“Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?” — 1 Samual 21:14-15 “The whole religious […]

Israel, Tel Aviv. A few years ago, I took a taxi. The [male] driver did not wear a “Kippah”. There were no religious papers visible around. Not even the common religious stickers you can find on many cars in Israel. The busy Ayalon Highway 20, however, inevitably established the necessary atmosphere for a driver-passenger conversation. […]

There are also some beautiful things in religion. In almost every religion. Although the religious believers think that the religious laws originate from “God”, in practice they were of course phrased by different people at different times and places, and usually with good and rational reasons – similarly to modern laws. “Thou shalt not kill”? […]

“And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should […]

“Doesn’t the vast majority of people believe in God…?” – You’ve probably heard this overwhelming argument in one of your endless debates with some religious preachers. The calculation made by our conversational partners is quite clear: Let’s add the number of Christians worldwide (say, about 2 billion) to the number of Muslims worldwide (some 2 […]

I’m not sure to what extent this is also the case in some other countries, but the political division into “right” and “left” in Israel largely (even if not perfectly) corresponds to a citizen’s “religiousness”. And the affiliation seems relatively clear: “Religious” Jews (of any kind) will usually associate themselves with the “right” wing, while […]

Israel is a country trained in suffering from terrorism. It’s therefore very common to meet guards at the entrances of public buildings and institutions, searching for hidden weapons (or other dangerous things) in the belongings of people entering the place. Israel is also a country trained in suffering from self-religious coercion. Therefore, some of these […]

My country is being robbed. There is no other way to describe it. A mixture of extreme religious parliament members together with some other self-proclaimed democracy experts gathered to turn this paradise into hell. They promote the notion of how good the idea is to control any supreme court’s decision. They seriously talk about “God” […]

I love my country. I grew up in it. I walked its paths. I drove on its roads. I visited the many historical places of my people, located there. I am proud of its achievements. I love my people. I was born one of them. I contributed to their progress. We are an ancient nation […]

I have heard this line of thought several times — You talk with a religious Jew about the borders of the State of Israel, you raise all kinds of considerations: The need for a Jewish majority, the need for secured borders, the much-needed support of the various countries of the world, the Palestinians, the economy […]