You've eloquently expressed a lot of my own nebulous thoughts on the tendency to subconsciously view Orthodoxy as more legitimate than the liberal movements. I don't think it's a thought process limited to Israel, either; I have not yet traveled there, and I still catch myself conflating a certain kind of dress with being "more" Jewish (or insidiously, being a "better" Jew). Consciously, I believe that my choice of clothing is perfectly appropriate for me as a liberal Jewish woman, but the underlying bias is still there. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it hurts to know that people I consider to be practicing an authentic form of Judaism that happens to differ from my own do not view members of the more liberal movements the same way. Of course, authenticity is not theirs to bestow in the first place, but it's easy to forget that when faced with the uncomfortable feeling of being judged. We just want respect from those to whom we show respect, I suppose. TL;DR version: Thank you for the thought-provoking post. Maybe I need a T-shirt that says, "This is what a religious Jew looks like." :-)

Wow--thank you for sharing a little taste of Mr. Michaelson's work. "When I see the word 'Israel'" made something click in my head; the words have been rolling about in my mind since I read your post yesterday. Coupled with your own "Gematria," I feel that I've hit a rich lode of poetry here lately.