Sivan Rahav Meir: What Did We Ask Google This Year? The Answers Are Thought-Provoking

1. A man cries out for what he lacks, once sang Meir Ariel. Today a man searches on Google for what he lacks. This week, Google published the summary data for 2024. It's no surprise that Idan Amidi is at the top of the list of people we searched for, nor that Euro 2024 reached the top of the sports search list. But Google also publishes the "why" questions that gained popularity, and there one can learn about fascinating and important undercurrents in Israeli society..

First place: Why do we eat dairy on Shavuot? And then, in order: Why do we fast on Tisha B'Av? Why do we fast on Yom Kippur? Why didn't Moses enter Israel? Why celebrate Shavuot?

Only in sixth place comes the next question: Why isn't Michal Ansky on Master Chef? And then again: Why is it forbidden to eat meat on Tisha B'Av? The next two questions are about politicians: Why does Yair Lapid have a beard? Why was Galant fired? And the tenth question: Why do we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah?

This isn't the Bible quiz; these are Google's general statistics summarizing a year of questions. 7 out of 10 questions are on Jewish topics.

The "how" questions are also interesting. First place in Israel: How to make parmesan? Then: How to vote for Eurovision? And further on, in fifth and sixth place: How to peel a pomegranate? How to make an *eruv tavshilin*? In the tenth place, by the way, appears another sacred question: How to turn off an iPhone?

2. Everyone is, of course, invited to check if they know the answers to these questions on their own, or if they need Google. But beyond that, this data raises deep questions. Here are just some of the responses online: "I have a lot of questions but I'm ashamed to ask out loud, I want to do more and commit more, especially since October 7, but I don't know how," someone wrote.

And one mother wrote: "The 'why' here truly concerns the education system. Why isn't it providing this basic knowledge, and instead, they're talking nonsense about 'religionization' and cutting down Bible classes? I want my kids to know more".

Another response: "As a religious person working with secular people, I see this thirst, and try to answer as many questions as possible, to be their 'Google'. There is a crazy rise in the desire of people not just to know but also to do, the questions aren't philosophical, they are practical, about what to eat and what to do".

3. This search of ours is also reflected in the real world. Here is a partial collection, from countless events that simply aren't covered. We've gotten used to the idea that only a noisy protest is news, only a Twitter beef or a sharp statement in the Knesset. So here are a sequence of events from recent days that together create an important headline. Some of them I had the privilege to see with my own eyes: The bringing in of a Torah scroll to the Bezalel Academy of Arts, with an emotional speech by the CEO of Bezalel and in the presence of hundreds of students and "Chabad on Campus" emissaries. This is a Torah scroll that was damaged during Simchat Torah in one of the surrounding communities, and was restored. Did you hear about it?

Another emotional circumcision ceremony was held this week in Ukraine for a 70-year-old Jew and a 30-year-old Jew. It turns out that more than a thousand Jews in Ukraine and Russia have awakened and reconnected with their identity, and are undergoing circumcision now, at an older age, after years of communism. It's never too late.

In the same spirit, older reservists here in Israel are celebrating Bar Mitzvahs. Again and again, such videos are being spread from the field, even this week. At age 13, they didn't come up to the Torah, and now, especially out of war and the confrontation with evil, they want to connect to their roots. Friends are throwing them a Bar Mitzvah, including throwing candies and a festive setting.

There are also so many mass prayer and unity events that the general public doesn't learn about: Singer Yishai Lapidot initiated this week in Petah Tikva the bringing in of a Torah scroll in memory of soldier Miron Geresh who fell in Gaza, who was an only child to his parents. Hundreds of people from all sectors came to dance together with the Torah scroll and with Miron's parents. The synagogue of Kibbutz Be'eri, a symbolically iconic kibbutz, constantly hosts extraordinary events. A few days ago, Avyad Behar, the kibbutz's field crops manager, spoke there at a memorial for his friend Yossi Sharabi, of blessed memory, whose body is still in Gaza. Avyad lost his wife and son on Simchat Torah. Hundreds of thousands have already watched the moving eulogy in which he called to put family before work, and children before career. Far from Be'eri, another video was filmed in Europe this week. Rabbi Shaul Alter, head of the "Pnei Menachem" community, was crying with tears at the graves of righteous people, for the hostages. Some Israelis saw the Rebbe, the Hasid, and simply cried together with him.

Another fascinating phenomenon: About the mental crises of the Nova survivors we hear much, and they should certainly be addressed. But for more than a year, hundreds of Nova survivors are coming together to celebrate Shabbats and holidays. Their community is called "From Nova to Jerusalem" and new young people are constantly joining, which is part of their rehabilitation. On Shabbats with them, I discover they're simply writing a new language of resurgence and revival.

Anyone following TikTok's Yagel Yaakov, the young man from Kibbutz Nir Oz who returned from captivity, can easily understand the sentiment of the younger generation: Yagel announced he keeps Shabbat and is not available on networks on the holy day, uploaded a video of himself writing a letter in a Torah scroll, and also shared that he's starting to wear a *tallit katan*. In his latest video, he shouted: "You don't have to be religious to be Jewish".

In the same week, singer Oudia Azoulay and her influencer friend Shahar Hayun announced a launch. Not of a perfume or any brand, but of prayer books and Psalms. The prayer books they published were distributed at the entrance to Oudia's performance: "Psalms, the general remedy, the incense offering, and many other strong and high prayers. Self-collection at the Menora Hall".

All these are delicate threads woven together. It's hard to define them. But how ridiculous to present Judaism as if it only divides us, and not also connects. Those who are in tune with this pulse, and these are just random examples from countless events, are not at all surprised that the soundtrack accompanying all this time is "Hashem always loves me, and it will always be only good for me".

4. And it all connects to the weekly Torah portion. In the Parasha of Vayishlach, our forefather Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious enemy. At dawn, the enemy departs, not before blessing him, giving him a new name: not Jacob but Israel. This is our name to this day. Our commentators teach that from every encounter with evil, from every challenge, one can grow, gain a more deep and connected identity, rise to a higher level.

The column was published in the newspaper "Yediot Aharonot".