by Amos Shavit
I’m secular. I got married without the Rabbinate’s stamp of approval, I eat shrimp, I don’t kiss mezuzahs or the beards of Kabbalists and I ride my bicycle every Saturday morning, during prayer time. I think that God is fiction produced in the image of man in order to provide moral authority at ancient times, in the absence of an effective cultural-social codex.However, I’m also a great fan of faith. I’m touched to see Jewish fire burning in one’s eyes, admire charity and especially one offered secretly, fully believe that pure prayer could move mountains, and cry like a Hassidic Jew during the Kol Nidre prayer. I also regularly fast on Yom Kippur.
