Don’t Worry. Be Israeli!
As a sort of companion post to Avi’s Jerusalem video, I wanted to share an article I recently came across from the online Asia Times, entitled “Why Israel is the world’s happiest country.”
It’s rare to think of Israel in any terms other than negative ones these days. Our unenviable geographic position, our corrupt government, the almost daily rocket attacks on us, and the current water crisis all give more than ample cause for despair. But then someone like the author of this article comes along and casts an entirely different light on Israel, giving us renewed faith in ourselves and our purpose on earth.
The foundation for the author’s analysis of Israel’s happiness is twofold. He plots a chart (reproduced above) which reflects the suicide rate on the x-axis, and the birth rate on the y-axis of 35 industrial countries; as you can see, Israel is a dramatic outlier on this chart. He also focuses on Israel’s faith and values, contrasting them with those of other modern societies, including Europe, America, and the Muslim world. In all, it’s an anecdotal argument, but rings true nonetheless. Here are some of the highlights:
Envy surrounds no country on Earth like the state of Israel, and with good reason: by objective measures, Israel is the happiest nation on Earth at the 60th anniversary of its founding. It is one of the wealthiest, freest and best-educated; and it enjoys a higher life expectancy than Germany or the Netherlands. But most remarkable is that Israelis appear to love life and hate death more than any other nation. If history is made not by rational design but by the demands of the human heart, as I argued last week , the light heart of the Israelis in face of continuous danger is a singularity worthy of a closer look….
Israel’s love of life, moreover, is more than an ethnic characteristic. Those who know Jewish life through the eccentric lens of Jewish-American novelists such as Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, or the films of Woody Allen, imagine the Jews to be an angst-ridden race of neurotics. Secular Jews in America are no more fertile than their Gentile peers, and by all indications quite as miserable.
For one thing, Israelis are far more religious than American Jews. Two-thirds of Israelis believe in God, although only a quarter observe their religion strictly. Even Israelis averse to religion evince a different kind of secularism than we find in the secular West. They speak the language of the Bible and undergo 12 years of Bible studies in state elementary and secondary schools….
The faith of Israelis is unique. Jews sailed to Palestine as an act of faith, to build a state against enormous odds and in the face of hostile encirclement, joking, “You don’t have to be crazy to be a Zionist, but it helps.” In 1903 Theodor Herzl, the Zionist movement’s secular founder, secured British support for a Jewish state in Uganda, but his movement shouted him down, for nothing short of the return to Zion of Biblical prophecy would requite it. In place of a modern language the Jewish settlers revived Hebrew, a liturgical language only since the 4th century BC, in a feat of linguistic volition without precedent. It may be that faith burns brighter in Israel because Israel was founded by a leap of faith.
Well, I’m sold!
This is really intriguing. I especially find the following interesting, though it’s something I already know, it fascinates me how such a dynamic exists.
"For one thing, Israelis are far more religious than American Jews. Two-thirds of Israelis believe in God, although only a quarter observe their religion strictly. Even Israelis averse to religion evince a different kind of secularism than we find in the secular West. They speak the language of the Bible and undergo 12 years of Bible studies in state elementary and secondary schools…"
It makes me wonder whether any other faiths/religions face this kind of situation vs. the Western World.
Interesting study! I (as I do with any study of this sort) will take the results with a grain of salt. One thing that immediately comes to my mind is that this might have more to do with the types of life pressures Israeli’s endure on a regular basis, (not to mention historically) rather than the result of any perceived"religiosity". An nation born as a result of the incredible anti-antisemitism which took place during and around WWII kind of lends itself well to a "lets survive and thrive" mentality. Add to that the ongoing attacks and hatred towards Israel from its neighbors and it’s understandable that life and survival have a value that is lost on us who live life more safely, where we can just take it for granted. You don’t know what you have until its gone or someone is trying to take it away.
I’m not trying to suggest that religion doesn’t play a role. Just that maybe its being overstated a little in the above quote from the "study".
BTW just to offer a little contrast. According to the UN Human Development index, which is considered to be a standard means of measuring well-being within different countries. Israel doesn’t even make the top 20 and is behind both Germany and the Netherlands. So Israeli’s may be living longer but are they living better?
Anyhow regardless of the root causes its nice to read that Israeli’s are a happy people.
Avi,
I think it’s wise to remain skeptical. But I also think that while the author of the article is not terribly scientific in approaching his argument, he’s very honest about how he arrives at his conclusions.
Thanks for the link to the UN HDI. Given its youth, its absorption of millions of penniless Jews from dozens of countries, and the amount of money it has to spend on its defense budget (compared to Sweden, Australia, and Switzerland, for example), I think #23 is pretty good. (Germany and the Netherlands are quite wealthy, relatively speaking.) There are wealthier countries on that list that don’t have Israel’s challenges that still rank below us on both the well-being and the happiness scale. The UN’s model of "well-being" is very different from the birth/suicide rate model of the Asia Times article. Well-being doesn’t necessarily equate with happiness.
I don’t agree that the events of the 20th century bear a large responsibility for Israelis’ value on life. I think it has much more to do with the values described in the Torah and mitzvot, such as redeeming the captive, not rejoicing over the death of our enemies (e.g. the Egyptians who drowned in the Yam Suf), the many obstacles that stand between a criminal and capital punishment (which is almost impossible to enforce), and the belief that each human life is a universe unto itself, and that saving one life is saving a universe. It’s what inspired Professor Liviu Librescu to give his own life to save his students during the Virginia Tech Massacre, why Yitzhak Dadon broke through a police barricade and endangered his own life to kill the murderer at the scene of the Mercaz HaRav shooting last March in Jerusalem, and why the police in Israel generally have such a hard time barricading a site after a terrorist attack (from all the people who want to help).
No, I don’t think it’s a reaction to what’s happened to us. I think it’s who we are, and who we’re supposed to be.
"No, I don’t think it’s a reaction to what’s happened to us. I think it’s who we are, and who we’re supposed to be."
Interesting! I think they kind of all go hand in hand. At least speaking for myself, it’s hard to deny that who, how and what I’m today is, and has been at least partly shaped by my past (including what has happened to me in terms of positive and negative experiences).
I am not saying its one or the other but possibly some combination of both and that BTW is just one boys opinion. One thing is for sure I as a Jew, am not prepared to put Jew’s/Israeli’s up quite so high on a pedestal. I suppose that I just dont buy that we (or to those who don’t count me, Jew’s,) are any better than other spiritually inclined people’s.
I guess thats why I’m not an orthodox Jew. Who knows?
Regardless, this is all (i suppose) besides the point. Because as I mentioned in my initial comment, I think it’s great that Jews in Israel are a happy lot!
No, I don’t think it’s a reaction to what’s happened to us. I think it’s who we are, and who we’re supposed to be.
I agree with both of you, Shimshonit and Avi. Of course we are all shaped by our experiences, so the desire to save or help others may be borne of either a) having been helped before, or b) having not been helped, and seeing the pain that lack caused.
Then too, I know many religious Jews believe that we are called, chosen, for the specific purpose of tikkun olam or "being a light to the nations." Rather than saving souls, like other religions, we’re here to save people. At least, that’s how I view it…I couldn’t claim to speak for anyone else!
Very interesting discussion…and it’s nice to have a positive spin once in a while. Thanks for posting about the article, Shimshonit!
It was nice to read a positive view of Israel. I would also agree that our views on life and living are a combination of our personal stories as individuals and our collective stories as a people. No doubt the influence of one or the other varies from person to person, from stage of life to stage of life, etc.
I’m planning my first visit to Israel next year. I’m very much looking forward to experiencing it all for myself, finally.
Avi,
I wouldn’t dream of claiming that Jews have a monopoly on life-saving. (Just think of the Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews during the Shoah, the whites who assisted slaves fleeing the American South, and people everywhere who have helped or saved the oppressed.) Most people have an instilled sense of right and wrong, and for many, it compels them to act to save lives in extraordinary or high-risk circumstances. What I would claim is that as Jews, we are expected to do everything we can to preserve human life as a commandment, not a choice; as an act of humanity, not heroism. And I stand by my argument that we have developed this belief not as a result of the Shoah, but as a result of the Exodus from Egypt (which figures prominently in our prayers and blessings, even Kiddush on Friday night), the precursor to our receipt of the Torah and its commandments. The story of the Exodus points out the value of all human life, of both Egyptian/oppressor and Hebrew/slave. (If you can take it back still further, kol hakavod.) One need not be Orthodox to get this message from the Torah.
Rivka,
You hit on something great when you write, "Rather than saving souls, like other religions, we’re here to save people. At least, that’s how I view it…I couldn’t claim to speak for anyone else!" Go right ahead! This is a very important distinction between Christianity and Judaism, and worth noting. If as Jews we believe justice should be pursued here on Earth (rather than put off for an Afterlife), it is all the more important that we make life livable for those living it. Thanks for pointing this out.
Yael,
Your comment was interesting, and made me ask myself a tough question: Would Jews feel it incumbent upon themselves to value human life if we had only the commandments, and not our experience as a people, to guide us? I don’t know the answer to that, but it’s worth chewing on. Thanks for inspiring it. And feel free to look me up when you visit Israel!
Shim
You make some great points and I’m certainly not arguing against the idea that as Jews we are expected to behave a certain way. Nor am I suggesting that our tradition isn’t meant to cultivate spiritually moral human beings. I just tend to be skeptical of claims that imply the Jews are more spiritual than other people and (right or wrong) that’s how I read the article. I chose my own words poorly when I said that it had “ more to do with,” I should have said I think it’s a combination of.
I also think another reason that I see this different than maybe you do, is because I view the Jewish people as being first and foremost rooted in culture and ethnicity (which IMO makes us no better or different than any other culture or ethnicity) out of which our religious views and sensibilities evolved. Granted I believe that our religious narrative is much stronger and more deeply integrated into our culture than any others I’ve come across.
I would suspect (and I’m of course assuming here) that your take on the Jewish people and Judaism is the opposite, in that we are a people of the book (in covenant with G-D) before we are a ethno-cultural entity a.k.a. a people.
My statement “I guess that’s why I’m not an orthodox Jew” I suppose was just a reflection of my beliefs as stated above. I was just trying to point out that if I was in fact orthodox I would probably believe in Torah MiSinai (which I do not literally believe in) and therefore be more comfortable with the article and its assumptions.
Avi,
Thanks for your additional comment. I understand your views of Judaism as culture and ethnicity, and don’t disagree with them at all. I think it’s a “both/and” description of the Jews, and it can be perplexing to try to figure out which one weighs more heavily, if one does. To say that we’re “people of the Book” is true on the face of it, though it’s pretty hard to explain why so many Jews who don’t so much as open the Torah still carry so many of its values with them. Is it because they learned them at the knee of parents and grandparents who, if they didn’t know anything about the Torah either, got it from generations before them? At some point, most Jews lived in segregated quarters from Gentiles and in communities where Torah learning was more common. It still amazes me that generations later, you can take the Jew away from the Torah, but you can’t take the Torah away from the Jew.
As far as being Orthodox is concerned, I have been asked several times if I believe the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai. I think the question is totally irrelevant, though I’m sure it was meant to measure my frumkeit. I don’t know what happened at Sinai. I wasn’t present, and while tradition sets out one version of the story that I think is beautiful, I don’t think one need believe it word-for-word. I think something had to have happened, though, because the future of the Western world was changed forever as a result of it. I just don’t know what exactly happened, and this doesn’t bother me in the least.
If, however, you’d like to see my (not necessarily Orthodox) view of Jews as having a higher moral code to live up to than others (and, in most cases, succeeding pretty well), chalk it up to my own personal arrogance. That’s okay with me (grin).
I have been asked several times if I believe the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai. I think the question is totally irrelevant, though I’m sure it was meant to measure my frumkeit. I don’t know what happened at Sinai. I wasn’t present, and while tradition sets out one version of the story that I think is beautiful, I don’t think one need believe it word-for-word. I think something had to have happened, though, because the future of the Western world was changed forever as a result of it. I just don’t know what exactly happened, and this doesn’t bother me in the least.
That is how I feel about it as well, Shim. Thanks for putting my thoughts so succinctly for me.
I think most important is the fact that it *did* change Western culture.
Back to our regularly scheduled discussion.