Israeli Culture by Mackinley Clevinger, April 5, 2016
On the Mediterranean Sea there lies a country of some renown, often appearing in media due to a long-held conflict that seems to be never-ending. Despite this conflict which will not be touched upon by this author at this time, there exists a fascinating culture in Israel, a country born at the end of World War II out of parts of Palestine that were given to the Jewish peoples as a safe haven by the United Nations. Attempts to populate and possess this region began far before that, however, when the Zionism movement gained momentum at the end of the 1800s, their ideology of Israel being the homeland of Judaism and where the Jews should live to escape anti-Semitism being why the U.N chose to give them that land as a relief effort. It’s led to many conflicts, but again, that is not the purpose today.
Israel is predominantly Jewish, 80% of the population being of that faith while 15% are Islamic, and 4% are Christian or Druze. Due to the country being founded and primarily populated by those of the Judaic religion, the culture there strongly reflects the beliefs and typical activities of those people, with variations appearing based on how strongly one follows the tenants of their faith. Some Jews practice their faith in a manner very familiar to those of any religion, observing holidays and identifying religiously while not following every rule and letter of their faith, while others will follow the rules lain down in the Torah, or Old Testament, to the letter, all six-hundred and thirteen of them. Despite the strong presence of Judaism, and Israel’s being their defined homeland, other religions are free to practice as they will, with internal matters being dealt with privately.
Common themes found in the mindset of those who live in Israel are the values of Community, Religion, and Homeland, as well as an underlying ‘Us before Them’ mentality that leads to certain trends in which demographics possess lower-quality jobs and are in poverty. The sense of Community is born of the majority of people in Israel sharing in a common religious belief, social interaction between strangers far more cordial and free of awkwardness than would be found in Canada or the United States. The sense of Religion and Homeland go hand in hand due to the Zionist belief of Israel being their destined homeland coming from passages of the Torah, the Judaic holy book.
In contrast, certain taboos or unacceptable behaviors do exist within Israel’s culture; not out-rightly banned, but looked down upon so hard that to perform such acts would be a suicide of social status and being well thought of in your society. Many of these taboos center around marriage, intermarriage being one such unacceptable act. Marrying within your own family an almost universal taboo in cultures across the world, and such is no different in Israeli culture. However, the marriage between a Jew and anyone who is not Jewish is such a taboo that the ceremony has to be held outside of the country of Israel, and is looked down upon strongly.
Though religious in nature, Israel has embraced and run off with technology, their GDP based quite heavily on the reliance the world has on their contributions to managing its economy, which in turn brings in considerable investment and further development of those technologies. The tendency towards Jewish youth to be studious, born from the religious studying of the Torah for much of their lives, leads many of them to do similarly in scholarly pursuits and rise to the top of their chosen profession, an advantage that works well in staffing Israel with a well-educated workforce to further the technological aspects of their economy. Additionally, the region they inhabit is not known for being inviting and sustaining to a large populace, and yet their agricultural efforts manage to nearly sate their food requirements, which is an impressive feat.
In social interaction, there can be quite a shock to those with more western ideas of proper etiquette. They take a very informal approach in Israel, in conversation discussing a wide range of topics that would normally be considered in bad taste to bring up, such as details about work and income, while in regards to customer service, they will ignore your presence unless you come up to them directly and initiate conversation. Also, in conversation they speak rapidly and at some volume in a manner that could be taken as frustration or emotional duress but is, in fact, simply the way they speak in that region. Body language play a role in conversation as well, spurred on by the high-emotion that people in Israel feel more free to express than in other countries.
The restricted diet of Judaism has led to much of Israel not providing food that does not follow Kashrut, essentially avoiding pork and shellfish, while also not eating meat and milk products in the same meal. Some places do exist, but not in large quantities. Common foods in Israel are Falafel, fried balls of chickpea, onion, and spices; Tabuleh, a salad of wheat and vegetables; Hummus, a paste made of chickpeas; and for desert, Baklava, a flaky dough layered with honey and nuts.
The culture of Israel is far more expansive than that listed here, the religious aspects of the culture in the varying levels of adherence to its laws lending a deep complexity to social interaction, personal motives, and the direction that the culture is heading in. Israel is, like all countries, a place of variety and differences that come together under one overarching heading to be labeled a single country, one that would likely be much more popular and less nerve-wracked if the conflict that has been ongoing since its introduction to the world could come to a lasting peaceful end, but given the long history of fighting and no immediate signs of an end, it seems at the moment to be a pipe dream. While it is important, when discussing any country, to talk about its customs and unique ways that make it an interesting and vibrant place, conflicts such as Israel’s overshadow the cultural achievements they’ve made when you recall that alongside those leaps and bounds they were taking steps along another road as well, a dangerous path to walk for too long but one that’s hard to avoid as well.