A Comic Book Illuminates the Nature of Israeli Society

Recently, Israeli comic books have received international recognition. For example, Israeli artist and illustrator Rutu Modan received an Eisner Award, an American award, which is one of the highest honors in the comic book world, for Best New Graphic Novel for her work Exit Wounds at the 2008 Comic Con convention.

            According to Ziva Haller Rubenstein (who goes by the pseudonym “Ziva”),a journalist for “De-sign-ist Dream” (“where art and design and the Holy Land meet”), the significance of Modan’s images resides in the fact that they “…relate to the topics of terror and death…There’s something of an older aesthetic or vintage look in the work, as if it draws upon the historical element of Tel Aviv despite its newness of subject and view. Whether it’s by the coloring of the page, the people captured in the street scenes, or the simplicity of the fonts used as conversations,” Modan captures the essence of Israel and of the Israeli people.  Ziva provides the following description of Modan’s story:

Set in modern-day Tel Aviv, A young man, Koby Franco, receives an urgent phone call from a female soldier. Learning that his estranged father may have been a victim of a suicide bombing in Hadera, Koby reluctantly joins the soldier in searching for clues. His death would certainly explain his empty apartment and disconnected phone line. As Koby tries to unravel the mystery of his father’s death, he finds himself not only piecing together the last few months of his father’s life, but his entire identity. With thin, precise lines and luscious watercolors, Modan creates a portrait of modern Israel, a place where sudden death mingles with the slow dissolution of family ties;

Exit Wounds uses this narrative to explore several extremely important topics within Israeli society, including the foreseen and unforeseen causes and consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the role of the family within Israeli society, and the nature of Israel’s emerging and constantly evolving identity, as well as the effects of Israel’s identity on individual Israelis.

            Several similarities can be found between Modan’s fictional character and the reality of life in Israel. Like the main character, Koby, Israelis must address the mounting tensions between themselves and their Palestinian neighbors, a pursuit that often leads to violent insurgencies. Within this climate, Israelis struggle to understand and to cope with the fragility of life and death. According to Rosenthal, Israelis value their lives; their very existence nearly as much as their country. “As witness to their resolve to stay, that land [, the biblical land of Hebron,] is almost as important as lives, these settlers readily show fresh graves and bullet holes in their homes,” she says (217).  The State of Israel exists because Israelis are continually willing to sacrifice their comfort and security, including that of their property, their lives, and of the lives of their loved ones, to create buffer-zones between themselves and the Palestinians and to defend the beliefs upon which their country was defended.  However, patriotism is not the only role that the Israelis must fulfill.  They must also ensure the continued survival of the Israeli population and of the Israeli way of life.

            Consequently, the family also plays a crucial role in Israel society—it represents the foundation of the Israeli people. Familial relationships are an enormous source of influence in Israeli society because of their influence and authority in shaping individual moral character and in controlling the educational background of individuals. In other words, the strongest basis of one’s religion, both in terms of education and spiritual support originates within the family. In this context, parents have a responsibility to teach their children the difference between right and wrong and the importance of the what those differences imply, as well as to determine how, when, where, why, and by whom their children should be educated outside the home.  As a result, parents ought to provide the greatest source of physical, spiritual, and financial support for their children until they are capable of resuming these responsibilities for themselves.

            However, Ziva disagrees with this analysis. He asserts that the familial relationships portrayed by Modan inaccurately depict Israeli society, which he believes is more divided and complex. “I’m not so sure that today’s Israel can be so easily categorized as a place where family ties are not strong. In fact, I believe quite the opposite is true,” he explains. In certain contexts, Ziva is correct. For example, there are noticeable divisions between the family structure and individual behavioral patterns within and between various sects of Judaism. These include the ultra-Orthodox, or heredi Jews; the Orthodox, such as Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews; and the non-Orthodox, such Reform Jews.

Ultra-Orthodox households tend to be more ideologically isolated, and hence rigid, than other sects of Judaism.  “Haredi Judaism places a heavy emphasis on ritual as a way of getting closer to God.  Haredim think about how they perform nearly every act, from preparing food to washing hands before eating to making love on Friday night, because each act is a spiritual link to God” (Rosenthal 190).  The family plays a vital role in protecting these types of ideologies and traditions.  Within this context, gender roles are clearly defined and interactions, especially in matters of education and co-habitation between men and women are strictly monitored and observed.  The most important role for women is as wife and mother, while the most important role for men is as the leader of the household, followed by their role as provider.  The most important role of children is to follow Scripture, as defined in the Torah and to obey their parents.

         Boys and girls attempt to fulfill these obligations by attending separate schools where, “all curriculum is screened to ensure that it is free of ‘offensive content’ that might slander religion or contradict Jewish law.  Most importantly, it must not mention the heretical ideas like Zionism” (Rosenthal 198).  Between the ages of 13 to 18, a disproportionately large number of boys continue their education, usually in yeshiva, or Rabbinical school, where they conduct higher Torah study.  On the other hand, girls are prepared and screened for marriage.  Girls are not expected to become educated because the most sacred role that they can fulfill is as wife and mother.  As a result, girls are valued based upon their appearance, and upon their family’s religious convictions and financial standing.  These criteria are utilized by a matchmaker to determine an appropriate match for marriage.  The ideal partner for a good haradi girl is a good kosher  boy.  An account of the purpose, or rather the ideal purpose of marriage is provided within the book of Genesis 1:29,  “And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it…”  Not surprisingly, the ultra-Orthodox have much larger families than the average.  According to Sarah Steign, the mother of seven children, when couples are unable to meet this duty, they are frowned upon within the haredi community.  “With small families, rumors go around that something is wrong,” (Rosenthal 192-193) she explains.  However, she also admits:

Still, I hope Leah [(my eldest daughter)] doesn’t have too many.  Nowadays, who can afford a decent-size apartment?  To find one, she’ll probably have to move out of Jerusalem.  Really cheap ones are out in the settlements.  But what good is a big apartment if your [Palestinian] neighbors want you dead? (Rosenthal 195);

Several fundamentally significant problems face the ultra-Orthodox Jewish families because of their religious convictions and lifestyles.  A major factor has to do with the fact that the majority of haredi men (70 percent according to Rosenthal (187))are professionally engaged in Torah study, which provides virtually no income, except in the form of government subsidies and personal contributions.  As a result, women are often depended upon to be the sole breadwinners for their families.  However, because their upbringing prevented them from attaining education or many transferable skills, they are limited in terms of their participation in the workforce.  Not surprisingly, the majority of ultra-Orthodox live beneath the poverty level.  “What we don’t have in money, we have in spirituality…  What we have is not poverty, it’s living simply,” explains Sarah.  However, it is important to note that what the majority of the Israeli people don’t have in money, they make up for in taxes.  Living simply is a privilege, not a right.  Moreover as Rosenthal and, “non-Orthodox Israelis are quick to point out that it is poverty by choice, as close to 60 percent of haredi men have tax exemptions and are not looking for work” (188).  Additionally, due to their influence in Israeli government, ultra-Orthodox Jews are largely excluded from military service.  The sorts of special treatment derived from these types of special circumstances inspire tension and provoke bitter resentment. 

Mira, a non-Orthodox Israeli woman voices a common complaint:

What makes me angry is that we’re supporting them and look how they treat us… They’re milking us, taking money from my pocket.  My neighbors with ten kids don’t even pay taxes or send their sons to the army.  They think God intended us to work hard for them, and then the messiah will come.  Why sould men who refuse to join the army and refuse to work get tax exemptions?  They’re living off our backs.  We’ve done our duties—I was a soldier, my ex-husbad was in the Yom Kippur War and in the reserves, both m children were in the army during the Gulf War when Scuds were falling; (Rosenthal 240)

In Israel, the Orthodox strictly adhere to religious texts and traditions but find new ways of interpreting them.  As Rosenthal points out, Orthodox Jews “and their children have a flourishing religious life, but unlike the ultra-Orthodox, haredim, are not isolated from secular Israel” (206).  Additionally, unlike the haredi, the Orthodox are well-educated and employed in a myriad of professions, including in the fields of computer science, law, politics, medicine, etc.  Women are not excluded from these activities.

This attitude is reflected in the Israeli school system.

Teachers [in Israel] don’t believe it is against Jewish law for girls to study Jewish texts, including the Torah.  They encourage girls to think independently and stand up for themselves.  Girls also learn humanistic Jewish values and the beauty of cultural and religious pluralism; (Rosenthal 228)

As a result, the Orthodox are able to more easily communicate with and contribute to mainstream Israeli society.  Because of these factors, they are also far more productive and far less dependent on governmental subsidies and private donations than their heredi brethren.

The very fact that the Orthodox are not isolated from secular Israeli life presents the largest problem for Orthodox families.  “Whether they live in Israel or in settlements, many Orthodox families are grappling with the pain of children flirting with secularity,” (228) says Rosenthal.  This phenomenon is largely due to the fact that young Israelis are unable to understand or appreciate the doctrines of orthodoxy.  Additionally, because they have been more exposed to Western individualistic and capitalistic ideas, they question these types of beliefs and attitudes, and in many cases, deviate from the religion upon which they were raised.

Most Jewish Israelis are non-Orthodox.  According to Rosenthal, “about 80 percent of Israeli Jews are non-Orthodox, a category with endless variations” (232).  Regardless of their differences, the non-Orthodox tend to be cafeteria Jews in that they pick and choose which aspects of Judaism they wish to follow.  Most observe major religious holidays, such as Yom Kippur, Passover, and the Sabbath.  The aspect that seems to unite most non-Orthodox Jews is the fact that they do not want to be boxed in by their religion and that they feel the need to explore Judaism within a broader perspective.

Non-Orthodox aversion to strictly adhere to Jewish doctrine leads to misunderstanding, resentment, and tension with the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox. “It really annoys me that there are narrow-minded haredim who think everything that deals with Judaism is theirs.  They believe they have better values, that they’re holier than us.  We’re also legitimate Jews.  If not for the nonreligious Zionists who brought Jews here, a lot of haredi families probably would have remained in Europe or been killed,” says Sivan, a non-Orthodox Israeli (Rosenthal 235-236).  Another person complains that “Sometimes it feels like it’s them and us,’ says Sivan, describing  the widening divisions between Jerusalem’s non-Orthodox and untra-Orthodox.  ‘We hardly talk to each other.  They despise our modern culture, they’re repulsed by us” says Sivan (239).  Clearly, these religious differences are a major source of conflict within Israeli culture.

Despite these differences, all Israelis live in a Jewish state, where it is nearly impossible, if not entirely impossible to avoid participating in Judaism.  As Rosenthal points out, the Israeli flag is a Jewish symbol and the national language is Hebrew.  Many key aspects of Israeli life are also controlled by the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox minority.  These groups play an influential role in the Knesset and local government. Life may not be as artistically presented as a comic book, but in a war-torn country, Israelis are grateful for every day that they are alive.