Film Review: "Israel Inside - How A Small Country Makes a Big Difference"
By Jerusalem Online University
featuring Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD
by Nathan Hakimi
Tags: film, israel inside, tal ben-shahar, psychology, judaism, innovation, creativity
I just saw "Israel Inside" at the Chicago screening for Yom Ha'atzma'ut and it was a really tremendous experience. Israeli-born psychologist Dr. Tal Ben-Shachar narrates at once a personal story, national saga, and an academic/intellectual journey twirled into a snappy and visually pleasing 55-minute piece. I related to it well.
In the opening he talks about leaving his faculty position at Harvard - where he taught the school's most popular course ever, "Positive Psychology", to a class of 1400 students - to return to his mother country, Israel. Back home after 14 years abroad in America, the UK, and elsewhere, he starts to see the country with new eyes, and to integrate his theories on the "pathology of happiness" into observations on what makes Israeli society unique. His theories concern the factors governing motivation, self-esteem, satisfaction, loving relationships, goal direction, and other forces of good.
After a few months, he develops a model of the Israeli psyche in 6 factors which he calls "The Actualizers".
The Actualizers:
Several segments in particular stood out to me:
-The Electric Car: is the story of a young Israeli entrepreneur named Shai Aggasi and his quest to turn electric cars into a reality. Watching the interview with Shai in Israel Inside was literally "electrifying" for me! I could just feel the excitement of an idea growing and getting started despite opposition and eventually garnering enough support to become a reality. There is a youtube video about this project here and Shai also had a TED talk you can see here.
-Drip Irrigation: Everyone familiar enough with Israel activism knows the famous story of how Israelis "made the desert bloom" using special irrigation techniques. What we may not realize is how far and widespread the elegant yet deceptively complex technology turned out to be. It changed the entire world for the better.
-Humanitarian Aid: the film shows us moving videos of Israeli hospitals in Haiti and cites humanitarian missions performed all around the world, and mentions the outlandish expenditure relative to GDP which Israel devotes to humanitarian aid with little to no hesitation by the legislature or the public.
These sections of the film, each its own little mini-documentaries, are highly effective and moving. For me personally, they hinted at the deeper nature of reality and the meaning of success. What do we mean when we say "Creativity" and how does that relate to the religious ideology of Judaism? The Torah teaches us that G-d created the world with just words. So from ideas sprout realities. With compassion, community, chutzpah, education, and belief in oneself things can be accomplished which seem ambitious and impossible.
I believe that anything you think can become a reality, and the land of Israel is a place today which demonstrates how this principle is true.
Here is the trailer for the movie so you can watch it and see what's going on.
Whether you are Jewish or not Jewish I highly recommend this film as a piece of inspiration for what life is about and how to become more motivated and empowered to achieve amazing things.
Tags: film, israel inside, tal ben-shahar, positive psychology, judaism, psychic creativity
By Jerusalem Online University
featuring Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD
by Nathan Hakimi
Tags: film, israel inside, tal ben-shahar, psychology, judaism, innovation, creativity
I just saw "Israel Inside" at the Chicago screening for Yom Ha'atzma'ut and it was a really tremendous experience. Israeli-born psychologist Dr. Tal Ben-Shachar narrates at once a personal story, national saga, and an academic/intellectual journey twirled into a snappy and visually pleasing 55-minute piece. I related to it well.
In the opening he talks about leaving his faculty position at Harvard - where he taught the school's most popular course ever, "Positive Psychology", to a class of 1400 students - to return to his mother country, Israel. Back home after 14 years abroad in America, the UK, and elsewhere, he starts to see the country with new eyes, and to integrate his theories on the "pathology of happiness" into observations on what makes Israeli society unique. His theories concern the factors governing motivation, self-esteem, satisfaction, loving relationships, goal direction, and other forces of good.
After a few months, he develops a model of the Israeli psyche in 6 factors which he calls "The Actualizers".
The Actualizers:
- Family
- Education
- Adversity to advantage
- Chutzpah
- Tikkun Olam
- Taking Action
Several segments in particular stood out to me:
-The Electric Car: is the story of a young Israeli entrepreneur named Shai Aggasi and his quest to turn electric cars into a reality. Watching the interview with Shai in Israel Inside was literally "electrifying" for me! I could just feel the excitement of an idea growing and getting started despite opposition and eventually garnering enough support to become a reality. There is a youtube video about this project here and Shai also had a TED talk you can see here.
-Drip Irrigation: Everyone familiar enough with Israel activism knows the famous story of how Israelis "made the desert bloom" using special irrigation techniques. What we may not realize is how far and widespread the elegant yet deceptively complex technology turned out to be. It changed the entire world for the better.
-Humanitarian Aid: the film shows us moving videos of Israeli hospitals in Haiti and cites humanitarian missions performed all around the world, and mentions the outlandish expenditure relative to GDP which Israel devotes to humanitarian aid with little to no hesitation by the legislature or the public.
These sections of the film, each its own little mini-documentaries, are highly effective and moving. For me personally, they hinted at the deeper nature of reality and the meaning of success. What do we mean when we say "Creativity" and how does that relate to the religious ideology of Judaism? The Torah teaches us that G-d created the world with just words. So from ideas sprout realities. With compassion, community, chutzpah, education, and belief in oneself things can be accomplished which seem ambitious and impossible.
I believe that anything you think can become a reality, and the land of Israel is a place today which demonstrates how this principle is true.
Here is the trailer for the movie so you can watch it and see what's going on.
Whether you are Jewish or not Jewish I highly recommend this film as a piece of inspiration for what life is about and how to become more motivated and empowered to achieve amazing things.
Tags: film, israel inside, tal ben-shahar, positive psychology, judaism, psychic creativity
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