Some synagogues waiving holiday fees

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http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/religion/77089,CST-NWS-syn29.article

Effort aims to bring generation back to the faith

September 29, 2006
BY CARA ANNA

Some call it the seat tax, and not with affection. During the Jewish High Holy Days, the ticket fee to attend some synagogues can reach hundreds of dollars.

It's enough to keep some young adults away, Jackie Saltz realized. ''Couples would say, 'Look, it's not that we're poor, but we have expenses. Rent comes first,''' he said.

So as the 10 days that span Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur continue through Monday, Saltz leads one of several efforts to erase those fees. They're meant to bring a generation back to the faith while the percentage of Americans joining synagogues continues to fall. snip

The Chabad Lubavitch movement this month launched JewishNewYear.org, a search engine of more than 2,000 centers around the world that offer free holiday services. In the Boston suburbs, Jesse Grinberg, 26, took advantage of Chabad after learning the closest Conservative temple charged about $700 a seat for the Yom Kippur service. The closest Reform temple charged about $400.

[MADem]

1. Larry David did an amusing show about this in CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

He swiped someone else's ticket, or somehow got one that he shouldn't have gotten, and ended up getting booted out for causing trouble...the usual Larry David sort of thing.