... “You’re confusing everything,” Masha said sadly. — A country is a state, a government. Always, everywhere, at all times means the same thing: injustice and violence. But the earth is completely different... “All peoples are united by states,” I interrupted gloomily. “But we are a special people,” Mashka objected hotly. — We must be united by the Covenant with G‑d and religion. It is not for nothing that in the instructions of Moses there is not a word about secular power. Look at the people who have gathered here from all over the world. Are we one people? Some were fleeing death, others were caught by accident, out of ignorance, like our family. Few understood why they were coming here. What did Eretz Israel mean to us there, in Galut? The land flowing with milk and honey. We understood the word “Promised” as “gifted”. But it is only promised to us if we follow the Testaments. - Until then, are we Jews, uninvited strangers here? Emigrants? - I was indignant, in the heat of the moment I did not immediately notice that I, who had long ago departed from my people, blurted out: “We are Jews.”