Q. E. D.

Please STFU.

Thank you.

I didn’t say ALL Jewish belief is base. I am a strongly identified Jew. Why would I even say or believe such a thing? I said the beliefs of SOME Israeli (& Diaspora) Jews are base. You know what I mean & who I’m referring to. If you choose to misinterpret my words that’s again yr own issue, not mine.

As for your colors, your ideology is ORANGE.

You don’t have a very clear idea of my views if you claim that your friends had sentiments similar to mine (though I guess that depends on who you friends were & what their real beliefs were–as opposed to the caricature that you present). Further, among Jewish blogs there are only a handful which share my outlook while there are scores if not several hundred which are truly conventional & traditionalist in their outlook on Jewish identity and the I-P conflict.

“The fact that you’ve given up…”
-If Diaspora Jews will survive, it will be because:
1-They come back to observance and have more kids.
2-They come to Israel.
Either way, that is a win-win situation.

“I document the baseness of Jewish belief”
-Do you think Jewish belief is base? What about the idea of Tikun Olam? Perhaps you should elaborate on this statement.

“The Holocaust has nothing to do with this & again is a non sequitur on yr part.”
-It is relevant. Israel would never perpetrate what the US government did with the SS St. Louis. Making USA the hero and bad-mouthing Israel does hold water in this case.

“they are ORANGE.”
-My cellphone company is Orange. My passport says “State Of Israel.”

“My views are far fr. conventional.”
-The Reform and Conservative friends I had in college had sentiments that were similar to yours. They didn’t expound as much as you do but the jist was the same.

America is NOT making Jews Christians. America has a thriving Jewish life and culture. The fact that you’ve given up on it doesn’t mean the rest of us have to join you.

I document the baseness of Jewish belief whether those beliefs are proferred by American or Israeli Jews. Pointing out that there are Israelis whose views of Judaism are base is NOT anti-Semitic. If you think it is, that’s yr problem not mine. Perhaps I should’ve used the word “some” rather than “many.” But the fact is that there are tens of thousands of Israeli Jews (& American Jews for that matter) whose views of Judaism are twisted & perverted & nursed by hate and blood vengeance.

The Holocaust has nothing to do with this & again is a non sequitur on yr part.

Your colors are not blue and white, they are ORANGE.

My views are far fr. conventional. If they were conventional then I’d have a lot more readers adoring me like Charles Johnson and David Abitbol.

“Israel is becoming less & less important in the context of world Jewry.”
-The latest and largest census of North American Jewry produced figures that were so astoundingly negative that they “lost the data.” Being that Israel is the center of Torah study and that the population and wealth is increasing, I am not sure how your statement is correct or even relevant.

“Every time a settler goon writes “Mohammed pig””
-This kind of juvenile behavior is certainly not becoming of Jews. However, the Arabs are not innocent either. Mohammad himself tried to convert Jews to Islam unsuccessfully. What about Samir Kuntar who was convicted in an Israeli court for murder of an Israeli policeman, Eliyahu Shahar, 31 year-old Danny Haran, and Haran’s 4-year-old daughter, Einat Haran? He was also convicted of indirectly causing the death of two-year-old Yael Haran by suffocation, as her mother, Smadar, tried to quiet her crying while hiding from Kuntar. You present Israelis as being the only guilty party.

“Israel does not make Jews Jews”
-I agree. But what does make Jews Jews, Richard? Also, isn’t America is making Jews Christians!

“many Israelis represent the basest forms of Jewish thought & belief.”
-If someone wrote this on your website, you would call them an anti-Semite. This is a sweeping categorical accusation. Israel took in Jewish refugees from Europe-who tried to annihilate World Jewry-whose “though and belief” you have inculcated and now advocate (the Enlightenment). Don’t forget that the USA turned away Jews from the SS St. Louis in 1939-several hundred of who were later murdered. Is that not a “base” action?

“expansion into controversial land areas”-I said this
-It has nothing to do with sympathy. It is not political. It is about crowdedness, which is something Jews there don’t understand. I did fundraising for Jewish groups for 10 years. I realize most Jews there no little about the daily life here. Many of the people living in the territories are not religious! Over 200,000 are US citizens!

“yr true colors.”
-My colors are blue and white. Yours?

“Your views are quite conventional…”
The same could be said about yours by reading your blog’s responses.

I am claiming that they are making themselves irrelevant by assimilating.

No, being the outmoded Zionist that you are you believe that merely by existing in the Diaspora that Jews are assimilating. Ergo, the only place that Jews will not assimilate is Israel. The utter fallacy of this statement is that Israel does not make Jews Jews. In fact, many Israelis represent the basest forms of Jewish thought & belief.

The future for Jews (and non-Jews) in Israel will be determined by expansion into controversial land areas

Ah, I didn’t know you were a settler symp. That puts things into pretty good context for my readers. Thanks for letting us know yr true colors.

I am trying to express a well-rounded view of the situation.

Well-rounded? Hardly. Your views are quite conventional, unsurprising & backward thinking in both a Jewish & Zionist context. I wouldn’t disagree that this is a “liberal pluralistic forum.” But yr views surely are not.

And if the Jewish population of Israel is rising it is largely because of Haredi Jews
-This is correct:
Jerusalem Post: Birthrate up for Jews, down for Muslims
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich , THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 6, 2007
The highest rates are in haredi towns such as Modi’in Illit (Kiryat Sefer) and Betar Illit, with an average of
eight children per woman, and in Beduin towns such as Tel Sheva (6.8), Rahat and Arara. The least fertile
cities were Ariel (1.7), Kiryat Yam, Tirat Carmel, Kiryat Bialik and Upper Nazareth.

“you see the Diaspora as irrelevant to Israel”
-This is not the case-Jews living outside of Israel are highly relevant. I am claiming that they are making themselves irrelevant by assimilating.

“Israel fr. world Jewry & the world in general”
-Perhaps this is correct, but Jews have always been outsiders, as it says “here is a nation that dwells in isolation.” Jews have been on the outside for about 4,000 years, largely because Jews cling to a different set of values than other peoples of the world.

“Now, you’re starting to sound like the settlers…”
-All Jews living in Israel are “settlers.” This is a fact. The future for Jews (and non-Jews) in Israel will be determined by expansion into controversial land areas.
-I understood this to be a liberal “pluralistic” forum. I am trying to express a well-rounded view of the situation. Honesty is my only excuse.