they're really no different from the taliban or the iranian mullahs. this is what happens when religion infects politics - and it should serve as a warning to americans thinking of voting for the likes of michelle bachmann or rick perry.

No need to be anti-Semitic. Americans aren't good enough to marry. Lets leave it at that.

/DRTFA

This article was a load of crock. Then again, this is the daily beast.

The Israeli government has launched an aggressive advertising campaign in the U.S. to discourage its expats from marrying American Jews-who some see as not really Jews at all.

No, that's mostly not what the campaign is focused on, and the last part is simply not true. No one thinks that 'American Jews are not really Jews at all'. This is so profoundly retarded I don't even know where to begin.

One video advertisement features an Israeli girl, Dafna, observing Israel's memorial day, while her feckless American boyfriend, Josh, looks on dumbly. He is cast as a slobbering puppy who may be lovable but can't really think. "They will always remain Israelis," rumbles the voice-over. "Their partners won't always understand what this means."

The other video panders by using every culture's weakness-its children. An American Jewish child is visiting with her Israeli grandparents on Skype. They ask which holiday is represented by the menorah behind them. She shrieks, "Christmas!" and their faces tighten with shame. The message is that we American Jews will tarnish Israelis' hard-won, all-encompassing Jewish identities by solely being our secular selves.

This seems to clearly be about not marrying non-Jews. Secular Jews in America don't celebrate xmas, this is ridiculous.

Many Israeli writers, thought leaders, politicians, and rabbis believe that assimilated American Jews are not Jews at all.

There is not a single Orthodox Rabbi who believes that being assimilated means that you are not Jewish anymore. Not a single one. Again, ridiculous.

People who make it their business to say who is and who isn't a Jew are as old as the religion itself.

No, not it's not. It's a business that began in in the middle of the 19th century when the Reform movement was created by a few Jews in Germany, and only then did this become a question at all, as they rejected main tenets of Judaism including adhesion to Halacha, which is the criteria to determine if a convert is Jewish or not.

Even this ridiculous idea that people with a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother are Jewish only became an issue in 1983. Before that, no one argued that a child from a non-Jewish mother could possibly be Jewish.

So, no, it's not a question as old as our religion itself, it's not even a question that was asked for more than 95% of our History.

And yeah, an actual campaign saying 'Don't marry American Jews' would be retarded.

On the other hand, 'Don't settle in America, we have plenty to land to settle in stay in Israel' would make a lot more sense. Would also make anti-semites and people who hate Israel really happy.

Tatsuma: So, no, it's not a question as old as our religion itself, it's not even a question that was asked for more than 95% of our History.

What about the Samaritans?

So this is Israel, eh? Doesn't look anything like the pictures, you know? I mean. I was expecting beaches and sunshine. Look. Do you see beaches?

Oh, and the smell. You could have warned me about the smell? Pee-yoo.

Look. I really don't want to tell you how to run a country but you gotta fix the place up. This place looks like a warzone. Maybe some paint, maybe some plaster. Say, you know who could really give this place a great make over? Kim Kardashaian. She did over her New York apartment in just three episodes. Be-a-utiful.

I want to thank you for inviting me to your country. I'm sure it's nice around the holidays, but I'm just gonna go back to the United States. So, if you could call El Al and book me on the next first class flight back to the states, I'd really appreciate it. Oh and when your making the reservation, don't request a kosher mean. I just won't eat it. I mean Yuck! Gag!

Tatsuma: And yeah, an actual campaign saying 'Don't marry American Jews' would be retarded.

On the other hand, 'Don't settle in America, we have plenty to land to settle in stay in Israel' would make a lot more sense. Would also make anti-semites and people who hate Israel really happy.

HEY! I thought you quit the internet. That's what I recall from TF Discussion. I was going to make a graphic of "SUMMON TATSUMA" and then nothing happened. Welcome back!

Limeyluv: Why are they worried about people moving out of the country when they've got all those Haredi women having lots of kids? Doesn't that balance out the population?

I hear there's quite a bit of tensions in Israel because many of the ultra-Orthodox men don't work and are subsidized by the state to study the Torah and because the ultra-Orthodox families are so large and are also often supported by the state.

Marine1: I actually support this, as long as it's still called a Christmas tree at the end of the day.

I'll call it a Yule tree if I want to.

tricycleracer: I've had many a Jewish friend with a "Hanukkah bush" up in their home during the holidays.

Unless you didn't mean "secular".

Hee hee, I've got a Jewish friend who didn't even bother to beat around the (Hanukkah) bush and just called it a Christmas tree.

potterydove: Tatsuma: 3. Before that, no one argued that a child from a non-Jewish mother could possibly be Jewish.

So, no, it's not a question as old as our religion itself, it's not even a question that was asked for more than 95% of our History.

So a child born to a jewish father isn't jewish if the mother isn't jewish?

Doesn't this mean that the sons of Moses aren't really Jewish, since their mother wasn't Jewish?