THAT HAPPY LITLE COUNTRY

 

Things seem to have changed somewhat since, over ten years ago, it was reported that the French Ambassador to the U.K. had, at a private dinner party, referred to Israel as, “That shitty little country.” He, of course, suffered from temporary amnesia after the event, stating that he had no memory of having made such a remark but he had been heard by more than one of the guests and was, subsequently, recalled to France. Now it seems we are “That happy little country,” In a study, published in April, Israelis were ranked as the happiest people among the western nations. This is quite surprising considering the problems we encounter on a daily basis, low wages, unemployment, rocket and terrorist attacks, warring factions on all our borders and constant threats from our neighbours to annihilate us and, more recently, the threat of chemical and atomic weapons being used against us. That is without even mentioning the hatred from the western world, a total denial that Israel has a right to defend itself, accusations that we are an Apartheid country, boycotts by everyone from trade unions to pop-stars and constant misinterpretations of practically every act or political decision that Israel makes. One would not expect any of this to make Israelis happy but apparently we continue to enjoy our lives in spite of the many problems and so much unrest.

PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES

According to Professor Zahava Solomon of Tel Aviv University the culture of conflict in which we live has made us, on one hand, constantly aware of our imminent demise but on the other, rendered us virtually fearless. The theory is that if you wake up every morning thinking that today may be your last, you endeavor to enjoy it to the full, if you continue to survive, it might develop into a mantra for the way you live your life, getting every bit of pleasure available to you, taking trips, appreciating Israel’s green spaces and beaches and spending as much time as possible with family and friends. As another psychologist wrote, it is a though Israelis had been inoculated against fear and anxiety.

OUR OWN EXPERIENCES

I suppose that after living here for 28 years we can count ourselves as Israelis (even if we shall probably always be known locally as “the English couple with the dogs.”) Do we agree? I think the answer is in the affirmative, we watch the news, hear the threats of atomic and chemical weapons being used against us, scuffles on our borders, the armed conflict getting nearer and nearer and tune in to another programme, go out for the evening or settle down to a game of Scrabble or Rummicube. Our attitude is, I suppose, that we are powerless to do anything about the situation so what is the use of worrying.

BELIEF IN HASHEM

It is interesting that none of the studies that we have read mention religious belief as being possibly, one of the causes for Israelis being happier than most other peoples. Yet, we are constantly surprised at the way this manifests itself in everyday encounters with people who probably never attend a beit knesset or observe Shabbat. “Manishmah?” (How are you?) we say to the elderly lady we meet most mornings on our dog walking excursions, she is obviously finding walking painful, we know she struggles with a mentally handicapped, wheelchair-bound son and has lost another in one of Israel’s many wars but her face always lights up in a radiant smile as pointing upwards, she says, with obvious sincerity, that thanks to the goodness of G-d, she can still walk and so everything is wonderful. We soon discovered after coming here that non-attendance of a shul or not wearing a kippah is no indication of the depth of people’s faith or relationship with their maker. Several totally non-observant friends of ours, when talking about Israel’s future, refer constantly to G-d’s promises to Israel and state emphatically that Israel is in G-d’s hands and therefore safe. The religious, of course, preface every enquiry as to how they are with “Baruch HaShem.” I am fine thank you, baruch HaShem,” say those of Lola’s pupils who are from religious families and who she is encouraging to speak only English to her. “Baruch HaShem,” is the standard answer from religious Israelis to an enquiry about the health of the person to whom you are talking or that of their family or friends. As our rabbi says, quoting the rabbi who was his teacher, “Is it baruch HaShem tov (good) or baruch HaShem lo tov (bad?) It seems that faith in a protecting G-d, and gratitude to him for ones’ very existence, in good or adverse circumstances, among both religiously observant and non-observant Israelis, is inescapable. We have, therefore, come to the conclusion that there is a lot more to the happiness of Israelis than all of the psychologists’ in their learned papers have yet discovered.