Something extraordinary has happened to Israel’s economy since 7 October, 2023. The country suffered the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, followed by years of war on multiple fronts. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis were called into reserve duty. Businesses lost employees, tourism collapsed and whole communities were evacuated.
By every conventional calculation, the Israeli economy should have been shattered.
Instead, Israel has emerged with remarkable economic strength. The shekel is now worth approximately 28 per cent more against the dollar, and around 15 per cent more against sterling, than it was immediately before 7 October. The TA-125 index has risen by about 130 per cent, meaning that it stands at roughly 230 per cent of its pre-war level. Inflation has fallen to within the Bank of Israel’s target range, while interest rates are coming down just as parts of the developed world face renewed inflationary pressure.
What changed?
The answer is not merely economic. After 7 October, the Israeli people underwent something resembling a national act of atonement.
For years, we had allowed ourselves to become bitterly divided. Israelis increasingly saw those on the other side of the political or religious divide not simply as mistaken, but as enemies. Then, within hours of the attack, those divisions became irrelevant.
Reservists returned from across the world. Secular kibbutzniks and religious settlers fought alongside one another. Families opened their homes to evacuees. Volunteers supplied soldiers with everything from meals to protective equipment. Israelis who had spent months arguing about what kind of country this should be suddenly remembered that it was their shared country, and that they were responsible for one another.
Teshuvah is usually translated as “repentance”, but its literal meaning is “return”. After October 7, Israel returned to itself.
That return released enormous human energy. Trust, solidarity, sacrifice and common purpose are not only moral qualities; they are also economic assets. A society in which people accept responsibility for one another can innovate, rebuild and take risks. A country united around a common mission becomes extraordinarily difficult to defeat.
This may help us understand one of the more surprising moments in the Yom Kippur service in the Temple.
After completing the central act of atonement, the Kohen Gadol emerged from the Holy of Holies and offered a brief prayer. We might expect him to have prayed only for spiritual matters: forgiveness, holiness and closeness to God. Instead, much of his prayer concerned prosperity. He prayed for rain, abundant produce and economic security.
Why should the holiest person, emerging from the holiest place on the holiest day, immediately begin talking about the economy?
Because once the barriers created by human failure have been removed, blessing can flow.
We express the same idea twice daily in the second paragraph of the Shema. If we listen to God’s commandments, the rain will fall in its proper time and we will gather our grain, wine and oil. If we abandon our responsibilities, the Heavens will close.
This is not a crude promise that every righteous person will become rich, or that every economic difficulty is a punishment. Jewish philosophy is far more complicated than that. It is, however, a recognition that moral and economic life cannot be permanently separated.
Division, corruption, selfishness and short-term thinking inevitably impoverish a society. Responsibility, trust, discipline and shared purpose allow it to prosper. God’s blessing works through human character and human action.
Israel’s economic revival does not represent a miracle. Economists can identify many natural causes: technological innovation, exports, investment, strong institutions, and exceptional human capital. But Judaism has never regarded natural explanations as alternatives to Divine blessing. Rain also has a scientific explanation, yet the Torah teaches us to recognise it as a gift.
Our greatest obstacles are often not our external enemies but our internal misconceptions, divisions and errors. Teshuvah removes those obstacles and allows us to become vessels for blessing.
This Yom Kippur, despite the election period, may we complete the return that began after 7 October. May we become more united, responsible and refined,and may Israel and the entire Jewish people enjoy security, abundance and peace.
Rabbi Leo Dee is the author of “The Business Case for Israel”, which explores the demographic, economic and spiritual forces shaping the future of the Jewish people. It is available on Amazon around the world and from Bookpod in Israel.