Bikes take over as Israel falls silent

For 24 hours, Israel will live in slow motion. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, begins Sunday evening. 

On the security front, however, nothing changes: the military remains on alert along the borders, in Gaza and in southern Lebanon. The memory of the 1973 war, launched on this very day by a surprise Egyptian-Syrian attack, remains etched in the collective consciousness.

For the population, this is Judaism's most sacred day, but not everyone marks it the same way.

Interestingly, surveys suggest that around 60% of Israeli Jews fast for the full day, a far higher share than the roughly 25% who identify as Orthodox.

Many secular Israelis neither attend synagogue nor fast. This is especially true in liberal Tel Aviv, where the day takes on a more communal, almost festive character than a religious one. Elsewhere, particularly in Jerusalem, where a majority of the Jewish population is religious or ultra-Orthodox, the atmosphere is markedly different, centered around prayer, synagogue services and the Western Wall.

The one day the airports close

Yom Kippur is the only day of the year when Israel's civilian airports - Ben Gurion near Tel Aviv, as well as Haifa and Eilat - shut down completely. No flights land or take off, and none enter Israeli airspace, except in emergencies.

While driving isn't legally banned, traffic all but disappears, as even secular Israelis tend to leave their cars at home out of respect for the day.

In their place, streets and highways fill with cyclists of all ages, turning the country's usually busy roads into makeshift bike paths. Some take it further: a bike race between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is even organized annually to coincide with the holiday, taking advantage of the rare car-free highways.

On the commercial side, everything shuts for the full 24 hour, but the calm doesn't last long. Restaurants and cafés typically reopen within minutes of sundown the following evening, as the country shifts almost instantly from stillness back to its usual rhythm.