The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book of the Torah (the Pentateuch), allegedly written by God and delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai. As such, it is supposed to be sacred and prescribe great truth. The “Song of Moses” (known in Hebrew as the Song of “Ha’azinu” – Hebrew for “listen”) constitutes […]

A letter sent to “Daat Emet“ The original letter (in Hebrew) I was born in Jerusalem, Israel. And guess where? in the ultra-Orthodox religious ‘Mea Shearim’ neighborhood. As a child, I used to throw stones at passing cars on the Sabbath. I have lived in the US for over 25 years. I was the best […]

“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 […]

The following story and research were received from Jacob (pseudonym). A little about myself: My name is Jacob, I’m 21 years old, gay in the closet, originally from a Jewish ultra-Orthodox (“Haredi”) family. I’m a “science believer” (in my opinion, a “science believer” is someone who believes in science and nothing else, a total atheist). […]

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 […]

Much has been said about the “logic” found in Talmudic treatises and among the Sages. Persistent rumors have mentioned the teaching of the Hebrew Talmud in Korea, due to its alleged contribution to the development of logical thinking. Young “Yeshiva” students, lacking real education, are brought up to believe that their studies are equivalent to […]

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, […]

Anyone with lots of El Al’s experience – especially on the Tel Aviv – New York line – knows this well. The flight is full of ultra-Orthodox religious Jewish (“Haredi”) families, which also means many children and a lot of prayer rituals. All of these are known facts, and nothing said (so far) constitutes any […]

A piece of news recently circulated online, announcing that the rapper Kanye West is planning to convert to Judaism to avoid accusations of antisemitism. Three notes on this topic: 1. Our short article is not at all about Kanye West’s opinions and statements. Even if there is much to write about on this topic, it […]

The famous “Witness Claim” is deeply rooted in the Orthodox Judaism. It states that according to the Old Testament – millions of witnesses were present at the divine revelation at Mount Sinai. Hence, millions of people in any generation after, could not be convinced to believe in the existence of such a public event if […]