Stress in Israel

As an Israeli on a summer visit to Los Angeles (for studying purposes), I would like to comment on your article, “Israel: The Stress Lab of the World” by Dan Fisher (Part I, July 29).

I found the journalist’s description of life in Israel quite accurate and I wouldn’t take him to task about the details of Israeli life as they appeared in the article. However, after reading the article I kept thinking “but I don’t live like that!” Perhaps my conclusion may be due to the fact that as a kibbutz member I live a “quiet” rural life, but my sister, who is a city denizen in Netanya, also doesn’t live like that and neither do most of my many acquaintances throughout the country. I do admit that some people in Israel certainly live as depicted in the article, but I think that they are a minority.

During my stay in Los Angeles I have come across the “homeless” on the streets and I have seen pictures of missing children on milk cartons, but I would not infer from those experiences that the city of Los Angeles is a den of iniquity.

While it is important for any society to be aware of its shortcomings as an initial step towards correcting them, we should be careful in avoiding exaggeration which may have an effect that is the reverse of the one desired.

MAURICE HERMAN

Los Angeles