“Are you satisfied with your life?”

This challenging question was recently put to people in Israel by researchers from the Central Bureau of Statistics studying volunteering among citizens of the country.

Among the volunteers 41% stated that they were “very satisfied” with their lives as compared to only 26% expressing such satisfaction among the non-volunteers.

There were two other interesting facts emerging from the study. Jews were ahead of all other ethnic groups with 17% of the Jewish population from age 20 and upwards involved in volunteer activity, compared with 14% among the Druze and 9% of the Christian and Muslim populations.

Concerning the breakdown within the Jewish population, 36% of the volunteers were very Orthodox, 27% were religiously observant, 14% traditional and 13% secular.

A powerful reminder that helping others goes hand in hand with a religious way of life.

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