Anu museum of the Jewish people
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig: Israel: State or Shtetl?
Israel has ten million residents, a military the envy of the Middle East and other nations far and wide, a leading high-tech economy, and other strengths (vibrant culture etc.). And yet, domestically Israel acts more like a shtetl than a state. (that’s the Yiddish word just as it sounds: a tiny state – or more like a large village – a universal Jewish phenomenon found not just in Eastern Europe but among Jews in the wider Arab world as well.)
Calling Israel a “shtetl” is not necessarily negative. Indeed, along with some downside aspects, Israel’s shtetl mentality has some big plusses as well.
For me as a radio news junkie, the last sixteen months have been a frustrating experience: one interview after another, either with family members of hostages or those freed, or experts speculating about “the next steps” or “what the war’s outcome will look like.” Of course, the whole Gaza situation is news, but nonstop interviews that add nothing to our understanding of the situation? And these at the expense of major stuff going on around the world?? True, Trump is covered in the Hebrew media – but almost exclusively in an Israeli context (e.g., his Gaza transfer proposal, “all hell breaking loose,”; etc.).
Such inward-looking news reporting is precisely what one gets within a shtetl environment where it’s called “social gossip”: who’s doing what to whom, which child has “gone off,”; whose funeral is set for tomorrow, etc. Indeed, this could even be described as a “ghetto mentality” – a product of persecution over many centuries, leading most Jews to “circle the (internal) wagons” and look mostly within their own society.
And yet. To take one critical indicator, Israel has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world, and that’s not only due to its excellent health system. Rather, as social scientists have increasingly come to understand, social connectivity is one of the main factors underlying high life expectancy (a recent Economist report on the latest study, found that “social connections and mental wellbeing might be just as important as physical exercise in warding off an early death”: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/02/19/do-lonely-people-have-shorter-lives?). Just as in a shtetl, Israel constitutes a giant social communication system where very few are left out. As counterpoint (one example among several around the world), not-so-“Great” Britain has a (sub-)Minister for Loneliness to initiate “loneliness reduction” policies! That is inconceivable in Israel: very few people are alone in the Shtetl of Israel.
Here’s a classic example of an unusual Israeli phenomenon: the weekly “parliament.” A bunch of older (mostly retired) men (less widespread among women who have more ad hoc get-togethers with girlfriends), meeting once a week for a few hours at some local restaurant to “resolve the world’s problems”. There isn’t a town or city in Israel without several such “parliaments,” each continuing for years on end (I belong to one – a verbally rambunctious but highly sociable affair).
In Israel, however, this is not merely a matter of “communication;” at its core, there’s a lot of mutual empathy. The weekly outpouring of demonstrators demanding the quick release of all hostages – people who the protestors do not know and have never met – is but the latest evidence of such social concern, best summed up in the Hebrew expression “koll Yisrael, areyvim zeh ba’zeh” (all Children of Israel are guarantors one of the other).
What are the reasons for Israel’s huge communicative sociability? There are several factors beyond age-old Jewish culture. First, it’s a territorially small country with most of its population clustered in the center (Hadera to Gedera) so that family members are within easy driving distance one from the other. This facilitates Israel’s nicest shtetl practice: erev Shabbat (Friday eve) meals with the whole family around the table. As opposed to the once-a-year Thanksgiving family get-together in the U.S., such family meals are a weekly, de rigueur event.
Second, whereas other advanced countries have plummeting birth rates (averaging less than 1.5 children per woman, with a few modern nations under 1.0!), Israelis continue to have relatively large families – averaging around three kids per female adult. The chances of them all not being around for Mom or Dad in their later years are close to nil. “Honor thy Father and Mother” is probably the only commandment still universally applied in Israel so that few elderly find themselves alone in the world when a spouse passes away.
Third, countries temporarily beset by external enemies will tend to have greater internal cohesion and communication. Israel’s situation is not temporary – unfortunately for the nation as a whole, but fortunately for continuing social solidarity in the face of perpetual, outside animosity. Yes, there’s quite a lot of bickering (it’s a Jewish state, no?), and even some bilious interaction between Left and Right, but that too is “communication.”
Moreover, given that most sectors (excluding the Moslem and most of the ultra-Orthodox) end up serving in the IDF – Israel’s great “melting pot” – lasting friendships evolve between people who otherwise would never meet, many becoming lifelong friends notwithstanding any political/ideological differences.
In short, Israel’s shtetl-like atmosphere has a few frustrating elements – especially for anyone interested in ongoing news about the wider world. But its internal social benefits can’t be beat.
