What happened to modesty?

If you expect this post to be about modest clothing, you can stop reading right here. Religious women are expected to wear elbow and knee covering garments and cover their hair. Personally, I don't care what other people wear, as long as I can do my own thing, and I happily missed the head scarf "scandal" during Independence Day. I find some of the tall head scarfs worn these days quite ridiculous, but I'm not a fashionista, so that's that. Back to the original subject of modesty, as in personal conduct.

Modesty used to be a core value of Israeli society, especially in its first years. Showing off your wealth was perceived as tasteless. The country was poor, socialist, and people were expected to be aligned with the ruling party values. 

In its 71 of existence, Israel absorbed millions of immigrants, won wars, overcame boycotts, opened up, developed and became the start-up nation we almost take for granted today. Values changed as well, and trash culture reached our shores. We don't despise the rich, we like to make sure their money is kosher, and most of all we like to ridicule their immodest behavior (Hebrew).

But what about our leaders? We prefer them competent and possibly modest as well. Competency is a big factor, as leading this small but complex country leaves no room for errors. Leaders' mistakes can be fatal or at least very costly. In lives. We still live in fear of decimation, the Holocaust instilled that fear so deep, that it will stay with us for generations to come. We must stay strong and keep the gates open for any Jew who decides to come, no matter the reason.

So while many of us can't stomach Mr. Netanyahu's personal conduct, he was voted for his perceived competency. And that is my 2-cent explanation of the outcome of the last elections.