Ynet's weekly Yahadut-Gesher survey has revealed that some 63 percent of the public believes that the ideal family is comprised of a man, a woman and at least four children.
The survey was conducted by The Brands Institute among a sampling of 500 respondents from the adult Jewish population in Israel.
And the leading "Jewish value" – respecting parents.
In answer to the question what is the most important Jewish value, 56 percent said that respecting parents was the most important, there was a consensus on this among traditional and secular respondents (65 percent). The Shabbat was the second most important value with a significant gap - only 18 percent view this as a leading Jewish value, followed by holidays, charity and Torah study.
Among the ultra-orthodox community, 42 percent said the Shabbat was the most important value, followed by Torah study (18 percent). Even 38 percent of orthodox respondents noted that the Shabbat was the most important value, before respecting parents (22 percent) and Torah study (13 percent).
There is a line in Pirkei Avot that applies to this. Loosely translated it says:
ReplyDeleteWho is wise? He who feeds his children waffles.
American Jewish education tuition sure limits family size.
ReplyDeletejameel:
ReplyDeletebut they still only have 2.2 children
muse:
one can say the same thing about israel's crazy tax system and much lower salaries.
of course the difference is that in israel you are not directly "penalized" for having more kids as you are in america. but i think it all evens out in the end.