Filled with optimism

Editorial

A study released this week found that the vast majority of people worldwide are optimistic. This should come as no surprise to our community.

Locally, we are in the midst of gala season, with numerous organizations celebrating the contributions of dedicated workers and volunteers, as well as valiantly fundraising with concerts, golf tournaments and the like despite harsh economic times. We are watching Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's efforts to dialogue with Israel's neighbors and are anticipating the upcoming meetings of U.S. President Barack Obama in the Middle East – ever hopeful for peace.

While there are naysayers, those who believe that Israel will always be under attack and that Jews will always be persecuted, most of us choose to keep working for reconciliation and to fight against racism and prejudice. We wake up every morning not only to earn enough to support our families, but to contribute positively to the world. In other words, we choose to be optimistic about the future. In this, we are not alone.

The international study by Matthew W. Gallagher of the University of Kansas and Shane J. Lopez of Gallup was based on the responses of some 150,048 individuals from the first wave of the Gallup World Poll. The poll was started in 2005 and surveys at least 1,000 individuals each year from 142 countries. With respect to the future, 88.7 per cent of the people surveyed expected their life in five years to be as good or better than their current life and 95.3 per cent of them expected their life in five years to be as good or better than their life was five years ago. The most optimistic countries were Ireland, Brazil, Denmark and New Zealand; the most pessimistic were Zimbabwe, Egypt, Haiti and Bulgaria. Canada was ninth in the rankings, the United States 10th and Israel 25th.

The resiliency of Israel in the face of the challenges it faces – and has faced historically – is truly amazing and will no doubt be one of the things upon which we focus during Shavuot this year.

The holiday, which started May 28, is known by several different names, including Zman Matan Torateinu, the Time of the Giving of our Torah. It celebrates the seminal event in the formation of the Jewish people and part of the holiday's customs is to try and relive some of the joy and optimism that our ancestors felt at Mount Sinai upon receiving the Torah. Religious or not, one must admit that the Ten Commandments have had an enormous influence on the world and this is something to at least consider during Shavuot, if not at other times of the year.

Other Shavuot customs include the eating of dairy. There are various ideas about why we do this, but there seem to be three main ones: it is a reminder of the promise regarding the land of Israel, a land flowing with "milk and honey"; just as milk is a baby's first form of sustenance, the Torah is the main spiritual sustenance for the Jewish soul; and Jews initially ate dairy foods after receiving the Torah because they had only just received the laws of kashrut and did not have the means to prepare kosher meat.

The observance of Shavuot also includes the reading of the Book of Ruth. Ruth was the first Jew-by-choice and the great-grandmother of King David, from whose descendants, it is believed, will come the Messiah.

Dr. Jonathan Mirvis, international director of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Institute, notes that, "on Shavuot, we celebrate the completion of the Jewish triangle. Jewishness is not only expressed as a nationality but as a religion and a connection to the land of Israel as well. It is thus significant that we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. Ruth the Moabite realizes that in order to become Jewish she has to embrace these three dimensions. She follows Naomi to Israel, leaving her native Moab and declares unequivocally 'your people shall be mine and your G-d shall be mine.'"

Mirvis also points out that "anti-Semitism has chosen to point its venom at each one of these three dimensions in different times of history. In the period of the Spanish Inquisition, the persecution was pointed at Jewish religion, i.e. a Jew who adopted Christianity was saved. In the Nazi period, the final solution was aimed at Jewish peoplehood, i.e. a person who had Jewish roots was doomed to the gas chambers. Today, Islamic anti-Semitism is directed at our connection with Israel."

This link was once marked by a pilgrimage to the Temple and the offering of the first crops of the land of Israel (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates) and, while the rituals may have changed, the bond between the land of Israel and the Jewish people remains inextricable.

The Midrash says that, when Moses received the Torah, the desert bloomed. What is barren can blossom; from nothing, something can be created. We can overcome those people whose only aim is to destroy. Together, as the people Israel and as citizens of the world, we can support each other and make the world a better place. What better reasons are there to be optimistic?

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