What Does It Mean To Be Part Of Am Yisrael?

Ever since the beginning of the semester, we have been asking ourselves the question "What does it mean to be part of Am Yisrael (a.k.a. the Jewish people)?"  What do you have to do in order to be a part of the Jewish people?  According to ancient Jewish law, if your mother is Jewish, then you are considered Jewish.  According to modern Reform Judaism, if you define yourself as Jewish, then that is good enough.  In my opinion, the minimum requirement for being Jewish falls somewhere in the middle of those two.  You have to put a little bit of effort into being a Jew.  You have to take part in the religion of Judaism.  To me, you at the very least should go to High Holiday services, although you should also do a bit more than that.  Judaism is not just an issue of how you define yourself to me.  I believe that Judaism is more about how you take your definition of yourself and put it into action.

Washington Jewish Week

Today, I found out something about my Washington D.C. which is the fact that it has a Jewish newspaper.  One that has been around since 1930, nonetheless!  To me, to think about D.C. as a highly Jewish area seems crazy, considering that I can name about twenty Jews in my high school, two of them being my twin brother and myself.  So for me to realize that there are enough Jews for a Jewish newspaper is absolutely crazy.  I believe that it is important to have a Jewish news source, so that the only reporting on Israel is not just about the conflict, but also about Israel as a country.  A Jewish newspaper in many places could help get rid of the false belief that Israelis are a bunch of warmongering Jews who just hate Palestinians.

Preferred Seating

Today, Anat Hoffman came and spoke to us, and talked about all the problems the IRAC (Israel Religious Action Center) is trying to fix.  One that stuck out to me was that, on a flight, an ultra-orthodox man is not allowed to be seated next to a woman.  If they are, it is almost certain that they will request a seat change or request the woman's seat to be changed, and the flight attendants will sometimes help them move/get the person next to them to move.  To me, this is not okay, not only because it is illegal, but also because it is simply not okay.  You could possibly make the argument that within Israel, Jewish laws should apply, because that is within a jewish state.  However, to apply that same logic to a flight, that is not even in Israel while it is in the air, is not okay.  In Israeli society, the people who aren't Orthodox already have to make sacrifices.   They should not have to make a sacrifice on a plane to leave or come into Israel.

Hillary Clinton vs. Oppression

In a recent statement written by Hillary Clinton, she talked about how she wanted to work to eliminate anti-semitism in the United States, and how this paralleled how in the times of our slavery in Egypt, when Jews were treated poorly.  She said that she wanted to ensure that those who did not have a voice on their own got someone to speak for them in the media.  She mentioned that it is our moral obligation to give hope and to give help to those who are in need of it.  She also talked about how Israel's safety is non-negotiable, and that we can not make the mistake of being neutral in this conflict.  In a time of increasing anti-semitism, it is refreshing to see a prominent figure in today's society speaking out against it.
In today's society, there seems to be concerning levels of anti-semitism, so when someone as important as Hillary Clinton mentions that we need to fight it, it is somewhat refreshing.  Jews around the world need to do what we can to combat this 'epidemic' of anti-semitism.  To see Jews being attacked on college campuses is sincerely worrying, and just to see anyone being oppressed is concerning.  Even though we, as Americans, have almost all of what we need, we need to work to help those who don't.  Even if not everyone has everything, when someone important brings up the issue, it feels like we are at least making a good start.

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/fighting-oppression-inequality-and-injustice-on-passover/

The Ultimate Sacrifice

This week, in class, we've been discussing the six-day war.  Yesterday, in the morning, we went to Ammunition Hill, and learned about what happened there, as well as in other places that were important to the six-day war.  Of all of the important sites from the six-day war, we talked about how ammunition hill was among the most dangerous.  They were walking through long, thin trenches, and one person had to be outside the trench and cover them.  While the people inside the trench were in much danger, the death of the person outside the trench was almost certain.  And yet, we heard survivor accounts that said that, whenever the leader pointed at someone and told them to get out of the trench, everyone who he asked to do that did it without fail.  Now, we all may agree that it is important that everyone has a home.  However, would any of us be willing to jump into almost certain death to defend our right to have a home?  To do that requires an extreme courage and an extreme determination that not many of us have.  Luckily, we have grown up in a time when there already is an established Jewish state, but if there wasn't, would any of us be willing to give up our lives for it?  For these people, the answer was yes, but for any today, I have doubts that it would be the same.

Free Speech vs. Morons

Today, I read about a somewhat troubling article about a recent speech by the mayor of Jerusalem.  The mayor, Nir Barkat, was speaking at SFSU, when a group of pro-palestine protestors yelled him off the stage and into a corner with the people who came to actually listen to the speech like civilized human beings.  Now, I am all for free speech.  And perhaps these protestors will use the excuse of "we were speaking against something we disagree with".  If they do, their argument is fundamentally incorrect.  This is obstructing free speech, and not allowing people who want to actually listen hear.  Protest when it doesn't obstruct someone's constitutional right.  It frustrates me that these people could be so frustrated that they refuse to not only let themselves listen to him, but also refuse to let other people listen to him, even if they want to.  These morons are acting like little children and not allowing people to speak because they disagree with them.

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/77319/sfsu-president-promises-full-investigation-after-protesters-disrupt-jerusal

Violent vs. Necessary

Today, we went to an old, no longer in use prison in Jerusalem, and walked around while learning about the movement for Israel's independence.  We learned about the four different military groups during the movement for independence, the Palmach, the Hagana, the Lechi, and the Etzel.  Each group had a different strategy.  The Palmach were the strike force in case of a Nazi invasion, the Hagana used self-defense, the Etzel was a mix of self-defense and attacking, and the Lechi was a somewhat extreme group who used the "whatever it takes" approach.  While there were many disagreements between the groups, one major one was when the Etzel decided to blow up the King David Hotel, killing 91 British soldiers.  What is notable about this is that the British left one year after, and most likely, this event was one of the reasons.  An ongoing debate is if this was the right method of resistance.  In my opinion, it was the necessary thing to do at that point.  We had been asking the British to leave for years, but our requests fell on deaf ears.
While some, like me, see this as a necessary action, others, such as David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, see this as unnecessary and too violent.  They might say that killing would just make the British control us more, or make them angrier thany  before.  While these are both valid points, we had been under British control for far too long, and they even restricted immigration during the time of the Nuremberg Laws.  This effectively prevented a multitude of Jews from escaping the Holocaust and potentially survive past World War 2.  At this point, we could no longer let the British stay in control of Israel.  It did not seem like other methods were effective enough, and so this was a necessary action to take.  Though it was violent, it was needed.

Poland Essay

Poland Essay

Many people would say that the Holocaust was the most evil thing to happen to the world, and one location it affected more than many others is Poland.  Poland, where there was a thriving Jewish community before the Holocaust, ended up with a miniscule one after the war.  Though the Jewish community in Poland today is almost nonexistent, there are still some sites that represent life, such as Krakow, and a couple that also represent death, like Maydanek.  During the Holocaust, there were many different people who rebelled against the Nazis, and committed Iberleben (rebellion), such as Janusz Korczak, a caretaker of children, and Immanuel Ringelblum, a historian.  It is also the job of those still living to never let ourselves forget what happened then, and to always keep the memories in our heads, so we never lose the knowledge we’ve gained.  Though Poland was certainly not utopia for Jews before the war, the Nazis made it a living hell for everyone in it, but luckily we are able to study what was left behind and learn about it.

Judaism today is one of the smallest major religions that exists, but before the Holocaust, there was a large Jewish community in Eastern Europe.  One site that truly represents this pre-Holocaust life is the city of Krakow.  Today, there are 5 synagogues still standing in Krakow’s old Jewish district from before the war.  If there were 5 synagogues in one small area, there were enough Jews for 5 synagogues.  There were even multiple types of Judaism concentrated into that small area.  One very famous Rabbi buried in Krakow is Rabbi Yom Tov, who was known to be a very intelligent scholar of Judaism.  One story about him is that, in Krakow, there lived a rich man who was known for not giving any money to the community.  So it was logical that, when he died, they could barely get a minyan together for the funeral.  However, when the hospital noticed that they didn’t get new medicine, and other people stopped getting support, Yom Tov realized this rich man had been helping secretly.  He then requested to be buried next to this guy who nobody had liked.  This site makes you feel happy, that even during the Pogroms and everything, people still managed to form a thriving Jewish community, although it was put to an end when the Nazis came to power.  Although there was plenty of life before the Holocaust, there was also plenty of death during and after.  One particular site that represents this is the concentration camp of Maydanek.  Though not as many people died there as at some of the other camps, it was still a spot what a multitude of Jews were executed.  One particular story is that, close to the end of its existence, the Nazis brought out 18,000 prisoners and told them to dig trenches to “defend” the camp, and then shot them all.  What is extremely ironic about this is that 18 is a number that is supposed to represent life in Judaism.  This place just leaves one with a sense of eeriness, and it makes you worried about what is happening in the world, and if something like this could ever happen.  It seems almost impossible that there was such a thriving community before, and over two thirds of it was killed.

During the Holocaust, though many people were far too scared by the Nazis to do anything to fight back, there were some people who did rebel in their own ways against the Nazis.  One such person is Januzs Korczak, who was a caretaker for kids before the war.  When the war started, his friends offered to get him out of Poland, but he said that he had to stay and help the children.  During the early years of the war, he ran an orphanage, and what was unique about his orphanage is that the kids made most of the decisions.  He treated the kids as his equals, as opposed to as lower than him.  When the Nazis were leading him and the kids to their deaths, he had them go with dignity.  Now, while some might say this is cowardice, there is so little anyone could have done, that to show the Nazis that their torture won’t work is a very legitimate form of rebellion.  Another form of rebellion some might consider unusual is that which was done by Immanuel Ringelblum.  When the war was nearing a close, the Nazis tried to destroy everything in order to cover up everything.  Ringelblum started collecting everything he could in order to document this period.  Were it not for him, we may not have much evidence about this period at all.  Thanks to his bravery in collecting artifacts, we now have valuable information on the Holocaust.  Though neither of these strategies is the most typical strategy for rebellion, they are both very effective ways to show the Nazis that we will not take this lying down.

Rabbi Emil Fackenheim once wrote: “Jews are forbidden to hand Hitler posthumous victories, they are commanded to survive as Jews, lest the Jewish people perish.”  To me, this means that we can not allow ourselves to forget what happened to us during the terrible times of the Holocaust.  If we do forget about it, then we fail to learn from our mistakes of the past, and something like this could potentially happen to us again.  We all need to work to remember this, because if we do not, we run the risk of letting the Nazis win by allowing them to cover up their tracks.  In order to ensure that we do not forget the Holocaust, we must make sure that they teach it in the school systems.  Ensure that people are educated about it from a young age, and that way, they will know about it for their whole lives.  If we fail to educate the general population about this, we run the risk of losing all this knowledge.  I agree with what Rabbi Fackenheim says, in that we can’t let the Nazis win by forgetting about what happened.  Though the Holocaust may be over, it is our responsibility to carry on the memory.

Though it is absolutely awful that the Holocaust happened, we can avoid it happening again by remembering what it was like.  We can think of the sites where there was life, and how happy people were, like in Krakow, and then think of the places where death was abundant, like Maydanek, and how angry everyone was.  If something like this ever does happen again, unfortunately, we can fight back, just as some people did back in the times of the Holocaust, like Janusz Korczak, and Immanuel Ringelblum.  Most importantly, we can never allow the Nazis to win by forgetting what took place and risking it happening again.  We should never even give something like the Holocaust a chance to arise again.  Though the Holocaust was horrible, it is our responsibility to remember it and make sure that it never happens again as long as humanity is still around.

Written Torah vs. Oral Torah

Written Torah vs. Oral Torah

Throughout Judaism, one important debate has been whether to allow followers the flexibility of changing rules or to not make any changes to the rules, with some variations falling in between the two.  Two different versions of the Torah existedThe Written Torah had all the rules set in stone, which meant that they almost entirely unchangeable.  The Oral Torah didn’t have the rules written down, which would allow for change and adaptation if necessary.  Reform Judaism should identify more with the Oral Torah, seeing as both allow for change and permit us to make our own decisions for how to follow Judaism.  Although only the Written Torah still exists, Reform Judaism helps to carry on the tradition of adaptation and change that the Oral Torah started.

Sometimes, a religion can get stuck in the past by only following a set of unchangeable rules that no longer apply to modern society.  Having a set of rules that exists orally avoids this problem.  An Oral Torah is more adaptable, so if society changes, so can the rules.  Also, the Oral Torah gives you an element of choice the Written Torah does not.  If you do use the Oral Torah, though, it can easily be forgotten.  It is also quite difficult to pass down the Oral Torah, making it harder to carry Judaism on.  Though the Oral Torah is very adaptable, it is also quite easy to forget and therefore lose.

The Bible.  The Torah.  The Qoran.  The Vedas. The list goes on and on.  Every major religion has a central religious text that has many of its rules and stories written in it.  The written Torah helps Judaism because it’s much easier to pass down its knowledge than with Oral Torah.  Also, if we use a written Torah, it is impossible to simply forget everything.  However, the Written Torah can not change, meaning the rules can not adapt to changes in society.  Also, because the rules don’t change, they can become outdated or useless.  Though the Written Torah can be very useful in that it is impossible to just lose all the knowledge, it also makes it incredibly difficult to change anything.

One of Reform Judaism’s main philosophies is that it gives you the power to adapt the rules to coincide with modern society, the same way the the Orah Torah did for the Jews a long time ago.  The Oral Torah allowed Judaism to change based on the environment around them.  Because none of the rules were written down or set in stone, they did not last forever.  Reform Judaism is definitely closer to the Oral Torah in that both allow for change within the religion.  Also, when we need to see what the rules are, it is much easier to know the rules in the Oral Torah than in the Written Torah, as there are many more rules in the written one, just like how it is easier to know only the rules that you have chosen, than to know every single one for Judaism.  Throughout its existence, the Oral Torah left room for decision making and enabled Jews to be flexible, just as Modern Reform Judaism does today.

Today, there is an ongoing struggle between Reform and Orthodox Jews over how we should interpret our Judaism.  While one group says that we should always do exactly what the rules say and not change much at all, the other group says that we should adapt and interpret the rules based on modern society.  The Oral and Written Torah each represent one of these groups.  Orthodoxy would identify more with the Written Torah, as the rules are set in stone and almost completely unchangeable.  Reform would be much closer to the Oral Torah, as it allows for change, and permits adaptation.  Though we are all within one religion, how we interpret that one religion and even keep track of its rules can vary from person to person.

Work vs. Family for Israeli Women

Today, I read an article about how Israeli women can sometimes have trouble balancing their work and their life.  It also said that they sometimes feel underestimated in the workplace, which can sometimes lead to people not listening to them.  And this is in one of the best countries for women in the workplace.  Both of these come from the traditional view that men are the "breadwinner" of the household and women are the "caretakers" of the household.  This often leads to men immediately dismissing them as executives or as colleagues.  It is important for us to do our best to separate our perceptions based on this stereotype from what we actually think.  If we realize that this is no longer a realistic world view, then maybe women will get the respect they need.  This way, everyone can feel that they have an equal share of the business world, and everyone can treat each other as equals.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/israeli_women_lean_in_or_cant_have_it_all

Caesarea and The Chasidim

This weekend, a friend of mine invited me to go off kibbutz with his family (shoutout to Aaron Mckay).  One of the places we went was Caesarea, which was built by King Herod in order to both increase trade into Judea and also to help Judea flourish with the help of Roman culture.  However, in order to build Caesarea, he had to get the resources, and where would he get the resources but from the citizens.  Taxes were increased, some people were forced to work as slaves, and many had to support the project using their resources.  So it really decreased his popularity in Judea, despite its intention to help them out and make their lives better.  Sometimes people in power can do this to themselves as well.  They do something with a somewhat good intention, and later on that action ends up causing the exact opposite.
One example of this in today's society is the fact that the Ultra-Orthodox jews don't have to work, in order to increase their time to study torah.  This was probably instituted as a rule in order to further Judaism within Israel.  However, all it has done is drawn a wedge between different groups of Israeli jews.  The fact that the Chasidim don't have to work outrages many non-Chasidim, myself included.  It makes me angry at them, and when we're angry at them, they get angry at us for wanting to take away their "right to study Torah."  Maybe both Herod and the government could've used a little more thinking about their actions before they committed to them.

Local View vs. News View

Today I read an article about an opinion that is not usually expressed in today's world.  It was about a Muslim doctor expressing her positive thoughts on Israel.  She said that, if it were not for Israel, she would not have had a chance to be where she is today.  Of course, then the author's Jewish mother stated that she wanted to live in an exclusively Jewish community, saying that would make her feel safer.  If you look at most mainstream news sources reporting of the Israeli-Palestine conflict, you will find that almost all of them (excluding FOX news) are anti-Israel.  Yet here is a member of the Muslim side of the conflict stating that Israel is great and gave her all this opportunity.  Sometimes it feels like (and this applies to every single news outlet) the news is just reporting exactly what it wants us to hear.  In today's world, it is hard to know who is telling the truth and who is lying, and often people get very caught up in the cloud of confusion.  It is important for us to remember to look into every single possible angle in a conflict and not just assume something to be true if we hear it.

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/what-israel-is-giving-me-the-voice-of-an-arab-doctor/

Hillel vs. Shamay

Today in Jewish History, we learned about two famous rabbis, Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shamay.  One particular story was about a cynic who went up to each of them and said "If you can teach me the entirety of the Torah while I stand on one foot I'll convert."  Shamay has a fairly normal reaction and tells him to get out.  Hillel, however, says "Don't treat others as you wouldn't have them treat you."  Now, while Shamay's reaction was perfectly reasonable, I think we can all learn something from Hillel's reaction.  When someone is being very rude and he had every right to be rude back, he used it as a teaching opportunity.  Sometimes I believe that we need to do this more often, take a moment that seems very impossible to be productive in and turn it around.  By doing so, we can not only possibly gain new members of Judaism, but also maybe de-alienate other religions who may feel isolated.  If every rabbi and every Jew acted like Hillel, Judaism may be a bit bigger today.  It is also important to just be nice to other people simply because that's human decency, and if you don't give any respect, you can't expect to get any in return.  The world owes you nothing until you try to help it.

Udi Aloni vs. Benjamin Netanyahu

Today I read an article about an Israeli film maker and his statements about Israel's government.  Director Udi Aloni won the top audience awards in Berlin for his recent movie (congratulations to him), but just before winning the award, footage surfaced of him making statements about Israel's government, including calling it "fascist" and also urging Germany to stop sending military aid.  Now, while he is allowed to have his own opinion, the fact that his movie received money from the government would suggest that he supports the government, and yet these statements say the exact opposite.  If he does not like the government, he should not take money from them.  He is, in a sense, slapping the hand that feeds him.  A recent example of refusing someone's support if you don't agree with them has to do with who else but Donald Trump.  Recently, David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, endorsed Trump and suggested that other members of the KKK vote for Trump.  When asked, Trump didn't agree with Duke, but he didn't reject him either.  If you do not agree with what someone is saying or someone's message, don't take support from them.  Don't just take because you need something, take if you are okay with what the giver endorses.

The Story Of The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God

We took a break for two weeks from Jewish History class, and our assignment over the break was to read three stories by the Israeli author Edgar Keret.  One of the stories I read by him, and the title story of one of his books, was called The Story Of The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God.  The story follows two characters.  One of them is a bus driver who never lets anyone on who is late.  It's not because he's mean, just because if he wastes 30 seconds of each rider's time, and there are 10 riders, they lose a total of 5 minutes, and you can not afford to lose that much time (according to him).  The other character is a chef named Eddie, who has an odd disease which causes him to oversleep by ten minutes no matter what, which causes him to always be late for things; his job, appointments, meetings, etc.  So one day in the restaurant, Eddie meets a nice girl, who makes him very happy.  So they make plans to meet at the aquarium the next day at 5 pm.  Eddie takes many precautions to ensure he's on time, setting three different alarm clocks and turning the TV on with the volume all the way up, but he still falls asleep and wakes up ten minutes late.  He gets ready as quickly as possible and sprints to the bus.  He gets there just late, and the bus driver is going to not let him on, until the driver remembers that he used to want to be God, and that God is merciful to all of his creations.  So the driver lets him on, and Eddie gets there on time, but the girl stands him up.  So as Eddie walks back to the bus, he takes his time due to his aching muscles, but the driver waits for him.

I believe that this story has very large connections to real life.  This story tells the classic conflict of idealism and pragmatism, the same struggle Javert faces in Les Miserables before jumping to his death.  Though it is good in life and in Judaism to have strong set ideals, sometimes it is important for us to adapt, to be flexible based on the situation.  This is the conflict of interest faced by every single entity, person, country, religion, etc. that exists in the world.  The religion of Judaism sometimes has to decide whether it wants to be very religious, or be practical based on the situation that is faced in the world at that time.  In life, it is important for us to sometimes be like the bus driver.  Stubborn, yet flexible.  What it means is that it is important to be able to adapt to various realities that approach us.

Today in Jewish history, we discussed the issue of how to address the "problem" (depending on your view of the situation) of Jews not marrying within the faith.  To some more orthodox Jews, it seems as if this is very important.  To many reform Jews, however, this issue does not affect us as Jews very much.  In my opinion, it is important to take an already existing standpoint.  This standpoint is that we shouldn't advocate intermarriage, but if someone is intermarried, we shouldn't discriminate against them.  This way, we still enforce our beliefs as enforced in the Torah, but also do not keep people out of Judaism just because of their personal choices.  As far as "middle ground" goes, this is pretty much the perfect compromise.

Today I read an article for Jewish History class about how many Rabbis in America often feel that they have to avoid talking about Israel, due to trying to avoid confrontation from some of the members of their congregations who oppose their views.  One of the suggestions of the rabbi was to not let the louder members of the congregation represent all of the congregation, and not to let them force the rabbis not to talk about it.  I started to think about how this correlates to the real world, in which people who are louder often get to force their opinion onto those people who do not have as strong of opinions.  It's like how the whole world thinks that all Americans are idiots.  It's not that we're all idiots, just that our idiots are much louder than our reasonable and smart people.  It is important that we not let those who are louder than us suppress us and make us feel like our viewpoints are worse than theirs.  We have to remember this in the synagogue, in our classrooms, and in the rest of our lives as well.

Today in Jewish History, we talked about how we, as reform Jews, make our decisions.  Most reform Jews today would likely say that they made their decisions based on reason.  However, if you went back just a little bit over 200 years, most reform Jews would probably say they made their decisions based on religion.  Though today it makes sense to go by reason, 70 years ago the Nazis were led to the Holocaust by reason.  Granted, they were stupid reasons, but to them, that was good reason!  Is it okay to say that, if you think something through, and to you it seems reasonable, then you should definitely do it?
In my opinion, it is important to have a steady balance of reason and religion.  If a decision is more logical, than reason should be used for that situation.  If the choice plays more into religion, then religion should be used.  We should also study Torah regularly in order to understand what choices we should make in a religious situation.  As reform Jews, we do sometimes forget that we need to take part in our religious beliefs, this coming from someone who does not go to services more than once a month on average.  Sometimes, we just need to take Judaism a little more seriously, and if we do that, we can achieve a great balance between reason and religion.

In today's world, though some people may like to think otherwise, discrimination happens in many places every day. Today I read an article talking about the Diaspora Affairs Ministry's report on anti-semitism in the world today. According to the statistics stated by the report, there is much more anti-semitism than anyone would think. The report also said that 55% of Muslims living in Western Europe have some anti-Semitic beliefs. I believe that this number is too high. I feel that, while there are certainly some anti-Semitic feelings in the world, there is not that high of an amount. Surely, with all of the progress that has been made, more than 45% of Western European Muslims aren't anti-Semitic. I feel that the report may have been a little to a lot exaggerated. I do not believe that the figures stated in the report are fully accurate. Even though much of discrimination has been diminished, it is important for us all to remember that if we see someone being discriminated against, we must help them get through that, and perhaps join forces to stop the discrimination

For the article, click this link:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-2015-report-on-anti-semitism-paints-dismal-picture/

Today, in Jewish History class, we were discussing the idea of separation of church and state. The argument was whether public transportation should be allowed to continue during Shabbat. In my opinion, I believe that it should be allowed to keep running, simply because this country of Israel is home to more people than just Orthodox Jews, and in order to help them as well, we must leave public transportation running. The counter argument is that, because Israel is widely considered a "Jewish State," we must follow Jewish law. Now, what exactly makes a country dedicated to one religion? Is it that that religion has majority? No, because if that were true, America, England, and many other countries would be considered Christian states. Is it that the country was founded by members of that religion primarily for that religion? No, because if that were true, America would once again be called a "Christian State" which it is not. Until "Jewish State" can be clearly defined, it is hard to make a point that a country should follow that religion's rules. Once a "religious state" can be clearly defined, then an argument can be made. But until then, the answer is fairly clear.

My name is Jack, and I'm a student from Washington D.C. studying in Israel for four months.  In Jewish history class on Thursday, we were talking about if all of the choices for how to partake in Judaism have led us all too far from each other.  Yesterday, I was walking around the Kotel, and it suddenly occurred to me, as I looked at all of the other guys wearing yalmulkes, I realized that I was wearing a ski cap with "Steelers" (the name of my favorite American football team) written on it, while walking around the Western Wall.  Today, during Shabbat services, we said a prayer to the tune of the song "Hey There Delilah".  I then started to think about the question of, have we come too far from our roots as Jews?  With everything that we, as reform Jews do differently from tradition, do we move too far away from our starting point?  In my opinion, we have not.  I believe that every time we do something differently, it enables us to become more connected in our own specific way. If we all tried to connect in only one way, more than half of us would likely not be successful.  It is important for us to remember that we are all our own person, and we each require separate methods to partake in Judaism.