This former SoCal person is mildly jealous of you, going "home"! Congratulations!

Hello! you live in a wonderful country !

You do make a very valid point. The state of Israel is made up of many different religious levels. Many people in the land are even Atheists, some are very secular liberals, some only observe feast days, and then we have the different levels of Orthodox Jews. In ancient days and especially during the Exodus, the people who did not believe in God and worship Him were wiped out, because they were bringing others down with them.

Regarding Joseph and his descendants, we know that he married and had children with an Egyptian, so those descendants were not of a pure bloodline. From what I have read in the past, it was forbidden for Hebrews to marry people who did not believe in their God, so this would have meant that his wife would have been required to worship the One true God instead of pagan gods. With that in mind, believing in and worshipping God and the willingness to take on Hebrew customs was the only requirement that I can think of, for becoming a Hebrew.

That was a good topic and I definitely would like to learn more. I also would not mind learning more about the guidelines that you are talking about. If you wish to you can also email me at [email protected]

I am really busy also, so I totally understand. I do not condone the bad that Israel does, and although the government is not perfect, at the same time, I do believe that there is way too much bias against Israel and I believe in the freedom that Israel stands for in comparison to the other countries surrounding it.

I consider people bias when they justify behaviors of certain people while condemning others for the same action. In other words, Israel can sit back and put up with missiles for a week and then warn their enemy to stop before they retaliate, but when Israel does retaliate they are condemned by the world. All I know is that if America was getting missiles and mortars launched into our nation, that they wouldn't wait not even a single day to do something about it and neither would most other countries, but Israel is expected to be different and just sit back and put up with attacks on their citizens. People complain about Israel having checkpoints, walls, and fences, but then these very same people send terrorists into Israel and become the very reason for the added security. The way I see it is that if the Palestinians do not want to be hit back then they need to not hit first. If they do not want the blockades then they need to stop using weapons against Israel that they receive in those shipments. I believe that Israel does almost everything for a reason and if not given a reason they would not do it.

I say this, but I want you to know that I am always open to hear other sides, so I would be open to hear more of your personal experience as time allows for both of us.

Living in a foreign country can be very stressfull, indeed. But I've settled in well enough, and the family I live with are fantastic. I'm also so lucky as to have a job here that leaves me a lot of time for my writing. I'm still unpublished, though. I haven't written anything worth taking the time to edit until just now. Still, the novel I'm working on now has some potential. I'm just doing a bit of a rewrite before I'm sending it out to some beta-readers for feedback.

I don't really have any hopes of getting this one publised either, I'm still young after all, and only just started writing. Still, it doesn't hurt to make it as good as at all possible.

What sort of style is it that you write in? Are we talking about a comic look on real life, or a little more serious tone? Maybe a little bit of both? I usually stay in fiction, but I'm still trying to find my grounds. Trying to find what genre suits me best.

I'm sure we could be good pen-pals :)

J.

Israel is certainly in the news now. Hoping for a good outcome for you and Israel. Stay Safe!!!

Hi, how are you?