Does Religious Activity make you happy?

The New York Times has an interesting article on a research that suggests that as people shop on Sunday instead of attending religious services, happiness goes down.

It makes sense that people who take a day off every week for spiritual matters are likely to be happier, but interesting to see that research backs this up.

Wonder if the researchers from Ben Gurion university could do a follow up study in Israel to see whether attending shul on Shabbat (or having a family dinner on Friday night) leads to more happiness.

Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/sunday-shopping-linked-with-less-happiness/

Sunday Shopping Linked With Less Happiness

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Dan Gill for The New York Times Skipping church to go shopping meant feeling less happy for some.

How do you spend your Sunday? For many, this traditional day of rest and churchgoing has become a day to shop, but it may be taking a toll on happiness.

Researchers from DePaul University in Chicago and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel tracked church attendance and levels of happiness among Americans living in states that had repealed so-called blue laws, which once required most retailers to stay closed on Sundays.

The researchers found that allowing stores to open on Sundays was linked with a decline in church attendance among white women, which led to a subsequent decline in happiness. Among black women, the repeal of the blue laws had no measurable effect, although that may be because the sample size was too small to draw any statistically meaningful conclusions.

Notably, the finding was true only for women. For men, the repeal of blue laws didn’t seem to influence church attendance or levels of happiness.

Since the repeal of blue laws, women are about 17 percent less likely to report being “pretty happy,” and more likely to report being “not happy,” according to the study, which is still awaiting final publication.

“People know there is a correlation between religiosity and happiness, but there’s not conclusive evidence that there is a causal effect,’’ said William Sander, professor of economics at DePaul. “Our paper tends to provide more conclusive evidence that religiosity among women does affect happiness.’’

The researchers studied data collected from the General Social Survey, an ongoing sociological survey used to collect demographic information from United States residents. They compared respondents in 10 states where Sunday shopping had been banned and then allowed, compared with six states where there had been no change in rules for retailers. The study specifically focused on the behavior of Catholics and Protestants because they were most likely to attend church on Sundays.

So why would Sunday shopping make women less happy? Part of the reason may be that some of the women were required to work on Sundays after the repeal of blue laws. “People don’t like to work on Sundays,’’ Dr. Sander said.

Or the decline in women’s happiness once Sunday shopping is allowed may be linked to the behavior of their children, many of whom may start hanging out at shopping malls on Sundays. Earlier research has shown that the repeal of blue laws is linked with more risk-taking behavior by teens.

Or it may simply be that the lure of shopping is more powerful than the desire to attend church, even though it brings less happiness.

“Shopping is kind of addictive, and even though it doesn’t make people happy, they’re doing it and they don’t return to church as much because of that,’’ Dr. Sander said. “There is instant gratification from shopping compared to the benefits of church, which may occur over a longer period of time.’’

שנה טובה

To all my readers, best wishes for a Shana Tova.

My the coming year be a year of peace, health and prosperity for all of Klal Yisrael and the entire world.

To put you in the right frame of mind before Yom HaDin, here is an old recording of ונתנה תוקף from Mordechai ben David, and a more recent one from Avraham Fried

Of peace and Peace Talks

Well Bibi and Abbas are at it again. Last week they both flew to Washington to promote the illusion that there is some type of peace, or at least a peace process happening.

I don’t think that anyone actually believes that this process will lead to peace, or even an agreement; it seems pretty clear that the main reason for the latest round of negotiations is to help the Obama (well the Democrats) in the mid-term election in November.

In case this point wasn’t obvious by itself, did anyone else notice that even though Bibi and Abbas have offices about 25 minutes drive from each other (remember that Ramallah is a suburb of Jerusalem), they had to fly to Washington to meet each other.

No doubt there will be pressure on Bibi to extend the building freeze, which is to be expected, and is not even an unreasonable demand from the point-of-view of Abbas. However it is crucial that if Bibi is contemplating giving something tangible, like an extension of the freeze, it must be for something tangible in return.

Here are a few suggestions of things that Bibi could insist on before extending the freeze:

• For the PA to live up to its commitment to allow full access to Kever Yosef in Shchem. This would be a great opportunity for the PA to prove that they are serious about Peace and that their US trained and armed “Police Force” are able to secure a single building so that Jews have free and unlimited access to the sight.
• That the PA live up to its commitment to remove all incitement from schools. They could start by withdrawing all textbooks that deny Israel’s existence or deny the Holocaust.
  If they cannot control their own schools (which are financed by the International community), hard to see how they could create and control a viable state.
• That the PA conduct a full investigation into the terrorist shootings last week and that the perpetrators are caught and brought to trial. An important question is whether the guns or gunmen were supplied or trained by the US/Israel.
  If it turns out that we are arming or training terrorists, it should be obvious that there be no future guns or training provided to the PA security forces until they are able to guarantee that these resources will not be misused again in the future.

If Abbas is unable to deliver on any of the above, Bibi should restate that Israel is prepared to make peace if and when their is a Palestinian leadership willing to prove that it is serious about peace, but in the mean time, given that there is no partner or possibility of peace, Israel will look at other unilateral options, such as full annexation of Judea and Samaria, as proposed my MK Tzipi Hotovely.

Oh – and take a look at Dershowitz’ Blog pointing out how unwarranted criticism of Israel, such as the Goldstone report, makes it almost impossible for Israel to take “risks for peace”, because it is clear that if the “risks” blow up in our face in the form of attacks against us, there will be no way do defend ourselves without Goldstone or his ilk raking us over the coals.

Who changed the uniform?

Grunting posted a video of Slichot in 770 in 1965.

I thought that the video was interesting because it is rare to see pictures (let alone footage) of the Rebbe that were taken before the 1980s. Almost all the pictures that we see plastered over everything were taken in the last few years of his life.

What struck me as interesting is that no one in the video is wearing the wide brim hatmobile that we associate with Chabad today. Today the Chabad dress code is extremely rigid, A Fedora with a very wide brim often worn with a long “frock coat" and of course an un-trimmed beard.

In contrast in the video Most people (including the Rebbe) are wearing hats with much smaller brims, a few are wearing homburgs, and many are clean shaven.

I know that when Chabad moved to America they replaced their Chassidic Shtreimel with a more modern American Fedora. But at some point since the 60s they decided to codify their uniform with a much more distinctive look (although not as destinctive as the elaborate dress code worn by other Chassidim)

At what point in the last 30 years did Chabad adopt the hats and jackets that we see today? Who made the decision?

Traffic Jams and the Jewish problem

Last week I reposted an article about the Monster Traffic Jam in China where cars were (and still are) stuck for several days.

While writing, I couldn’t help but wonder what a frum Jew would do in a similar situation, well as if on cue, Erev Shabbat there was a large traffic jam in the Shomron, leaving dozens of motorists stranded right before Shabbat.

In contrast to the situation in China where local residents sold supplies to the motorists at inflated prices, the residents of the town Adam came out to help the stranded motorists and provided food and accommodation for Shabbat.

Here’s the story as reported in Arutz 7:

This Shabbat, dozens of Jewish families were stranded in a traffic jam as Shabbat came in and were hosted in the town of Adam (Geva Binyamin).

The traffic jam was caused by an accident between an Israeli and Palestinian car between the Hizme and Adam junctions, northeast of Jerusalem. Several Jews and Arabs were injured in the accident, which occurred at 6 PM on Friday evening, and police forces arrived on the scene soon afterwards.

By 7 PM, when Shabbat was coming in, traffic was at a near standstill, catching many drivers on their way home before sundown. As driving on the Shabbat is forbidden by Torah law, many Jewish drivers parked their cars on the side of the road, took their belongings, and walked, some of them more than a kilometer, until they reached the Jewish town of Adam. Some even continued to the towns of Pesagot and Kochav Yaakov, which are several kilometers further down the road.
The first small groups arrived on foot as the Jews of Adam were beginning their Friday night prayers in the synagogue. "There was a giant traffic jam on the road," said the walkers, breathless. "The sun was setting. We realized we weren't going to make it," they explained, setting down their backpacks and belongings.
The word spread like wildfire. Once the townspeople understood the situation, they mobilized immediately, sending several runners to help the stragglers enter the town, alerting the security apparatus, and quickly allocating stranded families to the Adam residents for Shabbat meals and places to sleep.
…

(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Hat Tip: Life in Israel and Joe Settler

Interestingly enough, Heshy at Frum Satire also was stranded Erev Shabbat, but with a little Hashacha Pratit he managed to make it to a Beit Chabad minutes before Shkia.

Monster Traffic Jam

Next time you’re complaining about heavy traffic, just be glad that you’re not in China where there is a traffic jam 100 km long, with some vehicles stuck for five days so far.

They hope to clear all the traffic within three weeks.

Here are extracts of the AP report as published in the Chicago Tribune:

BEIJING (AP) — China has just been declared the world's second biggest economy, and now it has a monster traffic jam to match.
Triggered by road construction, the snarl-up began 10 days ago and was 100 kilometers (60 miles) long at one point. Reaching almost to the outskirts of Beijing, traffic still creeps along in fits and starts, and the crisis could last for another three weeks, authorities say.

…

In the worst-hit stretches of the road in northern China, drivers pass the time sitting in the shade of their immobilized trucks, playing cards, sleeping on the asphalt or bargaining with price-gouging food vendors. Many of the trucks that carry fruit and vegetables are unrefrigerated, and the cargoes are assumed to be rotting.
On Sunday, the eighth day of the near-standstill, trucks moved just over a kilometer (less than a mile) on the worst section, said Zhang Minghai, a traffic director in Zhangjiakou, a city about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northwest of Beijing. China Central Television reported Tuesday that some vehicles had been stuck for five days.

בְּראשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן וּבְיום צום כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן

As we approach Yom HaDin, we should all stop and appreciate what we have. And be thankful to HaShem for every living moment.

I found the following song very powerful…

The song was recorded by Yisrael Chaim in the days before his Bar Mitzva.
The Song was recorded between chemo sessions

May HaShem grant Yisrael Chaim a רפואה שלימה, together with all חולי ישראל

Hat tip: gruntig