Although demonstrators were still blocking major roads in Hong Kong—slowing down ambulances and emergency vehicles—and threatening to occupy government buildings, Yom Kippur services at the local Chabad-Lubavitch center are expected to take place as usual when the holiday begins at sunset on Friday.

“The Hong Kong police force is one of the most efficient,” says Rabbi Mordechai Avtzon, who co-founded Chabad of Hong Kong with his wife, Goldie, in 1987. “The protests have been very disruptive since many other neighborhoods feed into the Central District, and but they have not been violent, per se, and we’ve not seen shooting or looting.”

Noting that foreigners often have a skewed perception of internal issues in the region—which has been part of the People’s Republic of China since 1997, when terms of its British colonization expired—he expressed his expectation that life would soon return to normal, with no great changes made to the political system.

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“I cannot categorically promise that we will not have additional problems to pray for this Yom Kippur,” says the rabbi, who oversees Chabad activities in the Far East and conducts holiday services a 10-minute walk from the site of the protests. “But there are no indicators of a major crisis looming.”

Tens of thousands of protesters have remained on the streets of Hong Kong, calling for a choice of candidates in the 2017 elections for the next chief executive. China, for now, has a specific slate of political candidates selected.

More than 60 people were arrested last Friday and 30 injured when crowds near Hong Kong’s government headquarters clashed with police. Nevertheless, Rosh Hashanah services at Chabad went on as usual, and the same is projected for Yom Kippur.