The Case for a Truly Secular Israeli State . . .

She could have cut to the chase a little quicker, but to Eva Illouz's conclusion in a recent Haaretz article, my response is: Yes, Yes, and Yes! She writes:
"The tools and strategies that were apt, appropriate and even exceptionally useful for the survival and identity of the most persecuted minority in history are inadequate and even dangerous for a majority . . .There cannot be a greater way to love Jews and Judaism than to “cling” to the demand that Israel become a universal and secular state, that it represent equally all its citizens, embodying the idea of a common humanity."

(Not sure we are really the most persecuted minority). In any case, I know I've been AWOL for a while, but I do check in now and again. Would love to hear your ideas. You can read the whole article here. 

Fun Food Quiz!

I scored a 73 on this Jewish food quiz. No too shabby . . . .A few of the foods that may just gross you out from my previous post are there . . .

Didn't realize i was in such good company . . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/25/living/gallery/atheists

Question! About the Messiah . . .

A conversation with a friend led me to wonder whether for some Jews a theocracy would be considered a positive thing . . in the same way that (from my very superficial understanding) fundamentalist Christians want people to become Christians + Jews to return to Israel to encourage the coming of the messiah) ; i.e. Do some Jews perceive a Jewish theocracy as a prerequisite for a messianic age? How seriously do Orthodox Jews take the coming of the Messiah, anyway? Is there a difference between the Haredi conception of the Messiah vs. a Modern Orthdox one? And, what do the groups believe has to happen for the Messiah to come?

Question(s)! About Eating Animals . . . .

We recently got Netflix, which has translated to a decrease in my book consumption, corresponding to a  more-or-less proportionate increase in my movie (especially Documentary) consumption. Tonight I watched Vegucated, which makes some compelling arguments for Veganism. (The most effective for me is the animal cruelty angle). Anyway, curious how vegetarianism/veganism is viewed in the Orthodox community. My mother-in-law said that at a (Conservative) shul she attended, the rabbi has just become vegetarian, stating that he feels it is a higher form of kashrut. Would that sentiment be shared in an Orthodox context?

A quick seperate - maybe silly - eating-animals-related question: Why are eggs and fish pareve?  It seems that if chickens are considred fleishik, eggs should be too, no? And fish as a living creature should seemingly also fall into the fleishik category.