“We hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel…” — From Israel’s Declaration of Independence, 1948 A ‘state’ is (as we all know) an entity which by itself has no genetic flavor or religious belief. What then is a “Jewish state”? Without any intention of presenting one political opinion or […]

Written by Ehud Amir (Hebrew version HERE) Secular people have a smart mobile phone that has everything in it, and they have the responsibility of following their moral code while using it, both with time and content. Religious people in general – and ultra-Orthodox Jewish people (“Haredim”) in particular – do not trust the education […]

These are difficult times for the State of Israel. Many of us saw the brutal attack that took place on October 7, 2023, and many of us also see the war that is going on right now in the Gaza Strip. This specific post is not about all that. However, there is a trend now, […]

Well… not the famous Christian thing you may have thought of. This time we will discuss another Holy Trinity. In one corner of this triangle, we find the Muslims. They believe that Muhammad traveled overnight from Mecca to Jerusalem, to the Temple Mount, and later also rode a horse from there to heaven to meet […]

Prof. Dan Mahler passed away on April 16, 2024. Dan Mahler was a freedom fighter, an honorary member of the Hofesh (Freedom) – The largest secular Israeli NPO, and one of its founders. Dan Mahler was also an educated man, broad-minded, and with many interests. He was a plastic surgeon and medical consultant; He was […]

Here is a summary of the recorded remarks of the Jerusalem Faction leader Rabbi Zvi Friedman from last week: It is better for us to remain under the British occupation [1948], and not in a secular Jewish state. I’d rather Arabs kill my grandchildren than that they be secular. Secularism is worse than death. It […]

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 […]

And again… elections in Israel. What do you know. And the “new star” this time is an extreme-right party. The name? “Religious Zionism”. The agenda? Depends on whom you ask. The candidates of “Religious Zionism” have two faces. One face they present to their usual voter base. With them they discuss religion, religious laws, religious […]

Religious people often classify other people by their “religion”. It’s like each and every person must “have” one single religion, which is determined not necessarily by him/her, but rather by the religious rules. Specifically for Judaism, the common definition used by Orthodox Jews for a “Jew” is: “A person who was born to a Jewish […]

The Israeli ‘Games of Chef’ TV series has a history of picking “interesting” candidates for the competition. The last program (May 22, 2018) presented, among others, two men: Tamir, a person who recently became ultra-Orthodox, and, Leizer, who has left the “Haredi” (ultra-Orthodox) world and became secular. The two were preparing their dishes at the […]