Why do Jews succeed?

Answer 1

Generally speaking, Jews succeed because Jewish values align with the types of values that lead to economic success, scientific success, strong social relationships. Jews value education, hard work, personal responsibility, curiosity, humility, kindness and compassion, honesty, frugality, spirituality, and behavioral reciprocity. However, it is worth noting that Ultra-Religious Jews are not usually as economically or scientifically successful, often because they do not embrace some of these values like personal responsibility.

Of course, there are a number of Jews, Christians, and others who argue that the success of the Jewish people is a demonstration of God's miraculous will, but this is a non-explanation since it gives no information.

1) High Degree of Literacy and Education: Jews have historically had high literacy rates and a determination to be educated. This resulted in Jews being able to more effectively preserve their traditions than the general Christian or Muslim populations with which they lived. This prevented cultural diffusion, where it did occur, from obfuscating Jewish traditions because the latter could always be reread and discussed. Since Jews were more educated, they were able to branch out into numerous more skilled professions. Additionally, many of the professions in artisanry were forbidden to Jews. This led to many Jews becoming lawyers, doctors, bankers, and bureaucrats. Their abilities to help Gentile leaders effectively rule their states made the Jews worth protecting in a way that other minorities, such as the Romani, did not encourage.

2) Hard Work: Jewish traditions support the idea that there is something valuable in the act of working and being a part of this world. Often, in Reform Jewish circles, this is narrowed to Tikkun Olam or Repairing the World, but in Orthodoxy, this applies to secular work and professionalism in general. Work is not a necessary evil to sustain oneself, but a good in and of itself for the kind of character that it brings about in the Jew performing it. Leading Rabbis will often dissuade fellow Jews from joining the clergy if they have useful skill that they can perform and both improve society and improve themselves.

3) Personal Responsibility: Jews take responsibility for their own actions, as opposed to blaming external conditions. This leads to Jews in difficult situations taking action to ameliorate their own conditions, be that through protests, active presence in political discourse, joining politics, or moving away from discriminatory regimes. Jews assume that their fellow Jews will maintain their own "economic house" and while there is a degree of charity between Jews, charity is seen as a stopgap measure, not something which should be relied on for extended periods of time. This has stopped Jews (outside of Israel) from generally being long-term welfare recipients.

4) Curiosity: Jews are taught from an early age to ask questions and debate serious issues. Religious Jews often do this in the framework of religious study with the long dialectics in the Talmud and other instances of analytic thinking. Rather than stressing dogmatic recitation, Jews stress a critical thought process and curiosity about how the world works. This makes Jews more likely to go into the sciences since this critical and curious mindset is apt for scientific discovery.

5) Humility: Maimonides stressed that it was important to avoid the extremes in midot or personal attributes, with the exception that humility should be pursued in the extreme. A Jew should not exalt himself or consider himself beyond reproach. This means that the Jew must always be attempting to better himself and his lot in life. Jews correspondingly, try to open themselves up to constructive criticism and self-improvement.

6) Kindness and Compassion: Judaism stresses love and generosity towards your kinsman, fostering strong societal bonds and providing increased communal security.

7) Honesty: Judaism values honesty and truth over easy answers, which folds neatly into personal responsibility and humility. Honesty also promotes repeat business and strong interpersonal relationships.

8) Frugality and Spirituality: Judaism teaches against excessive spending, leading to Jews saving more of their wealth and passing it onto the next generation. The preservation of wealth helps to prevent subsequent generations from being poor. Furthermore, Judaism does not value physical possessions, but rather values emotional and spiritual concerns. As a result, a Jewish homes will usually lack all but the necessary appliances to live a decent life.

9) Behavioral Reciprocity: As Rabbi Hillel once said, "The whole Torah is treat your fellow man as yourself and all the rest is commentary". Jews value treating others well in order to be treated well. While there are some Jews who take advantage of others, the majority seek to behave well and treat others well.

Answer 2

God's promise (Genesis 12:2)

Also: hard work, healthy competitiveness, etc.