I disagree... I do not believe it has anything to do with studying, I believe it is a gift from G-d, because the Jews took the yoke of the laws of God...
Omgosh yes. How could I have missed that. I agree. I should have added that to what I said previously. It is spark, resilience, the deep desire to live to make the world a better place. The spark given by G-d. Like He said to Israel "I took you out of Egypt to be my most treasured possession".
All over nations that existed back then are gone. Who are the Romans now. The ancient Greeks, the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians. The Mesopotamian, the Babylonians. The Egyptian empire fell.
They are nothing but dust now and their descendants are scattered throughout the earth like dried up sand. None of them are an empire today, none of them have their ancient written today and none of them have their traditions passed down from generation to generation. Only Israel has that. And yes, it was a G-d given gift! So yes I agree.
Like Mark Twain said:
The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.
The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?