Balagan
A common Israeli situation.
Balagan reigns wherever things aren't as tidy as they should be, or at least as one might expect them to be.
While such situations exist everywhere in the world and in every human society, only in Israel is it Balagan – a small word, with only four consonants and three vowels, yet one meaning that describes a great many similar situations with the same brief, apt definition.
For example, when it's hard to explain what a child's messy room looks like, or what it feels like to stand in the endless line of people leaving for abroad at Ben Gurion Airport (Natbag), or what Knesset members think of the debate they're participating in, shouting over each other and cutting off speeches, or what it's like to be in the kitchen after the guests have left and the sink is filled with plates, glasses, and pots...
you just call it: Balagan.
When a clerk's papers are scattered all over the desk – it’s not just disorganization. It’s Balagan.
When the choir fails to sing in harmony – it’s not a cacophony of voices. It’s Balagan.
And when the soldiers in a parade aren't marching in a uniform rhythm – that's a Balagan that can drive the commander crazy.
When the traffic light at an intersection is broken, and cars block each other – a Balagan is created on the road.
And when burglars have left the apartment, "they left behind a Balagan you can’t even describe."
Balagan is one of the first words that new immigrants, from all the diasporas and speaking all languages, learn and internalize, right after they learn to say "Shalom."
Tourists also easily connect with the word.
It's easy to pick up and roll off the tongue, it has an international sound, it is common in the language of other peoples, and it corresponds to Israeli situations that you can encounter in daily life – in a classroom with unruly children and a teacher who can’t control them, in the vicinity of a disaster with masses of bewildered people, or in line at a service window with impatient people waiting.
An Israeli Balagan can be created with or without prior planning.
The Israeli "shuk" (open-air market), for example, is built on the principle of Balagan. Fact: The Balagan makes an impression on those who believe it's cheaper to buy there.
Based on the same logic, there are merchants who set up a commercial business based on the idea of Balagan - they make an effort to arrange their goods in a disorganized way in the sales area, in order to resemble a market, to convince customers that they are saving on display costs so that the price will be cheaper.
On the other hand, a woman doesn't plan the Balagan in her bag, but she often has to turn its contents inside out to find her lipstick. A man doesn't intend to create a Balagan in the car trunk, but fact: you can't close the back door because of the Balagan inside. The soccer team's fans didn't intend to storm the field and make a Balagan, but the goals their team gave up simply drove them crazy.
In contrast to all this, the puzzle is actually a positive Balagan, and a mental activity for the one who assembles it.
Historical Bits
Balagan is a corruption of an ancient Persian word.
Its corrupted form took root in Russia, and from there it was brought by Jews who immigrated to Israel and established the Jewish Yishuv in the early 20th century. Just like other words from other languages of other peoples that were brought to the nation of immigrants that grew in the land of Israel in 1948. Since then, Balagan has been a part of Israelis' lives.
Balagan has accompanied the State of Israel from its very beginning.
The establishment of the state was supposed to be based on European codes instilled by the British Mandate, and everything was supposed to work according to a certain order that was ingrained in the character of the British.
But as soon as the British finished their rule and left – the Balagan began.
Hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants flocked to the newly established Jewish state, and they had to be provided with housing, fed, and given a livelihood... and how can that be done efficiently when the number of immigrants exceeded the number of original settlers in the country?
But with good will – anything is possible.
The government improvised transit camps (Ma'abarot), created contrived jobs that were supposedly needed (like cutting down trees and paving roads), and produced processed food substitutes (like chicory coffee or Kokosin butter).
Government offices were based on the model that developed in the country under the British Mandate, which was suitable for half a million people. But within a few years, they had to be adapted for millions of men, women, and children.
This wasn't written in any book. No other country has dealt with a scale of such rapid development.
The Israeli army, which was established in those same years and started organizing from scratch, also had to improvise units, set up frameworks, write training manuals and fighting instructions, and quickly obtain weapons because there was no time and the enemy never rested for a moment and the country’s borders had to be defended. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis served in the IDF in the state's first decades, and each of them has stories about Balagan at the draft office, in training, and even in war.
Israeli society learned to cope with it.
The Jews wanted their own independent state, after two thousand years of exile, and they were willing to contain the improvisations and the difficulties that came with them.
In the end, the Balagan was organized, full of goodwill and patriotic pride.
And everything worked out, somehow. Case in point: the state is on its feet and functioning pretty well for over 75 years now.
The Balagan symbolized the improvisation of Israeli history during the state's formative years, and over the years it has earned an affectionate reputation.
It's not okay, of course... but it's Balagan.
And somehow, we will overcome and succeed, with or without God's help.
The writing on the shirt:
"Yalla Balagan" (in Hebrew).
Israel’s national mood: Making a Balagan. Let’s play. Yalla Balagan!
This is part of "The Israeli Story 1948-2025" project.
What is "The Israeli Story"?
A curated selection of Israeli snapshots, those that were and still are with us. Each one deserves an updated definition with a few words of explanation along with a tiny bit of history. Just a little – and all of them together go into the virtual Israeli Story that will remain online for future generations. You can see what's included in it by clicking on the icon below.
