Israel at 75: We All Want the Same Thing

No matter what the political, security/military, financial, religious and social climate seem to be like in Israel, one thing is for certain: As Jews, we all want the same thing. Don’t believe me, read on.

1. We all want to live in peace and harmony – no one that I know of wants to live with war and bloodshed.
2. We all want to live with dignity and respect.
3. We all want to be able to make our own choices.
4. We all want the freedom to live the life we choose.
5. We all want to have financial security.
6. We all want to be proud of our country and its accomplishments.
7. We all want to love and be loved.
8. We all want friendship and connection. According to the OECD: “95% of Israelis believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need.”
9. We all want to have a sense of family, community and nationhood.
10. We all want to be part of something greater than ourselves.
11. We all want to contribute something unique to our Nation and Homeland.
12. We all want to be healthy, physically and mentally. According to the OECD’s Better Life Index, Israel outperforms the average in health, social connections and life satisfaction
13. We all want to be helpful, kind and considerate (I am referring to people who are psychologically healthy here).
14. We all want to lead a productive life.
15. We all want to be heard and acknowledged.
16. We all want to be accepted and included.
17. We all want to be happy. According to the World Happiness Report 2023, Israel is one of the happiest countries on earth, ranking #4 out of 137 countries!
18. We all want success.
19. We all want to leave some lasting impression of ourselves when we are gone.
20. We all want to learn and grow.
21. We all want to have good, but most importantly, we all want to be good (no one wants to be remembered as evil).

As Chanan Porat famously said when they asked him how he wished to be remembered: “I don’t want to be remembered as righteous or holy, or even as a good person – as to the former, I know that I was not on that level, and as to the latter, I know that I was not always good. If you have to remember me for one thing, remember that I wanted to be good. That I can say for certain.”

That is something that I can also say with certainty for all of my fellow Israelis and my fellow Jews around the globe, no matter what side of the aisle we are on politically, religiously or socially – we all want to be good. Let’s make it happen, together!