"Sometimes it looks like a yeshiva": Secular teenagers who are getting closer to religion

"If you come to my school, which is a secular high school, it will sometimes look like a real yeshiva to you," smiles Or (a pseudonym), a 17-year-old from Petah Tikva who will soon enter the 12th grade. "There are quite a few students who arrive with tzitzit and a kippah. Some of the girls also come in skirts and modest clothing. In my environment, everyone had a point of contact with religion. There is no child who hasn't encountered it, and I think it's largely because of TikTok."

In recent years, and even more so since October 7, the younger generation has been in a process of moving closer to religion, tradition, and national symbols. A survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), which examined the attitude of non-religious teenagers in Israel toward religion and tradition, showed that teenagers aged 15-18 declare a greater closeness to religion — both their own and their friends'. Almost half of the teenagers (46%) say that their friends currently observe more Jewish customs than in the past — laying tefillin, prayer, modesty, lighting candles, and more.

Under the radar

This includes participating in Torah lessons, separating challah, more modest clothing, and reading Psalms. Some of the boys have taken it upon themselves to wear tzitzit, and others lay tefillin even at school.

Yael Edelstein notes: "The education system struggles to deal with these questions in a systematic and meaningful way, and then a vacuum is created. Into it enter bodies and initiatives that offer teenagers clear and sometimes one-dimensional answers."

"I kept Shabbat for the first time last September, it was the last Shabbat of the year and everyone said there is a merit in keeping it — it appeared on all social networks, clips of Torah lessons, and more," says Or, who grew up in a secular home, about the process of strengthening and moving closer to religion. "Why shouldn't I try? I'll keep one Shabbat, if I like it — I'll continue. I went to a synagogue and fell in love with it. Since then, I keep Shabbat, holidays, and fast. There are many teenagers who have moved closer to religion and started keeping Shabbat following the events of October 7 — it really influenced them. At school, we have both religious and secular teachers, I haven't encountered an anti-reaction. No one asked me about it — at home they support me, only in rare cases did someone from the extended family make a face."

On October 7, teenagers experienced the greatest national upheaval since the establishment of the state, precisely in the years when their personal identity is being shaped. The sense of security was damaged, and like adults, they sought solid ground, answers, and an emotional anchor. This phenomenon occurred "under the radar" of the state-Hebrew education system, which in recent years has rarely dealt with issues of identity and religion for fear of criticism.

"Adolescence is a natural period of identity formation. In recent years, against the backdrop of the events, the teenagers' need for identity, belonging, and value anchors has intensified even more," says Yael Edelstein, a former school principal and currently head of the staff of the Council for State-Hebrew Education, in Judaism and Democracy. "When the education system struggles to deal with these questions in a systematic and meaningful way, a vacuum is created. Into this vacuum enter bodies and initiatives that offer teenagers clear and sometimes one-dimensional answers. This does not necessarily testify to the power of those bodies, but mainly to the intensity of the need that did not receive an answer within the framework of state-Hebrew education."

Tool for protest and defiance

"The broad heterogeneity of students, parents, and staff in state-Hebrew education, alongside the public sensitivity around issues of Judaism, democracy, and identity, have led for years to many schools avoiding deep and continuous engagement in these areas, for fear of disputes and conflicts. Phenomena such as tefillin stands, separating challah, and similar initiatives are often an expression of the teenagers' deep need for meaning, belonging, and identity. Sometimes they also become a tool of protest or defiance in the hands of a vocal minority against a system perceived as not providing a sufficient answer."

Hizky Shoham, head of the program for interpretation and culture at Bar-Ilan University, says: "Religion serves as an identity resource and not a practical guide for life. I don't foresee a mass return to religion here. Teenagers look at the world of religion and choose two or three small and interesting things, but they will not observe the 613 commandments."

In the last school year, the issue of placing a tefillin stand inside or near schools drew many reactions. On one hand, they claimed that it is welcome and natural in the Jewish state, and on the other, they claimed that it is an attempt to return teenagers to religion. At the end of the school year, Minister of Education Yoav Kisch issued a director-general circular regulating the matter of laying tefillin in schools. This move also caused a stir, when critics claimed that it was a populist step ahead of elections, since there was never a ban on a student laying tefillin at school.

"This is a global process. Teenagers of all religions upload materials to the web and explain that they love Jesus or return to pray to Mecca," claims Hizky Shoham. "In Israel, they usually say that it stems from October 7, it of course accelerated the process, but it is happening all over the world."

"One needs to pay attention to two things. The first is that everything is very external and declarative, as is the way of this generation. One can see this in cultural heroes, for example, the singer Odia, whose clothing is revealing, and their texts combine elements of liturgical poetry, verses from the Bible, and engagement with commandments. The second thing is that there is no commitment to religion here. If there is one thing this generation cares about — it is its personal freedom, and it will not accept rabbinical authority or authority at all. I don't foresee a mass return to religion here. Those teenagers look at religion and choose two or three interesting things, but they will not observe the 613 commandments."