‘70% of European Jews won’t go to shul on High Holy Days despite heightened security’

Jerusalem Post
September 20, 2016

French soldiers patrol the street in a Jewish neighbourhood near a religious school and a synagogue as part of the highest level of "Vigipirate" security plan after the Islamist attacks in Paris January 20, 2015. . (photo credit:REUTERS)

Seventy precent of European  Jews will not go to synagogue on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur this year, according to a poll released Tuesday. The survey was conducted last week by the European Jewish Association (EJA) and the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE) among a representative sample of 700 capital cities and communities in the periphery throughout Europe - from Britain in the west to Ukraine in the east.   

Respondents --which numbered 78-- included rabbis as well as Jewish community leaders, both religious and secular. The margin of error was ±4.9%. The pollsters explained that while the number of respondents is far lower than the number of communities represented, each respondent speaks for multiple communities as within certain cities and areas, many communities share similar characteristics. 
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