<P> A shomer Shabbat may be contrasted with the person who desecrates the Shabbat (mekhallel shabbat), a status of serious deviance when done in public . </P> <P> In the past, it was relatively uncommon to be shomer Shabbat in the United States, even among the Orthodox . Emanuel Feldman writes that it was a "rarity" in the American Orthodoxy of the 1950s . Overall, political scientist Charles Liebman estimated that about 4% of American Jews were shomer shabbos in the 1960s . Among other factors, Saturday had not yet been established as a day off from work, and many American Jews found that insistence on Shabbat observance would cost them their livelihood . During this period, to improve observance, Flatbush rabbis operated a shomer Shabbat council and ran a shomer Shabbat parade . </P> <P> According to the National Jewish Population Survey (2000--2001), about 50% of affiliated Jews (versus 8% of unaffiliated) light Sabbath candles . The first mitzvah in shomer Shabbat homes each Friday evening, candle - lighting is performed by 85% of Orthodox, 50% of Conservative and 25% of Reform Jews (Ament 2005: 31). In total, Sabbath candle - lighting is practiced by 28% of NJPS survey respondents representative of 4.3 million Jews (United Jewish Communities 2003: 7). </P> <P> With the increasing observance among Orthodox Jews, the status of shomer Shabbat has become more important . For example, one of the key questions asked about Orthodox Jewish day schools is whether it allows children who are not shomer Shabbat . The shomer shabbat distinction has been found to be a factor in the social integration of children and families . Sabbath observance is a major priority among Orthodox Jewish families and one scholar contends that shomer Shabbat status is the "functional equivalent" of Orthodox Jewish identity . </P>

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