Israel’s Word of the Year

Worldwide, all sorts of words of the year have been announced for 2023. Merriam-Webster chose “authentic”, Collins opted for “AI”, while Oxford University Press went cute with “rizz”, a slang on charisma.

Here in Israel, after what was undoubtedly the toughest year of its existence so far, there was one word that really caught the zeitgeist – resilience.

Through political upheaval, a traumatic large-scale massacre, an ongoing hostage crisis, war and a serious economic downturn, Israelis have not only kept on going, but have used their creativity to overcome obstacles, and to adapt to an uncertain and dangerous situation.

“Sometimes people think that resilience means going back to what we were before the crisis event – before the war, or before the interruption of life’s routine by a traumatic event. That it’s about bouncing back. But resilience is to bounce forward, it’s the ability to move forward while experiencing personal development and growth,” explains Dr. Shiri Daniels, professional director of ERAN.

Find out more about how Israel has found resilience in the face of its hardest 12 months, in Naama’s excellent article below.