Five hundred synagogues, and halls converted to temporary houses of prayer, were readied this morning for the anticipated 1, 000, 000 worshippers who will take part in the Kol Nidre services which mark the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
All activities throughout the nation are scheduled to come to a halt late this afternoon and even Israel’s international airport at Lydda will be closed until the end of Yom Kippur tomorrow evening. Bus companies are cancelling all schedules between this afternoon and tomorrow evening, while the early railroad trains were crowded with tens of thousands of Israelis crossing the country to stay with families for the holiday.
Special religious services have been arranged in all army encampments and military kitchens will remain closed throughout the holiday.
The non-Orthodox Reconstructionish Prayer Book will be used publicly for the first time in Israel this Yom Kippur by groups in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa sponsored by the Circle for the Renaissance of Religious Life. In Jerusalem, 70 worshippers attended Rosh Hashanah services at Progressive Party headquarters, where worship began for the first time with recorded organ music. There was no reparation of men and women and both men and women were called to the Torah.
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