The corona pandemic of 2020 has infected and affected the entire planet. As reflected by policies implemented, it is obvious that various countries' governments are responding to this unprecedented challenge in different ways. The Chinese had little problem in their standard approach of basic martial law, Sweden seems to have taken the most subdued and lax approach, and American policy has been criticized as “too little too late.”
Israel, once it decided to react, did so at a rapid pace, and twice reached extremes of complete and total national curfew.
When observed from a wide-angle lens, Israel's policies appear on par with most other countries.
I, however, strive to heighten the resolution (or in my modern lingo: increase the "pixelity"). Here are seven areas where Israeli society differs:
1. Frequency of National Crises
Historically, Jewish communities around the world have faced countless waves of violence. That violence also hounded the Jews of the "Old Yishuv," the Jewish community of pre-state Israel. Since the state's foundation in 1948, though yearning for Isaiah's vision "every person under their vine and fig tree..." we have yet to reach it. Israel has faced on average one major military conflict per decade, not to mention a constant unrelenting bloodletting of terror.
The up-side is that we Jews have centuries of practice developing mechanisms and methods dealing with communal tragedies, and since 1948 our "tool-kit" was upgraded as we now have the national apparatuses, with all its vestiges, to employ.
So although corona may be a novel=new virus, as are the national crisis levels global societies are facing, for us Israelis, the “new” is very similar to the old and only too familiar.
And the bottom line is, as we have “been there, done that,” we know what to do, and what not to do, now.
2. The Israeli Defense Forces
· Military vis-à-vis civilians
Although all militaries wear uniforms, there is no uniformity in the relationship between countries' civic and military bodies. One of the many ways where Israel's military differs is in the overlap and integration between those two sides of society. So it is no surprise that many solutions of coping with this national civil crisis are being handled by the I.D.F.
· Brainy Brawn
What is the common denominator of napkins, the internet, and duct tape? They all have common civilian purposes, and they are all military inventions. Because of the ever changing and progressive threats that Israel faces, our military is constantly pushed to create ever more imaginative solutions. For instance, Israel’s solution to the constant barrage of short range rockets: the Iron Dome system. For Israelis, it came as no surprise that the recently retired head of the Iron Dome unit was called upon by the authorities to come up with a quick production response for the predicted shortage of ventilators.
· An Army of the People.
Israel has the highest percentage of military personnel amongst all democracies, and a compulsory draft with over 50% serving. But our society has not created a caste system where the military are the elite. The army is an army of the people. The men and women in green are our boys and girls, our husbands and wives. Due to these facts, our soldiers generate feelings in us of warmth, adoration and love. We tend to protect them as much as they protect us. So when the authorities needed to call in the reserves to manage the civilian population centers, the scenes of military handing out food packages or assisting police officers created feelings of calm and a sense of togetherness, as opposed to a population cowering at the sight of armed might. (A personal point in case, our son, a commander in the Kfir infantry brigade, was randomly assigned to the police patrol of our city…and we actually bumped into him during his patrol! Only in Israel!)
3. Arab Society
Twenty percent of Israel's citizens are ethnically Arab. Whether defined as Israeli Arabs or Palestinian citizens of Israel, either way, a large segment, historically and today, feel alienated and suspicious of governmental authority. Therefore, government issued rules, regulations and restrictions are viewed with suspicion, and adhered to with much less conviction in relation to their Israeli non-Arab counterparts. When it comes to societal obedience they would prefer to answer only to their own conscience or at most to the level of clannish leadership. As a whole, they do not feel obligated to national obedience. Additionally, the vast majority of Arabs live in exclusively Arab neighborhoods and villages. As of such, these societal factors, attitudes and (non)actions contributed to elevated infection levels amongst Arabs.
4. Ultra-orthodox (Haredi) Society
On the other side of the spectrum, over 10% of Israeli civilians belong to the ultra-orthodox groups. In a similar fashion they too are extremely distrustful of government authority and hold themselves subservient only to their own independent religious leadership. Additionally, the vast majority live in insular neighborhoods and cities. When their spiritual leadership failed to follow the direction of the medical authorities, religious communal practices such as prayer quorums (minyans), study halls (yeshivas), and festive meals trumped concerns of social distancing. As of such, these societal factors, attitudes and (non)actions contributed to elevated infection levels amongst Haredi Jews.
5. “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the corners of the earth…” (Isaiah 43)
The state of Israel has always been very protective of fellow Jews, regardless of their nationality, and citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation. This standard of relationship has led to some of our most inspirational rescues, as in the 1976 raid on Entebbe, and the 1983-1991 rescue of Ethiopian Jews in operations Moses and Solomon. This attitude maintains its resolution even when projected on the individual’s scale. The state will mobilize its resources in any attempt to bring the most destitute Israeli home from the most forlorn place on the planet.
With international travel deteriorating to a near complete closure, the state spared no expenses and barred no holds in their trials to bring any and every Israeli home. Once again, Israel showed that even when Israelis are far from home, home is never far from them.
6. Community
For better or for worse, we Jews have many attributes of tribal, clannish and familial behavior, and in the modern reality we have broadened them on the national scale. We did not hoard toilet paper, but we did have apartment building porch minyans. Gatherings may have been deemed illegal, but that only served to increase the number of weddings, with the bride and groom walking down the street toward the canopy to the social-media-coordinated cheers of the entire neighborhood. Behavioral scientists identified many patterns of primal survival in facing this pandemic, but here in Israel, our strong communities only got stronger. (And most amazingly…we finally discovered how to stand in a line!)
7. Hope.
Rabbi Sacks makes the following fascinating distinction between optimism and hope. Optimism, he explains, is the belief that things will get better, whereas hope is the belief that, together, we can make things better. The first is passive, and is bolstered by naivete; the second requires action and demands courage. Knowing what we do of Jewish history, no Jew can honestly be an optimist. And yet, our Jewish cultural practices and spiritual beliefs have forged the condition that Jews always have hope. This distinction does not imply that others do not or cannot share that hope, but it does say that we as a group have been practicing it for a long time, and therefore we excel at it.
The Israeli expression of "Yes we can!" translates as: "We beat Pharaoh...we'll beat this too!"
In summary, I hope that by examining Israeli society and culture in depth, and through the prism of the corona crisis, we can all gain a better understanding of the nature of modern Israel.
You may have noticed that I ended on a hopeful note ("Hope"), as I believe that for many people in the world today, this is where their remedy lies. May Israel always be a beacon of hope for all who seek it.