying for hostages and witnessing answered prayers
• A nation living in an “astonishingly religious moment”
• Public religious expression transcending sectoral divides: Shehecheyanu blessings, tzitzit in Tel Aviv, religious music in the mainstream
• The theological significance of Shehecheyanu during moments of darkness being erased
• God’s action and human action no longer treated as competing narratives

Themes
✦ Religious-secular bridge-building in Israel
✦ Public prayer and communal spiritual experience
✦ Theology of crisis and answered prayer
✦ Moving forward after national trauma
✦ The role of hope in Jewish thought and practice