Today is the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. Supposedly the day in which the “Torah” was “given” to the people of Israel. According to the tradition, it was since passed between generations without changes, and its verdicts and commandments always kept… well, mostly. So, ancient holidays like “Pesach” (Passover) and “Sukkot” have always been celebrated since, […]

One of the most interesting holidays in the Jewish calendar is ‘Sukkot’, when religious Jewish people (as well as many secular kids) spend time in small wooden huts near their homes. This is also known as the “Collection Festival”, following the old Biblical command: “Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye […]

One of my “hobbies”, sort of speak, is to find funny contradictions or conclusions from the Scriptures. Some of them are quite obvious to find, such as the in the differences between the first two chapters of Genesis. Others are hidden somewhere and require comparing some pieces of text that are not necessarily adjacent. Rest […]

Stories change over time. This known to everyone who’s had the opportunity to join a “telephone” game (sometimes known as ‘Chinese whispers’). You can more read about it here. One of the strangest things that seem to have change is our… God. Well, not directly him (or her), but rather their name, and – actually […]

The following partially-translated article appeared in one of Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious newspapers, “Yated Ne’eman” (name roughly translated into “Faithful Tent-Peg”) on May 2000. It was written by Rabbi Chaim Shaul Karelitz, one of the most prominent leaders of the Jewish ultra-Orthodoxy at the time, and largely reflected the Jewish ultra-Orthodox attitude towards the state […]

“The State of Israel … will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex …” — From the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel Wait a minute… Suppose someone’s religion is in favor of killing innocent people? Does he or she still […]

Baby Moses, as you all know, was saved from a bitter end – by being put in the famous ark. Other Hebrew babies were not so lucky, which tells us that all other Hebrew babies born in Egypt after Moses were… murdered. Moses, as you all know, walked 40 years in the desert, and then […]

It’s the little things that piss you off. The government may use your tax money to finance anti-education, to pump huge money into close associates’ bank accounts, even to spend it on luxury trips abroad. But you’re used to all that. It’s the little things that can really annoy. One of them being the Ministry […]

A common tactic among those who try to preach religion, is applying the phrase ‘out of context’ to many quotations taken from religious texts by secular people – quotations which demonstrate the bad things in religion. Wikipedia explains ‘out of context’ as “a passage removed from its surrounding matter in such a way as to […]

I love blues. The music that is. I can listen to long programs playing this genre. Friends of mine love different kinds of art: Some like to visit the theater, others do sculpting. There are even those who go to the opera, god forbid. There is one thing in common with all of the above. […]