Avraham Burg and other left-wing ideologues keep polluting the minds of Jews the world over with their "universalist" approach. They use concepts that everyone agrees are good, such as democracy, freedom and justice in order to advance an ideology of an empty, atheist existence. Socialist internationalism is viewed as the superior value, while religion, nationalism, theistic philosophies and a deep understanding of spiritual connectedness are viewed as negative. From the perspective of Judaism and Jewish life, this type of thinking is destructive. The philosophy of leading a Jewish life and of having a Jewish state in the land of Israel is incompatible with Marxist internationalism.

If democracy, personal freedom and "humanist" values are our main concerns then why did we ever need a Jewish state? What does Israel offer uniquely to the world in this regard that was not already accomplished by the United States and other free countries? What secular, left-wing intellectuals and writers don't seem to comprehend is that Zionism is fundamentally a religious concept and not a simple nationalist movement. The Jewish people's attachment to the land of Israel over thousands of years in exile cannot be explained in any other way. The obsessive concern with maintaining Jewish identity can also only be explained in religious terms. If secular humanism and socialist internationalism philosophies are correct and the Jews are the same as everyone else, and are simply the vanguard to progressive thought, then what difference does it make if we assimilate or not and what is the point of bending over backwards in order to secure a separate state? It only makes sense because deep down we believe there is something special about the Jewish people and our connection to the land of Israel, and something special in our unique covenant with God.

So, we, the Jews, must let go of our secular humanist brothers and sisters. They have been swallowed whole by a simple value system that denies a complex spiritual reality beyond the physical plane. The committed Jews must act as such in their actions, in their hearts, and in their souls. Those who want to come back will be welcomed, and those who don't will not be missed. The left-wing, post-Jewish media and intellectuals are just a bump in the road. Israel will grow religiously and population-wise. Diaspora Jews, although growing fewer, will become more committed to Jewish life. Smaller, better, and ready for the big move.

This isn't ideology talking. It's reality. And no amount of money donated by fat donor and left-wing atheist Steinhardt to the Birthright program can "raise Israel awareness." Torah raises awareness, sharpens the intellect and strengthens the Jewish resolve. Birthright and other "Jewish programming" is just subsidized partying.

Firstly, the Israel Festival on Wednesday night provided plenty of free concert entertainment, including Shlomo Artzi, Hadaq Nahash and other Israeli singers giving free performances in Gan Sachar and Gan Ha'Atzmaut here in Jerusalem. The real excitement took place yesterday - Yom Yerushalaim, or Jerusalem Day. This day celebrates the wresting of all of Jerusalem from Jordanian rule in 1967. I started the day off be meeting up with the rabbi of a yeshiva I am considering and his students in a synagogue in the Moslem quarter. There are dozens of buildings in the Moslem quarter owned by Jews, most of them are yeshivot. It may seem crazy to the left-wingers that Jews would be living and studying in an area where they are faced with a hostile population. But what left-wingers don't understand is that from the right-wing point of view, there's nothing forbidden or scary about the Moslem quarter. In fact, the Arabs leave the Jews who live and study there alone, most of the time. Not because they are so tolerant, but because they are scared. Right-wingers are not afraid of Arabs and will defend themselves violently without hesitation. This knowledge on the part of the Arabs creates a tense, but livable status quo. We had several shiurim, lessons, including one by the head rabbi of this synagogue we visited. This man is of the hard core. There are groups of Jews who are continually attempting to buy property from Moslems in the Moslem quarter. It's not easy, but it does get done. It's probably the best way to strengthen Jewish presence in Jerusalem, without employing violent means.

After learning, we had some shawarma in the Jewish quarter, then walked over to Kikar Zion, where tens of thousands of dati-leumi youth were gathering for the march. There were various bands and music, and people were singing and dancing from about 5pm to about 6:30. It was quite a sight. Left-wing youth movements or schools haven't been able to get this many people out with a common ideological set of values since the 1960's. The right, however, can create enormous demonstrations, and does so periodically. Around 6:30, the masses of young Jews, along with their rabbis, started the march, down Ben-Yehuda to the Old City. We were then channelled by the police into two streams. One went into the Damascus Gate, the other continued around the western edge of the Old City and entered through the Lions' Gate. Both gates lead into the Moslem quarter. The quarter is almost completely empty, with all the homes and business shuttered and locked down. There were a few Arabs giving us the evil stare from behind the police. But there were more Israeli police and Border Guards than Arabs, hands down. It's amazing how dead the quarter was relative to how busy and loud and crowded it is on any other day. I guess the general idea is to avoid confrontation, which is probably not a bad move. The yeshivot were singing and were pretty riled up. Add that to the fact that there were tens of thousands of people crowded into the narrow streets, and you have a situation where any small confrontation would've turned out badly for the Arabs. Aside from yeshivot, there were also random families with kids, and lots of soldiers, in and out of uniform, with guns. Clearly, the Moslem quarter is ours, the Arabs are just temporarily residing on properties that they will one day relinquish peacefully or otherwise.

The marching then brought the throngs to the Kotel Plaza in the Jewish quarter. The plaza was very crowded, there was a band, and the crowds spilled over into the surrounding streets of the Jewish quarter. There was, again, singing and dancing, and tremendous praying. There are few things as powerful for a Jew than to pray in Jerusalem, just a couple of dozen meters from the Temple Mount. But when you have tens of thousands of young people praying for several hours, it's a whole other experience. I guess to a non-Jew, it would look bizarre and somewhat crazy. But to a Jew, it was a display of belief and emotion than cannot be re-created anywhere else in the world.

This past weekend was all family time with my relatives in Rehavia. Sunday night I spent in a place called Bar Kochba. Yes, it's named after the leader of the 3rd century Jewish rebellion in Eretz Israel against Roman rule. And, yes, it's a bar. Right across from the southern walls of the Old City is an complex of bars and restaurants. It sits atop the Ben Hinom valley, which I described in an earlier post as being the source of the Biblical (and hence the modern) concept of Hell. Bar Kochba is open, so you get a nice summer night draft, and with views of the Old City, the surrounding valleys and the Yemin Moshe neighborhood across the valley, it's basically a perfect set up for a bar. I also ordered something to go with my Red Bull and vodka. It was called abidjian, which I assume is some sort of a nod to... Armenians? Anyways, it was crushed avocado and eggplant, wrapped in cooked eggplant, surrounded by hummus and t'hina with various seasonings, and it came with homemade crusty bread. Nothing unusual for me to jump with joy because of a meal, it happens frequently here. The food is simply amazing.

Sunday was also a day when many infantry units were getting sworn in at the Kotel (Western Wall), so the Old City was flooded with soldiers. Sunday night, while I was hanging out in Bar Kochba, we were treated to the goings on in Ben Hinom valley. They set up a concert for soldiers, it was quite a site. Bleachers filled with seveal thousand guys in green jumping up and down and screaming for hours straight. Because of the acoustics of the valleys and hills, the noise carried quite far. It's a nice change from the prayer calls of muezzin! I think if I keep living in this city, I'll be singing the Moslem call to prayer by heart. Not that it isn't stirring, but it's very strange. Half a kilometer in a certain direction and it's a whole different world.

Speaking of Arabs, about a week ago, there were some left-wing activists on Emek Rafaim. They set up a projection screen where they were showing, what else, how the evil state of Israel was abusing the beautiful and peaceful Arab culture in the West Bank. I had a not-so-civil discussion with these people. First of all, they were clever to set this up in German Colony, which, although with a large religious population, has some more liberal elements as well. If they had tried to pull this in Kiryat Moshe or some other area full of national-religious types, it would've ended a lot worse than a bit of shouting. I literally laughed at this one girl - an intellectual-looking Jewish girl with that glassy eyed communist look in her eyes. She was trying to prove to me that the future is the nation of Palestine from the River Jordan to the Sea, with Jewish and Arab citizens living in a secular, cosmopolitan, tolerant mix. How do you argue with someone like that? I tried to present my side reasonably, but she'd have nothing of it. Her gay-looking Arab friends joined in to try and show me how moderate they were and how they wanted peace with the Jews. Which Jews, I asked? Maybe Jews like this little brainwashed rich girl from North Tel-Aviv that has a soft spot for "social causes." She accepts the fact that "Jews have no right whatsoever to this land, some old books (?!?) don't prove Jewish claims." That's in their own words. At this point, I went into my old-school mode. It became clear to my Arab friends and their Jewish useful idiots, that things were about to get taken to the next level. They decided to close up shop for the night, because they felt that, even though I was outnumbered, I was going to go on a serious rampage. Sometimes it's not a matter of the balance forces. They instinctively knew that my spirit was much greater than their socialist-international waffling philosophy.

I have to admit, the rush from knowing that you are totally correct and that a greater power is on your side, is beyond real. This Thursday May 25th is Yom Yerushalaim - Jerusalem Day. Masses of Jews are going to display our ownership of Jerusalem in the old-fashioned way, by walking around our property. The entire Old City, including the Moslem quarter, will see tens of thousands of young Jews going for a walk. I am going to a class in a yeshiva located in the Moslem quarter with a bunch of guys and then we're joining the marching about. Yes, there are Jewish buildings and yeshivas in the Moslem quarter. If we don't display that we own ALL of Jerusalem from time to time, then we'll eventually lose all of it. Who knows, if things get out of hand, you may see me on TV. I'll try not to start any trouble, but considering my behavior at the Israel Day Parade in New York last June, anything is possible.

Interesting bit of news made it into Jerusalem Post. Dartmouth College, a venerable bastion of the left-wing politics so prevalent in all elite "liberal arts" universities in the US and the grantor of a BA to your humble servant, has waded deeper still into the liberal malaise. The Interfraternity Council, representing all the fraternities on campus, blocked the Jewish fraternity of Alpha Epsilon Pi from being officially recognized at the college. This in spite of the fact that Dartmouth has official Black and Hispanic fraternities, as well as several other fraternities that have a very distinct ethnic character. An example is Kappa Kappa Kappa (no, it's not the KKK), which is almost entirely Asian. Another example is Psi Upsilon, which is pure WASP. So much so, that a few years ago, when they accepted a black guy, they gave him the nickname "Quota." Not to point out the fact that he was fulfilling the African-American quota, but more to make light of the fact that there was no quota and hence no blacks in the fraternity. And he was the most preppy, WASP-ified black guy you've ever met. My point is that Dartmouth has at least dozen organizations that draw their membership, officially or unofficially, from narrow sectors of the student population.

The Interfraternity Council gave a few reasons for their decision, but the most telling one is that the other fraternities didn't feel comfortable with a new organization that was "eighty to ninety percent homogenous." Never mind the fact that such semi-exclusive organizations already exist, and have been functioning at Dartmouth for decades without so much as a peep. This is all pointing to the general anti-semitic undercurrent in the liberalism of today. The fact that it is being displayed for the world to see by a school I went to, a school that contributes to the business and intellectual elite of the US, a school that thousands of the brainiest high school graduates aspire to gain admission to, saddens me deeply. It's just another sign of the cultural trends in the US, and not an insignificant one.

Downplay it if you want, I have nothing more to say on this topic.

I want to dedicate this post to the Tel-Aviv beach. I have been three times thus far, and will surely visit this place dozens of times this summer. It's a short 50 minutes from Jerusalem, and is basically a free vacation. White sand beach, clear aqua blue water, simply amazing. The water is cooler than in an tropical climate, but that only makes it more enjoyable. There is an unreal number of people playing makot (paddle ball), and a dozen volleyball games. There are young people, families, there's the vacation atmosphere and the clubbing atmosphere. Yes, I said clubbing. There's a section of the beach we went to last time that extends to the sea from a popular bar/cafe. The owners of this place blast music, and thus their stretch becomes very popular with young people. There are hookas being smoked all over the place, there are cafes that have tables set up right on the beach, and of course you have the water, the gorgeous water. The Tel-Aviv marina provides spectacles of hundreds of boats, catamarans other watercraft. This goes on well into October, on a daily basis, and it's literally 200 meters from downtown Tel-Aviv, including the happening trendy areas. I will re-iterate my general objection to the secular lifestyle. But, if one were to live that lifestyle, Tel-Aviv is pretty much the perfect set-up.

The Israeli economy is gearing it forward. The economy grew 5.2% in 2005, and 6.6% in the first quarter of 2006, which is great news. Netanyahu's reforms are yielding results. He cut taxes, cut spending, privatized ports, broke (some of) the monopolistic bank practices, and performed other capitalist manuevers. Competitiveness is on the rise, 200,000 people have joined the work force in the past couple of years, the unemployment is down significantly, and the average salary has gone up from 7,000 shekels to 7,680 shekels per month. Of course, all this growth has meant huge tax revenue increases for the Israeli government. Lets hope that the socialist Knesset members don't influence their more intelligent colleagues to spend the surplus. And G-d forbid if they drastically increase spending. You never know what politicians will do in order to consolidate power and buy each other off, but if they can manage to keep their hands off the economic policy and the budget for a few years, Israel will gain tremendously. The average salary should hit 8,500 shekels per month by 2008. The surplus, which will be exceptionally large by then, can be invested in education and helping those who truly can't help themselves. The government needs to ride the economic wave long enough so that investors gain long-term confidence and stop thinking of Israel as having one foot forever planted in socialism. But there are always those socialist voices determined to bring Israel down.

I guess the economy is as exciting as the beach. Maybe even more so. 7,680 shekels/month is about $1,700, which translates to $20,500 per year. Purchasing power parity however is $23,000 due to the fact that the average on all prices is lower than in the US. While this is still not the $38,000 GDP/capita enjoyed by the US, at the current rate of growth, the average purchasing power parity in Israel will hit $30,000 by 2010. If Olmert sets that as his goal, he will have done much more for Israel than by implementing ill-advised, left-wing policies in the West Bank. For those of my readers that think the disengagment plan and the current "convergence" plan are helping the economy, let me point out that Sharon didn't announce the disengagement until March of 2005, by which point the economy was already flying along for two years. People with large amounts of money to invest know a good thing when they see it, and they mainly care about fundamental economic analysis. War is, by itself, just a factor. A country can be very successful economically and simultaneously be in a constant state of war, as long as the war is controlled and the enemy isn't getting the upper hand. Complicated? Yes, but it's doable and we're doing it.

Adin Steinsaltz - one of the top Israeli religious thinkers and Talmudists. It was he was paired up with A.B. Yehoshua to blast the Diaspora Jews. Not Robert Aumann. Although Aumann would've supported them as well, I am sure. Steinsaltz is a genius by the way. Read "The Thirteen Petalled Rose" for a start. Once you get into his world of thought, you'll learn more about the world than you have ever known. It's a really short book, don't be afraid. Also, read the following article about the what happened at the AJC convention:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961325970&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Jerusalem Post has articles for and against, so you can read them all and pick whether you agree with what Zionism is today or not. You all know where I stand.

Firstly, let me say that I enjoyed the ceremony we went to for Herzl's birthday. It took place at his tomb on Mt. Herzl. Mostly it was singing, prayers, and a short speech or two. I have to say, I am impressed by how much praying took place. It was like being in synagogue, not at a state event. Clearly, this is a very positive situation. The Arabs are dead scared of religious Israelis, because they fear the power. Hence, the truer we are to our roots and who we really, and have been for 3,500 years, the easier it will be deal with our enemies. On a particularly non-shomer negia note, there was a pair of twins in the group that sang at the ceremony. They were absolutely, subjectively or objectively, the prettiest girls in the world. Had I brought a ring with me, I would've outfought every other male there and proposed on the spot. To both of them. Yes, Yemenite twins would do just fine. Anyhow, Zionism was discussed, prayers were said, Hatikva was sung and reporters took lots of pictures.

After the ceremony, everyone who wanted approached Herzl's tomb. I ripped off the tags on the chairs that the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff sat on, so now I have two little momentos that say "Rosh Ha'Mimshala" and "Ramat Kal." This doesn't give me any bragging rights though. Israeli politicians are very accessable, it's the equivalent of New York city councilmen for New York residents. Meeting with them is pretty easy. Thus, I got to meet Amir Peretz, who is a complete and total idiot. Seriously, this guy is a union organizer, a socialist and he's got the Stalin mustache. Sure, he's got political skill, but I cannot have any sort of intellectual respect for the man. I also met, and yes shook hands, with Ehud Olmert. What can I say? He's a middle aged Jewish man. The whole Knesset is full of old Jewish men, yelling at each other and planning each other's downfall. What a bizarre group of people. The younger ones are basically powerless, and they have to wait till the old men let them have access to the reins of power. And there are few things more difficult in this world than fooling or getting the best of a wily old Jewish man. Hence, they rule this country. The kind of cambinot (complicated, semi-moral, clever manuevers) they pull, how they keep this place going, how they keep the enemy at the gates and the entire world from stamping us into the sand is nothing short of fantastical. Sometimes I think it would help if the place was run by straight-laced WASPS, but then I think on Israeli society and on our demented neighbors, and I thank G-d for creating the eternally brilliant and somewhat insane creature - the old Jewish man.

The American Jewish Committee was having a centennial celebration last week- one of those idiotic galas, where they include people like Kofi Annan to be honored for ... his continued support of anti-Israel moves by the UN? The AJC, as most American "Jewish" organizations, is a pathetic bunch of kow towing fat cats, obsequiously begging the real rulers of the land for protection. They think they are liberated, powerful and influential, but in reality the American Jewish establishment is nothing but a bunch of wealthy, insecure assimiliationists with a ghetto mentality. They are pathetic. They invited some Israeli big-wigs to the shindig. One was Robert Aumann, a Nobel prize winner in game theory, and an Orthodox Jerusalem Jew. Another was Avraham B. Yehoshua, a left-wing professor and author, a typical Tel-Aviv secular Jew. I don't know if they both planned it or not, but, totally unexpectedly, during one of the major conferences with thousands of top American Jewish leaders in attendance, they both pretty much stated that American Jewry is illegitimate, that it's operating on false premises, that Israel is the only place to be a Jew, that Jewish Israelis are the only legitimate Jews, and that Diaspora Jews can pretty much sit down at the sidelines while Israel builds itself into a nation.

Most American Jews don't even know what the AJC is, and are so unaffiliated or so loosely affiliated with Jewish life that they wouldn't even know, or care, that the above happened. But that is precisely the point. Most American Jews are so out of touch with both their own Jewishness and with the fact that Israel is miracle growing by leaps and bounds, in historical terms, that their involvement in Judaism is dismissed by the Israeli public in general. Sure, there are plenty of Israelis that will disagree with Aumann and Yehoshua, and they will cite how these two personally did this or said that at some point in the past. But the fact remains that these two men are leading thinkers from two very large Israeli Jewish camps. And Israelis do know them, do read what these men write an say. And yes, most Israelis feel estranged from the Diaspora. There are individuals that are connected by family ties, or by grand thoughts of a Diaspora-Israeli coalition that helped build the state in its early years. But most Israelis are so involved in their lives and in the internal issues affecting the Jewish state, that the Diaspora is irrelevant.

Yehoshua and Aumann both stated that Israel is a total Jewish life, where living Jewishly permeates all basic matters of public and civic life. Shabbat is a national, political issue, as is kashrut. Serious Judaic principles involving Jewish land, Jewish public and private life, Jewish relations, as a nation, to the rest of the world are all part of the public discourse here. American Jews don't have to grapple with Judaism in the same way. They live an American life, and choose to include some amount of Judaism in addition to their primary identity as Americans. In Israel, your primary identity is an Israeli Jew. You live on the land that is yours, the government is yours, the army is yours, the legal system is yours. The process of developing Israel is not easy, but the progress that has been made is improbably immense. Diaspora Jewry is simply not a consideration. If anti-Semitism increases somewhere, those Jews are welcome to make aliyah. If not, then not. But this is the only place where being Jewish is one's full, civic, political, personal, public, religious, and emotional expression. There's a totality of Jewishness that the Diaspora cannot have, by definition.

I could go into what the Torah and the Talmud, and the sages say about living in Israel, but that would just be beating a dead horse.

I strongly recommend to every Jew out there to study the Jewish texts and Jewish thought. Not in an Israel context, of course, G-d forbid that a Jew should ask another Jew to think of the very essence of Judaism. But just start learning the knowledge base and the philosophy that makes Greek/Roman/Enlightenment philosophies seem like child's play.

On Yom Ha'Zikaron, all the students of the ulpan went to a local Tali high school. Tali is a system of schools that teach more religion than government-secular schools but less than government-religious schools. In my opinion, this school system should replace the secular system entirely. The secular school system only has one class a day on Tanach and Judaism/Zionism, which is not enough. It's not that one class a day can't be sufficient to impart a solid amount of Jewish knowledge, it's just that giving the knowledge is only half the battle. The real achievement in Jewish education is bringing Judaism to the overall social life of the school and integrating Jewish and Zionist values into the entire school experience instead of just into a 45-minute daily class. It is the lack of such an environment that I think makes the secular system less effective in building quality Israeli citizens. Of course, even if the government chooses to do nothing in this regard, time will solve everything. As the religious sector grows, the secular schoolchildren will make up a progressively smaller proportion of Jewish Israeli children. Of course, it's a shame that the secular sector will continue to have weak Jewish education, no matter how minor of a sector it will become in numerical terms.

Back to Yom Ha'Zikaron - the ceremony was moving, the siren at 11am was even more powerful than the one the night before. The courtyard of the school was filled with the 800 high school students and about 150 students from Ulpan Etzion. Everyone was wearing white shirts, as is customary for the Day of Remembrance, and the ceremony included poems, songs and lists of names of fallen soldiers who had graduated from the high school. The emotional climax was the Kadish read for the fallen, the two minutes of silence during the siren, and the singing of the Hatikvah. I found it especially powerful that the national anthem was sung with no accompanying music and without a singer to lead everyone else. Without microphones, loudspeakers, amplifiers and an overbearing voice of a single singer, the anthem sounded much more pure and more beautiful.

Tuesday night, Yom Ha'Zikaron ended, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut began. Downtown Jerusalem hosted what can only be described as insanity of the multitudes. There were Independence celebrations in various theaters and community centers, but I figured since I still have the vigor of youth on my side, I might as well go all the way. Ben Yehuda, Yaffo and King George streets were packed with the various residents of this crazy city. There were teenagers, kids, families, young and old. There were a few conspicuous groups of American Birthright trip participants. They crowded around a stage that was set a bit way off from Kikar Zion and that mainly played clubbing music and hip-hop. The main stage was overwhelmingly playing Israeli pop songs, although I think 50 cent/G-unit slipped one in towards the end. The really popular songs like Adon Olam (a prayer sung to a pop melody) and anything by the Mizrahi singers were sung by the crowd, which is definitely an experience. It was also very clear that representatives of two major population sectors of Jerusalem were absent - the ultra-Orthodox and the Arabs.

The Arabs consider Yom Ha'Atzmaut the day of the Nakba, or Catastrophe, and it is a day of mourning for them. And I am not just talking about West Bank and Gaza Arabs, I am talking about Israel's very own Arab citizens. The fact that 1.4 million holders of Israeli citizenship consider the formation of the State of Israel a disaster is clearly a sign of problems ahead. Granted, almost 300,000 of the Arabs are Christians or Druze, and I am sure some of the Muslim Arabs aren't totally anti-Zionist, so the real figure of the "fifth column" is probably more like a million. Regardless, there are a lot of them. The kind of war that needs to happen on this land to fix this problem is something no one wants to think about, but it will start one terrible day in the not too distant future. We're still going to win, have no doubt, but only after a bloodbath. Unless G-d waves a magic wand, which I am sure He's not planning on doing. We have to earn this little piece of real estate all by ourselves.

The ultra-Orthodox consider Yom Ha'Atzmaut a Zionist holiday that celebrates independence of a State that has not been established yet. They are waiting for the Moshiach, then and only then will Israel truly be independent. Well, we're all waiting for Moshiach, but that doesn't mean that we had to have been sitting on out collective ass for the last 120 years. It was worthwhile to spend the time building the State. We merit Israel by our doing not by our praying. Praying gives us the power to accomplish things, but we still have to accomplish them prior to Moshiach getting here. What can I say, I am a dati-leumi idealogue.

Before heading out to Kikar Zion for the celebrations, I went over with a bunch of people to Nitzanim, which is a synagogue close to the ulpan, where a special Independence Day service was held. I was especially impressed when Shir Ha'Maalot was sung to the tune of Hatikvah. For those of you who know as much about Judaism as I did back in my free-wheeling, spiritually empty youth - Shir Ha'Maalot means "Song of Ascents" and is one of King David's psalms. It's really beautiful and I encourage all to read it in both the Hebrew and in whatever galut language is most relevant to you. The song is amazing, it's traditional (Mizrahi version) is the best, and there's a line that gets me every time. Of course, a lot of things "get me" in Israel.

Yesterday I went to Tel-Aviv with my Brazilian roommate and a bunch of the French kids. The beach was all it's cracked up to be. It was hot and sunny, the water was perfect and clear. The Brazilian was busy plying his favorite craft - talking to girls in a mixture of really bad Hebrew, funny-accented English, and that incomprehensible Portuguese. One of the Frenchies had two friends from France visiting who were staying in an apartment close to the beach. It's nice when Daddy buys a piece of choice real estate for vacations in the Holy Land. I think at this point the French Jews all own at least one apartment in Israel. Nu?? Stop with your Frenchiness and get the hell over here already. I am sure France will not miss you. The French will be too busy getting slapped around and taken advantage of by their homegrown, fundamentalist Arab masses.

After some serious shawarma, we went decided to go out and see the nightlife of Tel-Aviv. Apparently the night after Yom Ha'Atzmaut is a quiet night in the city, but there were still plenty of entertainment options. There was a club owned by Subliminal that was impossible to get into. It was one of those deals where hundreds of people crowd around the entrance and try to get the attention of the massive Russian security guards who then select who to allow inside. Clearly, unless you have at least two mind-bogglingly stunning beauties hanging all over you, getting in is a matter of knowing people. An interesting note - all the security guys at the entrance of clubs and bars in Israel are massive Russians. It's as if all those Soviet sports schools for Greco-Roman wrestlers and weightlifters existed for one purpose only - to churn out employees for Israeli night clubs.

In general, I am not a good person to review the night life of secular Tel-Aviv. Anyone who has experienced it knows that it is at least as "good" if not "better" than in any other Western, cosmopolitan city. But for me, I find secular entertainment empty and a general waste of time and money. Given what other things one could do with one's time, especially in Israel, I simply don't understand people who live the New York-like life in Tel-Aviv. What, in effect, are they doing here? Is that type of life really an expression of Jewish Zionist values? I don't think so, and there aren't really any people in the secular left establishment who make a concrete, facts-based argument to the contrary. The opposite, the secular left in Israel is trying to be as American as possible in all aspects of their life. The leaders of that sector have tried to reconcile Zionism with an increasingly consumer-oriented, materialist value system that is strengthening as the economy becomes more capitalist. But they fail to see plain facts. The only people in Israel that have been able to combine making money with Jewish Zionist values are the religious. It's easier for religious people to be less pretentious, less superficial and more focused on the meaningful aspects of their lives than for their secular counterparts because they aren't slaves to a secular value system. Regardless, Tel-Aviv was all it could be and we made our way back to Jerusalem in the wee hours of the morning. I woke up at 1pm today with a sunburn, exhausted, and missing some serious cash. Clubbing isn't cheap anywhere.

The following section is about the amount of Judaism in Israeli life, so stop reading now if you don't care. Israel is more than just secular and hareidi, which is what the left-wingers would like to have you believe. So I will lay out some facts and figures for you.

First the terms:

Hareidi means ultra-orthodox, anti-zionist, black suit wearing types. Notably, Chabadniks and some other groups are hareidi but are supportive of the State of Israel. The national-religious sector, also known as the religious zionist sector (dati-leumi and dati-tzioni, respectively, in Hebrew), is characterized by knitted kippot. Many of them wear tzitzit, but otherwise wear modern clothing. Dati-leumi women dress conservatively, with long skirts. And of course the real grey area is the definition of “traditional” or "masorti" in Hebrew - most Israelis labeling themselves “traditional” have a level of observance and a set of beliefs that would place them in the Conservadox wing of American Jewry, lodged right up against the Orthodox.

The Israeli government (Central Bureau of Statistics) is at:
http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/?MIval=cw_usr_view_Folder&ID=141

They list the following for 2002:
5.9 percent Haredi
10 percent Orthodox (this is a mix if ultra-orthodox who are Zionist and strict dati-leumi)
13 percent Traditional - “Religious” (the more lax dati-leumi)
28.5 percent Traditional - “Not So Religious” (yes, that’s a direct translation!)
42 percent Secular - (this is the Ashkenazi secular mass, which includes most Russian Jews)

In the school year 2005/6 enrollment of Jewish children in elementary school broke down as:
27 percent Ultra Orthodox (many of these kids are from traditional or secular homes and were sent there because these schools are free and high-quality)
24 percent Religious National
49 percent Secular

for middle and high schools:
19 percent Ultra-Orthodox
19 percent Relgious National
62 percent Secular

I assume that the small number of “Tali” schools (traditional stream within the secular school system) is lumped in with the secular school system.

But a breakdown by actual religious beliefs and practices yields a much different picture. The most commonly quoted study is the Guttman Institute’s 1996 survey, but similar results were found in longitudinal studies by Ben-Gurion and TA Universities:

A solid 70 percent of Israelis:
keep kosher homes
fast on Yom Kippur
light Hanuka candles
attend Passover Seder
believe in G-d

at least 50-60 percent of Israelis:
- light Sabbath candles
- make kiddush on Friday night
- don’t usually work on the Sabbath
- believe in the Divine origin of the Torah on Mount Sinai
- believe in the chosenness of the Jewish people
- believe in the efficacy of prayer

Despite the PR circus around the topic of civil marriages, 90 percent of Israelis marry using the Jewish ritual.

The report is well summarized here and is worth reading:
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/hit07.htm

It also seems that “secular” is not so secular. A few pertinent quotes:
Many of these “traditional” Jews differ from the Orthodox only because they will drive their cars on the Sabbath, use electricity, watch television, or go to a soccer game or the beach, frequently after attending religious services in the morning and the evening before. Many of the men don tefillin every morning, others cover the spectrum of observance. What is critical is that all are committed to a major religious component in the definition of their Jewishness and the Jewishness of the Jewish state.

The fourth and second smallest group consists of those who define themselves as secular, some 20 percent of the Jewish population. These are people whose beliefs are secular. Their practices, on the other hand, may be quite similar to those of many traditionalists, only they maintain those practices for family and national reasons rather than accepted religious ones. The fact that Jewish religious observance has such a strong national component makes it a major component of Jews’ national identity even if they no longer see themselves as believers in the Jewish religion.

The Guttman study shows that three-quarters of the 20 percent follow the most common traditional religious practices. Only a quarter, or 5 percent of the total Jewish population, say they observe no religious practices whatsoever, a figure which is belied by figures that show that 98 percent of Israeli Jews have mezuzot on the doorposts of their houses and 92 percent circumcize their male children, to mention only two of a number of observances that are so deeply entrenched in the culture that hardly anyone thinks of them as religious observances.

Hence, Israel is thus a much more “religious” society than is implied by the bald percentages of “Orthodox” Jews. And it’s clear from the school enrollments that there a major demographic shift is underway.

This parallels developments in American Jewry - Orthodox have gone from a sliver constinuency to fully 1/3 of affiliated Jews - and that’s using a very broad definition of “affiliated” that equates joining a JCC pool with synagogue membership.

So there. Go Judaism. I am now off to visit the North of Eretz Israel. If you read this far, you either love me or you have a boring job that you need to quit.

Tonight is the beginning of Yom Ha'Zikaron. There was a one minute siren at 8pm, for which I stood on Emek Refaim. People got up and out of the restaurants and cafes; cars, taxis and buses stopped; people walking or biking in the street stopped; everyone stood in silence for a minute in remembrance of the over 22,000 Israeli soldiers who have fallen since the struggle for the modern State of Israel began in 1860. "Overwhelming" is too weak a term. After the siren, I went over to the Baka Community Center, which had a moving outdoor ceremony. There were solemn speeches, lists of fallen soldiers from the Baka neighborhood, a burning "Yizkor" sign, beautiful Israeli songs, and prayers. Tomorrow, there will be another siren, two minutes long, at 11 am. At 10am we will all be going to a local high school in order to participate in the ceremony there. Since this neighborhood is mixed national-religious and Mizrahi (two extremely patriotic segments of the Jewish-Israeli population), virtually all the guys graduating this year will be going to combat units.

Immediately after the somber mood of Yom Ha'Zikaron, Jerusalem will change to the loud festivities of Yom Ha'Atzmaut. It's no accident that Yom Ha'Shoa and Yom Ha'Zikaron are followed so closely by the celebration of Israel's independence. By design, the Israeli population grieves and remembers the price of the State's existence, and then plunges into BBQ-ing, partying and drinking to celebrate the miracle that is Israel. The Central Bureau of Statistics has just released the new population figures, and the Jewish population of Israel has grown to 5.33 million, an increase of 118,000 over the past year. This increase is almost exclusively due to a high Jewish birthrate, as the net immigration balance is positive by only a few thousand. 21,000 people made aliyah in 2005, but 18,000 made yerida (cheers to the the secular Tel-Avivis finding their dreams fulfilled in LA). No one is realistically putting any stock into hopes that aliyah will rise significantly above the levels of yerida, so as long as the immigration balance is somewhat positive, the birthrate will take care of the rest. I think everyone realizes that it will be very symbolic when, in about 5-6 years, the Jewish population of Israel will reach 6 million. By that same time, the US Jewish population will have dropped below 5 million.

I know I write about demographics a lot, but the reality of Israel's Jewish community becoming the majority of the world's Jews, when just 60 years ago the number of Jews living here was a barely noticeable 5% of world Jewry is, witheout a shadow of a doubt, a miracle. People thought the early Zionist leaders were insane, and yet, with G-d's help, everything is coming to fruition, and quite quickly, in historial terms. There's nothing to indicate that trends will change, in fact, they are likely to intensify and speed up. When a critical mass of the Jewish people will reside in their natural, G-d given home, Israel will spring forth power, influence and knowledge that will awe the entire world. We all know Jews have formidable powers, and are a completely insane group of people, so a sleepy little country we will never be. And being located in a terrible neighborhood of violent, backward Arab regimes only serves to strengthen Israel. The more violent the Arabs are, the more they pressure Israel, the higher Israel rises demographically, economically and techonologically. A few tactical territorial concessions are but a bump in the road. Long-term, no Mideast nation can possibly compete with Israel. All we need is a little bit of sovlanut and a whole lot of mazal.