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I never understood this; God picking a favorite people doesn't sound very omniscient to me.
Any suggestions? They chased us all over the civilized world for a couple of thousands of years. It only made sense to try to return to the place of our ancestors who lived there for thousands of years.
I never understood this; God picking a favorite people doesn't sound very omniscient to me.
I don't either, but God has its uses. Part of the reason I changed from atheism to Christianity is the impossibility of the existence of Israel.
And besides that, his favorite people is very good at obeying God's commands and keep God's words, any other tiny tribe hated by many and exiled out their country survived till today and went back?
Favorite isn't the right term, but I understand the confusion most people have with the concept.
Zionism was founded by secular Jews, and their motives would have been enough to establish a Jewish state. Chiefly, the desire to escape the antisemitism they experienced in the diaspora.
At any rate I'm staunchly on the "secularism is best-ism" side that Jane expressed several pages ago.
If secularism were some kind of moral magic bullet, maybe I could agree. But it isnt. I'm betting the percentage of secular jerks compared to religious ones to be roughly the same. What I wish is for Jews to embrace the ethics that the sages have taught for thousands of years. If you wish to dismiss their wisdom because they were religious, then you are judging people based upon one aspect instead of thr merit of their words. Kind of the same thing secular people accuse the religious of.
Most Israelis are secular though. Jewish cemeteries are having to contend with so many Jews having tattoos which have historically disqualified someone from being buried within.
The foreigner also must respect our laws and religion and way of life. These foreigners will not even acknowledge our existence.
In 1998 there was a very sad case of a 15 year old Russian Jew killed in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. Because his maternal grandmother was not a Jew he was refused a burial in a Jewish cemetery, although he had lived his entire life as a Jew. The Christians would only bury him if his family agreed to Christian ceremony. Finally the Baha'is agreed to have him buried in their own cemetery.
By Jewish law he wasn't a Jew. Simply living as a Jew doesn't make you a Jew. Sadly, he probably could have converted very easily if his father was Jewish but might not have thought it necessary.
Thing is, not all Jews are Orthodox yet it is the Orthodox alone who get to determine who is or is not a Jew in Israel. As far as Reform or Conservative Judaism is concerned he *was* a Jew.
Most American Jews are Reform. Define them out of existence and you alienate Israel's greatest allies.
It is not you whose defining them out of existence, it is the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
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