#medinat yisrael

[levantra]

Brief but good explanation for people wanting to learn the difference between Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Medinat Yisrael. Also cites sources at the end if you want to learn more!

[yovelknell]

Since you converted to Judaism, how did you reconcile your beliefs on Zionism and the new community you are now part of.

As someone who is strongly pro palestinian liberation and interested in converting but hasn’t made that first step, I’m quite fearful of being ostracized or being told not to bother by a Rabbi. I support that Israel has a right to exist (so still Zionism??) but not in the form of a brutal genocidal occupation that has stripped Palestinians of their dignity.

How was your experience with this during your conversion process? Thankss

Hello, Anon — Wonderful question!

I understand your fears when it comes to conversion and Zionism. I believe my politics lean even further left than yours here as I don’t think the State of Israel has a right to exist and neither does any other apartheid, settler-colonial state. This definitely includes the United States of America. So hopefully my experience can reassure you a bit.

I will start with your first question: How did I reconcile my political beliefs about Zionism with my religious community?

I will admit, the past two months have been quite painful for me. While my Rabbi herself is against the Israeli occupation of Palestine (more on her later), many in my congregation are more pro-Israel. And it has ramped up considerably in the face of the Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli mass-bombings. There has been pressure from some congregants to start saying the prayer for the State of Israel every Shabbat morning service. We pray for the return of Israeli hostages but not the Palestinians kept hostage in Israeli prisons. We pray for healing of Israelis but not for the Palestinians in even more danger.

This has been difficult to cope with. It is one of the first times in my conversion journey where I felt so at odds with the community I’ve come to love. I’ve started adding Gazans to our community Mi Sheberach, and I can feel the tension in the room every time I do so. But, I’ve talked with my Rabbi. She has been trying to push the needle on Israel for a long time. Compared to the rabbinic norm around Israel, her sermons and comments on the bima are radical. She calls for the return of hostages, she speaks of human dignity and safety, and she calls for peace and the cessation of war. That she does not outright condemn Hamas and call for the war to continue is radical, in context. It definitely helps to know that I have the support of the Rabbi in my politics and that she is unhappy with the current state of the Jewish community.

Now your second question: How was my experience in conversion regarding Zionism?

It was a minor issue at first but it felt bigger and bigger as I got closer to my Beit Din. I converted in late August this year and I was concerned even then, when Zionism in US America felt far away.

We discussed Zionism in my conversion class. My rabbi emphasized that there are many kinds of Zionists and Anti-Zionists: fascist Zionists, liberal Zionists, antisemitic Anti-Zionists, and liberal Anti-Zionists. There was no pressure from her to support the Israeli State or to not. This reassured me greatly.

When my Beit Din came, I was scared. I didn’t know these rabbis or their opinions regarding Israel. While I wanted to stick to my political values, I ended up downplaying them. I focused on the pressure to agree with everything Israel does — one of the visiting rabbis denied such pressures exist. I felt we were too far from each other to even talk about it. And I had the weight of my conversion hanging over me: if I was not deemed suitable by these two rabbis I did not know, I could not finish my conversion. I could not be Jewish, I could not be counted in the minyan, and I could not help with services.

I think the key here is to put out your feelers when meeting with a rabbi. It will depend on where you live and how liberal your community is. I live in the US midwest — a politically conservative region — and was able to find a supportive rabbi. I do have to commute 30 minutes (round trip: 1 hour total) each time I want to visit my synagogue, but it is worth it.

You should be able to get a sense of your prospective rabbi. If you feel comfortable, you can bring up the topic directly. But, you can discuss about other political issues like trans rights and social justice to see where the rabbi falls politically.

I’ve also heard of some converts lying about their political opinions in order to get through their conversion process and Beit Din. I don’t love the idea, but I understand the state of American Judaism. If you have to lie, do not feel ashamed. This is more an indictment on your prospective rabbi if they do not make you feel safe to express your true feelings and opinions.

Please feel free to reach out again, through the ask box or my DMs, if you have other questions or just want to chat!

[unsolicited-opinions]

This is excellent.

This post was voted on by our Patreon.

The first version of this was posted in 2020, back in the very start of our page. It was an important primer then and it is again now.

In any good English 101 course, you are taught to define terms before writing the rest of your paper. Understanding how misinformation is spread through conflation, confusion, and intentional ambiguity is vital and necessary.

As we have, in the last months, been exploring Christian Zionism on our page, we've seen the comments run into issues of confusion on this very topic.

[sopranoentravesti]

Gonna make a controversial statement—people on this webbed site had more compassion for the poor white rural Trump supporters than they do for Jews

[rotzaprachim]

one of the lines between where antizionism becomes not just antisemitism but the socialism & decolonization of fools is when people extrapolate Zionism from being an regional-colonial ideology that justifies the colonization of Palestine (true) to being an international-imperialist ideology that seeks to control the world and oppressed them personally as non-Palestinian goyim in the west (not true, also leaning right into literal white nationalist slogans and ideas about the *zionist occupied government*) and places Zionism on the international stage as as central or even more powerful than the interests of American, russian, British, French (neo) colonialism in understanding How The World Works. This imho is behind a lot of the ideology that leads to violence and rage against Jews - even the local Jews must be in control of you, and or the economic systems keeping You down. Needless to say these ideologies are not only older than the state of Israel but older than Zionism itself and the violence carried out against Jews under the banner that they secretly were in Charge and needed to have their dirty ways cleansed for morally better people was a massive contributor to the context that has politically empowers Zionism to begin with. The positions of goyim from outside the levant against Zionism must be support for Palestinians and other Levantine peoples harmed by the regional-colonial apparatus of Zionism, not the idea that you feel that you, personally, and your countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and even the rest of the swana region are being actively controlled by Jews or by Zionists

[gynoidgearhead]

[Image caption: Eric Andre saying, while pointing a finger at the camera: "You do not need to bomb universities, bomb hospitals, bomb ambulances, in the name of Jewish safety. You do not need to bomb children in the name of Jewish safety." End caption.]

[worfsbarmitzvah]

the fact that ציון “tziyon”/“zion” and ישראל “yisrael”/“israel”, words that have been in our language, liturgy, and holy texts since before islam existed and before the romans drove us off our land and renamed it “syria palaestina,” have been twisted around to be used against us just really. hurts. especially with the way online leftists call medinat yisrael things like “isnotreal” like that is not your word to rearrange to insult the very people it describes (not just citizens of the modern state of israel but every single jewish person i.e. klal yisrael)

[dovymcjewpunk]

We've seen it in every generation. During the Pesach Seder we lift our cup and say "in every generation more than one arises to destroy us". But one thing is different this time around. Now we fight back. Now we have a Jewish army ready to defend Jews worldwide. Within hours Israeli planes were dispatched to rescue the victims of the attack. You say "Never again", and it's an empty phrase because you either stand by and watch as it happens again, or you actively participate. We say Never Again and we meant it. But, please, tell me again why we don't need Israel.

Pogroms in Amsterdam where jews are thrown into rivers in 5⁰C weather and forced to yell slogans to be allowed out. Where jews are beaten bloody and forced to say they're not Jewish for the beating to stop. Where jews are run over by cars. Where jews are forced to hide in hotels as people who want to lynch them storm in. Where law enforcement does nothing and drives right past jews being hunted in the streets.

The protests didn't cause this, right? The violent rhetoric didn't cause this. The active celebration of a massacre didn't cause this. The constant dehumanization and belittlement of Jewish suffering didn't cause this. The lionization of murderers like Nasrallah and Sinwar didn't cause this. The encampments didn't cause this. The historical revisionism and the complete ignorance about the Holocaust didn't cause this. The apathy towards rising antisemitism didn't cause this. Constant deflections and gaslighting when jews tried to speak out about their fears didn't cause this. Accusations of genocide didn't cause this. Comparisons between jews and nazis didn't cause this. Normalized violence against jews under the guise of antizionism didn't cause this. The appropriation and the downplaying of the Holocaust didn't cause this. ALL OF THIS didn't cause this pogrom in Amsterdam on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, right?!?

Go fuck yourselves, all of you who participated in any of the above, or ignored us when we told you where it was all headed. WE KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO DO THIS. BECAUSE YOU'VE DONE IT IN EVERY GENERATION AND YOU NEVER LEARN

[aguineapigcouldntdothis]

how is saying "i believe jewish people have the right to live in and maintain a state in the land we're indigenous to" seen as a violent statement by antisemitic leftists, but "death to israel" isnt? i know it's probably something to do with how this sort of leftist views death as something that is either a) a noble action or b) something someone deserves. or it's death being used to mean eradication by someone who for some reason doesnt understand that destroying medinat israel would cause so much pain, suffering, and death.

whatever it is it's an awful thing to say and extremely ignorant. it shows that these people view other nations as toys and dont actually understand or care what destroying one would do to the citizens living there and likely citizens of surrounding nations. plus also either they understand that israel also can refer to the jewish people or they still havent learnt the differences between medinat, eretz, and am yisrael. im scared when someone says "death to israel" bc wanting to destroy the only jewish state is bad enough, and they could mean wanting to destroy the people of Israel as well. personally i dont wanna give people the benefit of the doubt when it endangers jewish lives

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Short question: Do you have any tips for turning "If you knew anything about the Holocaust, you'd know why we need Israel" from a conversation ender into a conversation starter? Longer context: I find it important, as a Jewish anarchist and anti-Zionist, to try my best to have hard conversations about safety and perceptions thereof with irl Jewish family, friends, and acquaintances. My politics make me an outlier in these spaces, as does my status as a convert, which I choose to be quite open about. I cannot begin to estimate how many people self-righteously cut short these conversations with "If you knew ANYTHING about [the Holocaust/antisemitism/generational trauma] you'd UNDERSTAND why we REALLY NEED [medinat yisrael/any jewish ethnostate/colonial zionism]". I'm under no illusion that I'm a scholar on the history of antisemitism or Jewish living patterns or the Levant or anything. I've taken one college-level course on Nazi Germany policy and beaucratic shit, but it intentionally dealt minimally with the pointy end of the death machine. I've taken two year-long Judaism 101 style classes, which of course dealt with the history of the Jewish people. I read relevant nonfiction, both books and essays. I also understand that being a convert gives me a very different personal history with the intergenerational trauma, and I want to be super respect of that. So overall I consider myself reasonably well informed, but I obviously can't respond to them with the "I know more than you" card. (Not that that would be a good way to handle it, but still.) I want to talk to people, who use this specific argumentative tactic, about what it means that our very legitimate traumas as a people led us to the point of producing our own little ethnostate (with a number of very paternalistic inputs from European nations of course). About how the shoah shaped modern zionism. About the biblical Joshua vs the archaeological evidence of that time period and what it means for our national/societal identities. About the haftarah in which israel demands a king and whether being just like the other nations has ever been lastingly good for literally anyone. But unanimously, people look at me like I'm the fool for going "yeah actually let's talk about history and fear and trauma and cultural legacies and (re)interpretation" instead of like. Applauding their sick burn about how clearly naïve I am. Do you, a Real Actual Holocaust Scholar, have a way to turn that "obviously you know nothing" accusation into a productive conversation? If so can you please share because I am losing my mind over here.

NOTE TO READERS: I'm going to speak frankly about stuff that goes down in the American Jewish community, as a lifelong and active MEMBER of that community. This is not fodder for any of your anti-Semitic bullshit and I'm deeply uninterested in Gentile Thoughts on what I'm about to write. You do not have my consent to weaponize anything you read here against Jews you encounter here, or elsewhere, regardless of their politics.

Oof ok. I have some answers, but you may not like them. First, politics within the Jewish community. I love that you're a convert and I respect your dedication and hard work; I'm sure you know much more about the Jewish faith than I do. However, as you know, Judaism is both a religion and an ethnic group/identity. And there are a lot of religious and secular Jews who chafe at the feeling of being told how they should and should not feel about Israel by a convert who does not share our heritage and experience of intergenerational trauma. Especially if they're over 60.

I also want to tell you that when members of our community, particularly individuals over 60 years of age, have their minds made up about Israel, Zionism, etc, they're not interested in valid historical takes from experts. Their minds are made up and they reject any information counter to their stance, and attack the person providing them with the info. I've been personally attacked here and elsewhere by our people for bringing up historical and archaeological issues which run counter to their arguments. I've had my intellect and education and abilities mocked, while I'm out here voluntarily traumatizing myself through my dedication to the study of Holocaust history.

Another issue, is that Jewish history is deeply interwoven in our observance, faith, and heritage. This gives individuals involved at various levels with the Jewish community the idea that they Know Jewish History. They don't. They know a version of the Jewish past specifically constructed by and within our communal spaces; see Zakhor by Hayim Yerushalmi. And a lot of them, especially if they're a man over 50 and you're a woman who reads as young, get real nasty if you assert vaster and more accurate knowledge. It's kind of similar to how people in our communities think that they Know Holocaust History because they read Night and Grandma was a survivor. But those things don't mean that they know Holocaust history--it means they've engaged with two first-hand accounts.

I'm going to advise you to stop trying with these people. I know that's not the answer you want, and I'm really sorry about that. But, the types of people you're engaging with are so deeply traumatized and set in their own defensive views, that they would never listen to me, a Jewish granddaughter of Holocaust refugees and academically trained Holocaust historian. And if they won't listen to me, they sure as hell won't listen to someone they view as an outsider to the Jewish historical experience.

You'd be better off engaging members of your community who are still learning and figuring everything out, discussing your views as equals who are learning from one another, and putting your energies towards Jewish organizations who do not need convincing of your perspective.

ETA: this is something that will only likely change over the course of generations. the traumas of the holocaust are still fresh and living in the minds of survivors, their Baby Boomer children, and their millennial grandchildren; and I'm saying that as one of those millennial grandchildren. The trauma-induced view that Israel is our shield against the Holocaust ever happening again will not change because of anything you or I might say. It will only begin to fade into new paradigms of thought when we are many more years removed from living memory of those events.

[hachama]

Quick vocabulary lesson for anyone who might be confused

Medinat Yisrael =/= eretz Yisrael =/= am Yisrael

Am Yisrael Chai means "the people Israel lives," the Jewish people, descendants of Yisrael. Jacob/Yaakov was renamed Yisrael after wrestling with the angel.

Eretz Yisrael is a reference to the land and the biblical kingdom(s).

Medinat Yisrael is the modern state.

These are three different things that overlap but do not mean the same things. There are members of Am Yisrael living in Medinat Yisrael, and there are parts of Eretz Yisrael within the borders of Medinat Yisrael.

[gynoidgearhead]

[Image description for original post: several line items, from top to bottom: "Trans rights"; "abortion access"; "environmental reform"; "healthcare reform"; "prescription reform"; "student loan forgiveness"; "infrastructure funding"; "advocating racial equality"; "Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion"; "vaccines and public health"; "criminal justice reform"; "military support to Israel"; "Israel/Hamas ceasefire". All of these are checked in Biden's case, and all but "military support to Israel" are X'ed out in Trump's case. End caption.]

Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

[germiyahu]

If someone derails your conversation about Israel to be about Israel's treatment of this or that group, Mizrachim, Beta Israel, etc. you may just want to consider their motivations, and do a little digging into the kinds of subjects they normally talk about on their own blogs.

If someone who has staunchly antizionist views, like I'm talking thinly veiled genocidal fantasies about destroying Israel and reveling in the chaos that would bring, and having no concern for the future of 7 millions Jews, their concerns about Medinat Yisrael's treatment of minority groups are not valid.

This is Concern Trolling.

If someone is derailing you to accuse Israel, through accusing you, of sterilizing Ethiopian women, stealing Mizrachi babies and having them raised by "white" parents, trying to destroy Yiddish, all these alleged violent assimilationist policies that Israel employs against fellow Jews?

A non Jew barging into your space and bringing up intra-community issues and grievances is a red flag. Do not fall for the sealioning trap. Do not turn out your pockets. Do not fall for the concern trolling.

Because what is their solution to these problems? To eliminate Israel as a state? And what about these minority groups within Israeli society then? Their answer is the same as their answer for the Ashkenazim: who cares? They largely imagine all Israeli Jews can simply move to the United States or France or something. The fact that over 95% of Israelis cannot just go to the countries of their parents or grandparents is of no concern to them.

That's why it's concern trolling. They're trolling you by pretending to be concerned, and baiting you into discussing an intra-community issue because they think that'll be the argument that finally gets you to disavow Israel. Because now you'll have no choice but to agree Israel is irredeemably problematic, because now it affects other Jews. So they are exhibiting a kind of bitterly envious brand of antisemitism. They think that all Jews believe in Jewish supremacy. They're quite mad about it. This is an aspect of the Chosen People canard.

But the main reason concern trolling is bad is because they don't care about these groups they bring up. They're not defending them, they're not championing their rights. They're trying to distract you and make you look like a hypocrite. When they cheer for Hamas raping and pillaging and spraying bullets into Israelis, they don't care if it happens to Beta Israel women who've supposedly been mass sterilized against their will. They cheer all the same. So much for their legitimate concerns that Israel is antisemitic in of itself I guess?

If the solution to a problem faced by a minority group within a country is "destroy their country which they also believe has saved them from ethnic cleansing and mass death, and figure out the rest later," you're not an ally to that group; stop pretending you are!

This is tied into pinkwashing, but from a sort of opposite approach. If any societal progress that Israel makes for minority groups is a psyop and a marketing ploy to cover up Palestinian Genocide, the concern trolling is antizionists holding Israel hostage to any societal progress it has not made. But they never intend on letting Israel improve these relationships. Israel is too nice to gay Jews, and not nice enough to African Jews. The only course of action therefore, is to let Hamas butcher them alongside straight Jews and "European" Jews.

So if you see someone trying to engage in this game, ignore them! Your time is worth so much more, and the vulnerable minority groups of Jews (both in Israel and the Diaspora) are much safer with Jews who discriminate against them than goyim who tout social justice rhetoric but want to see them dead. Plus, so many Jews are already doing the work, learning and listening, and trying to improve. This enrages the concern trolls like nothing else.

Call out Israel's bigotries, but you know, maybe don't trust the people who aren't affected by those bigotries invading your space and demanding your allyship to groups of people they'd be content seeing die en masse. Like "Israel is actually antisemitic against this vulnerable group of Jews!" and "All Israelis are settlers, none are truly civilians, and any form of violence against settlers is justified" are two stances that do not mesh very well...

Because at the very least, they're separating good Jews from bad Jews again, just based on what they perceive intra-Jewish oppression to be like. And they expect these good Jews to cheer and happily live as dhimmis in the absolute chaos that is a 100% inevitable Hamas-Fatah civil war and total societal collapse... and spit on the graves of their kinsmen.

And at worst, the concern trolls won't bother distinguishing these vulnerable Jews from their alleged oppressors anyway, and happily watch as they all flee with the clothes on their backs or get gunned down or enslaved by Hamas "Resistance" Fighters.

[ladyimaginarium]

g-d as an antizionist native jew you literally cannot win.

on one hand you'll have uber hardcore zionists & also technically, kahanists (because it's important to keep in mind that not every zionist thinks the same way & there's different types of zionism & to listen to jewish voices about this topic bc i'm tired of goyim speaking over jews on a term that jewish people created, but for the unaware: kahanism is basically a type of far right zionism that straight up is like "the land of israel should be for jews Only & anyone who isn't jewish don't get the same rights as jewish people",) who will believe that you're. somehow a "traitor" or "not a real jew/self hating jew" for y'know not. wanting to have your jewishness be associated with medinat yisrael (the modern state of israel, there's a difference between am yisrael, the jewish people, eretz yisrael, the physical land & medinat israel, the modern state of israel), specifically the government's actions against not just palestinians but others too or by simply saying that "hey man regardless of how you feel about zionism, it's a nationalist ideology that, like many other nationalisms, has harmed people & zionism Has harmed palestinians & they have every right to talk about it, just like the mayans & those at sbrenica who were also affected by it" & i was blocked by a zionist for saying that or denying palestinian indigeneity alongside jewish indigeneity (because some straight up just think that only jews are indigenous there which. just isn't true, jews & palestinians are literally related & they both have a shared connection to that land), making excuses for the israeli government & the iof's actions, & misconstruing land back shit into a violent movement when it isn't & even be islamophobic & racist towards natives including native jews who naturally feel a sense of solidarity to the palestinian cause because we know what it's like to be displaced & killed by an occupying government.

& THEN on the other hand you'll have many nonpalestinian goyische/nonjewish western leftist antizionists who think they somehow have a free pass to say whatever they want & think they somehow can't be antisemitic & racist just because they support the free palestine movement, some give a platform to well known bigots & antisemites who literally spout blood libel & antisemitic conspiracy theories & many don't even notice let alone care just because they agree with said people on other types of activism, supporting groups like jvp when it's basically the autism speaks for jews, engage in atrocity denial & terrorism apologia because nothing says resistance like cheering on violent antisemitism against jews (/sarcastic) you disagree with & thinking that groups like hamas, hezbollah, the houthis etc are based people when multiple palestinians from gaza & other people like iranians, syrians & yemeni have spoke up against them when hamas killed 1200 people, mostly civilians, but apparently that doesn't matter & throwing all their morals they claim to support down the drain & be antisemitic or islamophobic to innocent individuals who had nothing to do with the warcrimes being committed & excusing the inexcusable & justifying the unjustifiable, conflating jewish people with white european people, calling random ass jews "zionists" even when they say repeatedly that they aren't even for just calling out their antisemitism, literally using slurs used by the literal fucking kkk (i.e "zio" & any variants of the word), people waking up & graduating from the instagram-tiktok school of law thinking they know everything about this topic when they don't, people treating this very serious thing like a fandom with teams when people aren't your blorbos or celebrities, these are real people who are traumatized, grieving, suffering & dying, treat them like people, some people can't understand the very basic concept that you can fight for more than one cause & one community at the same time, they don't call out the virulent antisemitism in their own movement, deny jewish people Any type of connection & historical presence to the southern levant despite there being a fuckton of historical, cultural & archaeological evidence & straight up deny jewish history in the region, stay silent when there are jews literally being harassed, beat up, sexually assaulted, & murdered in the streets & mobs have already been targeting jewish neighborhoods & synagogues & almost nobody outside of jewish people are talking about any of this & almost none of these people are deconstructing their antisemitism & when that happens that just allows the far right to further advance itself & its agenda. because a lot of these people think they're immune to propaganda & antisemitism when they're really not because some people will straight up be parroting nazi shit & most people don't even blink an eye except for jewish people & most people from what i've seen don't do anything about this huge issue & these are coming from the same people who're like "punch all nazis!!".

& regardless of either side of the discourse even when we& say "hey uh. we& believe in ceasefire de-escalation humanitarianism accountability justice reparations & the hopes of saving as many lives as possible & we reject all forms of dehumanization, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, xenophobia, harassment of innocents, scapegoating & collective punishment, every human life is precious & no one should have to fear for their life, we hold human rights to be universal & nonnegotiable, a value we hold above every movement, ideology or cause just as we've been taught by our elders, our indigenous beliefs & jewish ethics, we want liberation, safety, dignity & self determination & a homeland for everyone & we haven't made an exception to this topic" some people would probably just assume that we're "both-sideism" or being "centrist" when like. no dude that's literally just a humane take on things, not a neutral one & it's. really fucking weird that that's somehow a hot controversial take to have.

like. you get antisemitism from literally every possible side of the spectrum regardless of their politics, its insidious & it's not fun At All.

[rotzaprachim]

list of things that make one a Zionist: holding the political belief that Jews have a right to a unilaterally “Jewish state” as a political entity (medinat yisrael) in Palestine and also have the right to the mechanisms to maintain the “Jewishness” of that state and arguably to defend it over time. Many Zionists are not Jewish.

list of things that do not automatically make one a Zionist: being Jewish. Having Jewish friends. Condemning Hamas. Condemning antisemitism. Acknowledging antisemitism exists. Speaking modern Hebrew. Being Israeli. Having an Israeli passport. Living in Israel. Visiting Israel. Making hummus. Eating falafel while Jewish. Using the words “tziyon” and “yerushalayim.” Going to a temple with “yisrael” in the name. Using the phrases “am yisrael” “Haaretz yisrael” “klal yisrael” and “ahavat yisrael.” Being just soooo sketchy and Jewish. Wearing those funny little hats. Wearing one of those funny little stars that’s even on the flag!!!! Playing funny little songs. Being Jewish