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A letter we received from J. (from California):

If all these changes are made, then what separates us from the goyim?

I live in New York and EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday because it is their Shabbat. As far as education is concerned, isn't the right of every Jew to know his history? This lack of knowledge and identity is the reason why so many of my friends (I just got out of High School) are going to marry non-Jews. It has gotten to the point that if I want Jewish grandchildren, I have to move to Israel!

What do I do if Israel has no Jewish identity like how you believe it should be? Don't say that we can be Jews culturally and not religiously, because the two are inseparable. You should have the right not to observe the sabbath (I dont fully), etc, but as long as your not making it hard for others to observe. No offense, but if you want a non-Jewish state, leave. There are many of those, but only one Jewish country. We are special, we'll never be "normal" -- you discover these things very quickly in the Galut.

Please write back.
Shalom,
J.

And this was our reply:

Dear J.

Thanks for your letter & visit to Hofesh. There is a basic, principle error in your understanding the issue of the Israel-Secular Jew, and I believe that living abroad and being a citizen of another nation leads you to miss-judge our position.

There is no equality between Jewish religion and Jewish culture. Jewish culture is the wide scope of all rich variety of the Jewish cultural creation during its 3000 years of existence: Language, history, tradition, art, literature, music, science. education, legislation, social structure, and, also, Jewish religion.

We, Jewish people in Israel, do not need the Shabat to remind us our identity! We have and know our identity without the need of any religious rituals. We educate our children according to this rich and proud creation of Jewish culture, and we teach them the bible not as a GOD's commandment but as an historic, social & moral basis, with all needed criticism.

Why do you think should we "separate" from other nations apart of the common differences that exist between nations? We, Israeli Jews, are not different from others! We are equal men and women with any other men and women on earth. We are not superior to any man or woman, and we educate our children according to this humanistic, pluralistic and democratic basis. The false "superiority", based in the bible & later Religious trends, is a racist declaration, and we oppose it from the base!

We do not force any Jew to stick to us, and anyone wishing to marry some other nation's partner may do so. We are not afraid of what you call "assimilation". Since the last 2000 years, and even 3000 years, the Jewish nation is continuously assimilating: The number of Jews at the beginning of Christianity was 8-9 millions, and now we are almost the same, when Christians at the beginning point were 1-12, and now billions. So what?

You have to face the fact, dear Jason, that we DO NOT live in year 200 BC, but at the beginning of the 3d millenium. Science and culture developed far beyond the ignorance of mankind at those ancient times, and we must link to this positive, creative development, and not stick to retarded beliefs or mystic rituals.

We are not only proud modern Jews. We are proud modern Jews who know, that GOD is a clever creation of man, intended to act for man's use, not vice-versa. We know that GOD, this imaginary creation, is a man's fantasy, not more. We do not need & we do not want GOD to take part in our life, and we do not want religious rituals to interfere with our life.

I hope I made clear my point, and that you, as a cultured man, will be able - in spite of the deep gap in our beliefs - to visit Hofesh again and again. On Hofesh pages we clearly bring our ideology & belief, and we show and stress the destructive religious coercion that ruins our society here and now.

Hope to see more of you,

We got several emails answering Jason; One of them was written by Michal:

Dear Jason,

As an Israeli living in the U.S., I can understand your concern about assimilation. But the situation in Israel is very different from the situation of American Jews. What the Hofesh site is fighting is religious compulsion by the Orthodox, not Judaism as such. As you wrote, each Jew has a right to know his history. But the Orthodox do not study history, only the Talmud. You wrote that you don't observe the Shabat fully, so in Israel you will be subject to coercion to observe it fully.

I assume you are a Conservative Jew, so in Israel the Conservative movement is not recognized by the Orthodox. In the U.S., there is no need for a web-site like Hofesh, but in Israel there is.

Best wishes,
Michal

And the following email has been written by Gabi:

Dear Daniel, Hofesh team,

I must confess, I appreciate your tolerance. I just read Jason's letter while introducing your site to a friend. It is outraging! First of all, as someone who lived for a considerable period of time in the US, I can tell for sure that practically everything is open on Sunday "their Sabbath". Are you trying to insult our intelligence dear Jason?

But to the substance. How on earth dare he from where he is tell someone how to live in Israel? Secondly, jews maintained identity and continuity for thousands of years without a state. What they actually didn't have until recently is a place to turn their religious identity into a social and national identity. So dear Jason, you can be a religious jew in Brooklyn without any problem but you can't be an Israeli elsewhere. If he wants his grandchildren to remain jews, he would better teach to his children-to-be values that they will be able and moreover proud to maintain and live by in the 21st century. Turning Israel into an asylum won't do much good.

Finally, his idea of "Israel-love it or live it" is interesting. After all, I implemented it myself. After years of serving the country and paying taxes that supported those religious parasites who pimped on my labour and moreover oppressed me, I left to a "galut" from choice. Both me and my wife are highly educated individuals engaged in sought-after professions. Dear Jason and all his alike, figure out for yourselves who's loss is it.

In strong support of Hofesh cause,
Gabi.

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