By Esther Korson
As I shared in my last blog, out of 151 countries, Israel ranked as the fifteenth happiest country in the world. In a Bloomberg study of 48 advanced economies in terms of the efficiency of their health care systems, Israel ranked 4th, with a life expectancy of 81.6 years. (In comparison, the US ranked 46th with a life expectancy of 78.6) In addition, Israel was rated the second highest in the world in terms of life satisfaction and “experiencing well-being”. Life satisfaction was categorized as good health as well as ‘subjective well-being: a sense of individual vitality; the opportunity to undertake meaningful, engaging activates, inner resources that help one cope when things go wrong; close relationships with friends and family; and belonging to a wider community’. Enough statistics for now! I’ll attempt to translate the statistics into everyday life in the Israeli and Jewish world.
A number of years ago I was on an extensive and intensive speaking tour in New Zealand, that beautiful country at the other end of the world from Israel. After having spoken one evening at a home fellowship, while we were having coffee and cake in the living room, I tried to explain to them one of the special hallmarks of Jewish life. As I told them that night, “One of the gifts that the Lord has given us as a people—and as a nation—is a sense of family. I can meet another Jewish person any place in the world, and there is no sense of strangeness. We’re just able to talk as if we’d known each other forever! And when non-Jewish individuals truly put their lives in Yeshua’s (Jesus’ Hebrew, real name) hands, they will sense God’s love for the Jewish people. And He makes them a part of that sense of family with the Jewish people!” It was a bit hard to express to them what it really means, but the Lord was about to give a live demonstration! Everyone was talking quietly and peacefully. About ten minutes later, an Israeli Believer came to the home fellowship. Now I had never seen her before, and we had never met. But the minute she found out that I was also Jewish, from Israel—and a Believer in Yeshua as the Messiah, we started talking and sharing and laughing together as though we had been friends all of our lives. It was an eruption of sound and joy that astonished everybody else! She insisted that I spend the night with her and her family and happily whisked me away. After pizza at her home we talked until about 2:00 in the morning!
That sense of family is a big part of Israeli life. Sometimes it can be annoying, since everything is everybody’s business. But it brings a sense of safety and assurance with it, because you know that wherever you are in Israel, someone will always be there to help and to care. You can walk the downtown streets (even in the middle of the night) and not even think to be afraid. Children can be very independent from a young age and they ride the busses by themselves. Children are loved in Israel, and people will always be there to take care of them if a need arises. This perception of family gives a wonderful sense of security that makes a huge impact on daily life!
One day on King George St. in downtown Jerusalem someone was stupid enough to steal a woman’s purse. When she loudly yelled, “Ganav!!” the Hebrew word for thief, it was like a scene in a comedy movie. The whole street took off after the thief and he was caught by at least twenty people!
Family life in Israel is also very strong. Part of it always has to do with the Holocaust. It’s impossible to understand Israel without understanding the loss of 6 million people including 1½ million little children! It makes life—family life—very precious indeed. Not so long ago a survey was done with teenagers here, and when asked who their best friends were, 80% of the young people replied without hesitation, “My parents…” Part of this also has to do with the army, where each young man at the age of 18 spends three years there and each young woman two years. (They then remain part of the army as reservists for many more years). Like most Israeli parents, I stood outside the bus on the day when my oldest son Joe left for his army duty. It is a very vulnerable feeling, for in this unstable part of the world, you never know what will really happen. Induction is not optional, but each young person knows that they are entering the army to literally defend the people that they love. Eighty percent said they would enter the army even if it was not obligatory! By the way, almost every Shabbat—unless in times of emergencies—soldiers are able to go home to spend Shabbat with their families! (Guess what’s in the duffel bags they invariably lug with them? Laundry for their moms to do!)
With a strong family life, and a sense of Israel itself as a greater family, it helps to explain at least one aspect of why this is a happy nation! The other reasons will, I see, have to be continued on yet another blog!
Next time I’ll deal with the many ways Israelis express love and caring to one another, among other aspects of life here that equal happiness. But before I close, here’s a good example. Bear in mind as I share this Israel’s diminutive size. (It takes an Israeli jet a mere 1½ minutes to cross the width of Israel, and 11 minutes to cross the entire length from Metulla in the north to Eilat in the south). Also bear in mind that Israel’s total population is only 7 million, and furthermore, Valentine’s Day is not in any way an Israeli holiday. But, Israelis love to show love! So here’s the amazing report. In honour of Valentine’s Day, Twitter revealed that Israel tweeted “I love you” more than any other country in the world in 2013. According to Twitter, more than 481 million Tweets said “I love you” in 116 languages in 2013, with Israel ranking number one! How LOVEly is that?!?!
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