Being religious - Religion - Articles about Israel

As Jews, we complain, fuss over nonexistent things, and breathlessly try to show How Bad It Is. We love to demonstrate how things used to be better. We can't understand the crazy ways of the present generation. After all, we were much better and more tolerant when we were young.

Well, that's what we say. However, we know that it's not true.

Let's see how this self-attacking affects religious life in Israel. We'll go back to a little backwoods shtetl in the Old Country, from decades ago. The ancient, rundown place was called Brooklyn. You may have heard of it.

As a public high school teacher, I was assigned late classes on Fridays. Protests to my Jewish department chairman were met with a suggestion that I get a dispensation from my rabbi. Eventually, after cutting Friday classes on a regular basis, I quit the job.

Let's contrast that situation to life in Israel, which is equally comfortable for both traditional and non-observant Jews. Everybody works together with everybody else in peace and harmony. Not only that, but those who are not religious are surprisingly knowledgeable in the aspects of Jewish law that are related to their own profession.

Those who choose to observe religious life in Israel are in good company. They do not stand out as being different from others. We Israelis are all in this together, and we don�t look for controversy - whether we happen to be observant or not.

Most non-entertainment-based businesses close early on Fridays and remain closed through Shabbat. Critical institutions, such as the electric company, do make an effort to work with non-Jews on Shabbat. Some hospitals use locally-developed devices that prevent chillul Shabbat. Thus, religious people are not stigmatized even though they don't work those days. Nobody makes a fuss about Shabbat, and nobody stands out as being different.

The rare individual who may want to foist his religious or secular view on others is immediately recognized as a publicity-seeker. Everybody else goes about his own business, in the way he wants to do it.

Unfortunately, this tolerance is often forgotten. Quiet, happy cooperation doesn't usually make headlines in most newspapers, so they seek out the rare exceptions to this fact.

Where do you want to go now?