The word ‘Jewish’ is open to more than one interpretation. I remember once staying at the Scots Hotel, Tiberias, Israel (great restaurant, by the way). One of the features they offer visitors is a lecture about the hotel, its history and guidelines. They emphasize the fact that one third of the employees are “Christians”, another […]

The ultra-Orthodox members of any religion – Judaism in particular – find themselves in a new kind of problem. Building walls between themselves and the outside world has always been a good strategy for nourishing religious contents, as silly as they may be. Alas, here comes the end of the 20th century with television, cellular […]

“Even if we are all wise men, all understanding people, and we all know the Torah — we have been given a mitzva (religious commandment) to tell about the redemption from Egypt.” The above is a well-known passage from the ‘Hagadda of Pesach’ – the traditional text read and spoken by millions of Jews every […]

I had a long correspondence with someone, about the Jewish concept of ‘chain of tradition‘. One specific argument mentioned had to do with how impossible (or difficult) it is to fool “wise” people (whatever ‘wise’ means). This was part of a bigger claim, trying to explain that old traditions must be true, especially given that […]

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. […]

In February 1999 there was a big ultra-Orthodox Jewish demonstration against the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Hundreds of thousands of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) people demonstrated against the court’s recent decisions, which they seemed to dislike. In a nearby park, a much smaller demonstration was spontaneously formed, of non-religious people who protested against this mass […]

New Year’s Eve is named “Sylvester’s Day” in some countries, Israel included. The reason has to do with Pope Sylvester I who presumably died in December 31, almost two millennia ago. According to one legend, it appears that Mr. Sylvester was not so kind to the Jews. The contemporary outcome is a major ban by […]

For tens of millions of years the Tethys Ocean covered the reef and its neighbors. “Cretaceous” – this is how we use to name this era. Millions of generations of dinosaurs roamed the distances somewhere, and even more generations of old crabs and shellfish were born, lived and died in the reef. Millions of grandfathers […]

Yesterday I saw a movie about Ireland in the beginning of the previous century (“Jimmy’s Hall”, recommended). True it had also some political contents, left-right and all that, but lots of religious stuff. You’re “evil” if you’re “anti-Christ”. You’re banned from society if you don’t believe Jesus is the son of God. The beginning of […]