JERUSALEM (RNS) — The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and ensuing war have changed the way many young Jewish Israelis feel about their religious and spiritual lives, according to a new study by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Published in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, the study, conducted in January/February 2024, and published online Sept. 13, found that just over half of 1,278 respondents said the trauma they experienced personally or as part of the Israeli nation affected their level of religiosity and/or spirituality.
One of the unique aspects of the study — which was part of large-scale research on psychological coping, resilience and the ability to function under war conditions — was that it examined war and religion in “real time,” said Yaakov Greenwald, a Hebrew University Ph.D. student and lead researcher on the study.
Participants were more likely to say their religiosity and spirituality increased rather than decreased, the researchers noted. About 1 in 4 said they had become more religious, while 1 in 3 became more spiritual. However, “a significant minority” — 1 in 7 — turned away from or rejected religion, the researchers said, after Oct. 7.
“The Israel-Gaza war has caused mass casualties, displacement, and suffering in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon,” the researchers wrote. “The large number of casualties, the intensive exposure to rocket fire and alarms across Israel, …