Resilience is a big word for something that everyone strives to produce, provide and establish at home, in the workplace and in the country in general. The National Resilience Plan was discussed yesterday in the Knesset Health Committee. As someone who is involved in the promotion of education in Israel, I saw great importance in participating because I am troubled today by the question of how to restore the resilience of our people and how to overcome the October 7 crisis and grow.
Members of the Knesset, social workers and professionals participated in the discussion, which is important and necessary when debating the issue of mental resilience. However, beside all the relevant professionals and decision-makers sat the families of the abductees. The dear and beloved families, each with the stories, the pictures, the difficult descriptions, and the terrible and severe pain they bring with them. The question arises, why was it important to trouble them to come to this discussion?
Make no mistake, my heart goes out to the families of the abductees and to everyone who is experiencing trauma in these complex days. The concern for the abductees, and the identification with their families and acquaintances never leave our minds. Every day, all day. Alongside this, when we finally discuss in our House of Representatives, a national resilience plan, much deeper and broader meanings should stand before our eyes, both on the private level and on our general public level as a nation.
However, national resilience may also be relevant to the fate of the abductees themselves. We learned that in the face of a cruel enemy, every expression of pain translates into weakness, thereby raising the price of the abductees and making their return more distant. A sense of resilience that is expressed externally will make it clear to our enemies that the abductees in their hands are not an asset whose price is only increasing, but rather they are a burden for them that it is better for them to return as soon as possible.
In my humble opinion, the root of the solution to national resilience lies in strengthening our national identity, and establishing the relationship with our Jewish and Zionist ethos of strength. The generation draws its strength from its broad community and family connection and story. Resilient family identity and stories were defined as "oscillating narratives", and although these were sometimes full of upheavals and challenges, they were focused on the unique strengths of the various family members that allowed them to succeed. When there is a national ethos, when there is a heritage to lean on, there is a clear picture of where you came from and where you are going. So, as Viktor Frankl wrote, those who have something to live for will be able to bear anything - that's resilience!!
Identity and tradition have a place in the world of humans
Recently, I heard from Shahar Zadok, a researcher from Bar Ilan University whose main work deals with comparing international researches on religion, identity and resilience. Zadok points to the deep connection between the heritage identity and the traditional identity. And finds that what promotes the mental well-being of the person is an identity that produces a feeling of transcendence, joy, inner peace and a sense of belonging, which provides a very important answer to the feeling of anxiety and trauma that many suffer from, in view of the recent times.
Also, the place of identity and tradition still has a central place in the world of humans, even though we live in a modern, secular and enlightened world, so in my opinion it would be appropriate to give this aspect a place in the Ministry of Health's national plan and even more so in any plan that deals with national resilience. Not only was it missing in the program presented to the Knesset committee, but also in the atmosphere in the meeting room, where the focus was on the pain and not on the growth from it and the heroism that accompanies it.
In recent years, there has been a trend in schools that seeks to reduce history, heritage and Bible studies, the result of which is the disconnection of the safety net of identity and the undermining of the resilience that stems from it. There is no doubt that the prevalent concept of "a state of all its citizens" finds more central expressions in the education system of children and youth, and these days does not contribute to strengthening identity and even weakens it. An approach of multiculturalism should not come at the cost of harming the Jewish identity. Because a country that wants to build a national resilience plan - must be integrated in strengthening the ethos and heritage, the national and historical story.
I call on the Minister of Education to take upon itself the challenge, and come up with a plan to strengthen the Zionist and Jewish identity as part of an overall system to strengthen national resilience.
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Anat Knafo is a former member of the Knesset (Blue and White) and is currently a social activist in the field of education.
