Man’s passionate debate with Jewish aunt over non-Jewish girlfriend

A man’s passionate defense of his girlfriend during a conversation with a relative evolved into a furious religious debate – and a viral sensation – after his aunt tried to force him to break off his relationship because the girl was not Jewish.   

Imgur user SmileyMo, whose real name is Moshe, was born and raised Jewish but he now considers himself an atheist – a fact which he made clear to his aunt when she began questioning why he was dating a woman from outside the Jewish faith.

The attorney, who is from New York City, shared the entire text message exchange between him and his aunt, which started with her writing to him saying she would like to take him out to dinner to talk to him about his religion, and his plans for dating a non-Jewish girl to see if she could change his mind, at least on the latter point.

Couple: This man has a passionate debate with his Jewish aunt over text once she found out he was dating a non-Jewish girl through Facebook

Debate: Imgur user SmileyMo whose real name is Moshe was born and raised Jewish but now he considers himself an atheist which he made clear to his aunt via text despite her nagging

Texts: His aunt wrote to him saying she would like to take him out to dinner to talk to him about his religion and his plans about dating a non-Jewish girl to see if she could change his mind

Uh oh: Even though the aunt kept pushing for them to meet up in person, Moshe wanted to talk about it right then and there

Marriage: Moshe tried to explain to his aunt that who he marries is irrelevant to being Jewish because he’s an atheist but she said what matters is that his kids will not be Jews

Moshe’s aunt texted one day saying, ‘Would like to get together and talk. Heard from my kids that you are involved with a non-Jewish girl, they saw it on Facebook, and would like to speak to you. I am looking for your happiness. Can I take you out to dinner?’

He then explains to her that he’s been atheist for four years and doesn’t want to talk about this with her because he’s enjoying his life with his girlfriend Cia who is a ‘beautiful inside and outside non Jewish girl.’

Moshe suggested they still go out to dinner to catch up but he’s not interested in being questioned about his religion and doesn’t want to be guilted about being with a non-Jewish woman.  

His aunt was obviously not pleased by his response and wrote, ‘Your choice to get involved with non Jews romantically will not bring you happiness in the long run.’

Despite the aunt saying multiple times that she doesn’t want to talk about this over text and she rather they meet for dinner to talk, Moshe insistently pushes her until they get into an all-out  debate over religion. 

When Moshe pushes back at his aunt and starts questioning her she replies, ‘Not looking to debate religion with anyone. I’m not an expert on god and religion.

‘Just wanted to impress upon you how important it is to continue our Jewish heritage and tradition because we are Jews.’

Moshe responded saying no matter who he marries, it is irrelevant to whether or not he continues Jewish tradition because he is atheist but the aunt was not having it. 

She replied, ‘If you have kids with her they’ll be non Jews and that will be the end of the Jewish lineage from you.’

Atheist: He brings up the fact that he is atheist again and his aunt replies saying the conversation is going nowhere but she wants him to know she cares about him

Girls: Moshe tries to tell his aunt that he is in love with a beautiful non-Jewish girl for reasons not related to her religion but the aunt says there’s tons of beautiful Jewish girls

Feel: Moshe gets annoyed and says you don’t have to be a Jew to love Israel and you don’t have to be Jewish to care about hatred and murder – you have to be humane

Route: Moshe brought up that he doesn’t like the way Jews treat non-Jews and he says they act ‘special’

History: In response to Moshe, the aunt was clearly annoyed and she sent him a full history lesson on anti-Semitism

Moshe brings up the point that if he has kids and they want to be Jewish then they will have the option to convert but his aunt says why would they want to convert if they’re not raised be a Jewish mom – there would be ‘no basis to want to be Jewish.’

In response to her Moshe had the perfect reply as he said, ‘So they should instead have religion forced on them by blood even if they’ll end up being atheist in observance anyway?’

The relatives continue to go back and forth about what would happen to his kids if he marries a non-Jew and finally the aunt says, ‘This conversation is not going anywhere. I just want you to know that I care very much about your future and worry for happiness.’

Moshe was appreciative of his aunt’s kind words and said, ‘Thank you. This girl makes me happy and I believe she will continue to. We have a beautiful puppy together who further enhances that happiness.’

The aunt says that even though he thinks he’s happy with his current girlfriend, there are many Jewish girls out there that are just as beautiful and nice but he said that’s not the point because he loves who he’s with.

At one point they even get into a heated argument because the aunt says there’s a lot more to the Jewish tradition than he thinks and to be a Jew means you have a love for Israel and you care about anti-Semitism.

Moshe gets annoyed at this saying that non-Jews could love Israel and ‘you don’t have to be Jewish to care about hatred or murder. You have to be humane.’

Facts: Moshe then tries to call his aunt out on making up numbers but she has a perfect response and clearly did her research

Love: Moshe pictured with his girlfriend Cia and his dog Pebbles, is very happy with his current life

Family: Pictured here with his parents after his swearing-in ceremony when he became a lawyer

Towards the end of their never-ending conversation, the aunt started to send facts and statistics to Moshe about anti-Semitism and Jewish history.

While Moshe was quick to fight back at first, calling her out on her statistics saying that she’s making up numbers, towards the end there was just no point to further continue the conversation because it was clear they were not going to agree.

Finally, Moshe started to wrap up their conversation saying, ‘I hope I made my opinions on my religious beliefs and dating life clear so that you’re not out of the loop. In the end, it’s my life and I owe it to myself to be happy.’

The aunt replied saying, ‘We are on the same page. I also want you to be happy and have a good life.’

‘I just don’t agree that what you are doing currently will bring you happiness in the future,’ she continued.

‘The short run may be exciting but in the long run you will have regrets. It’s like jumping out of a plane without a parachute!’

Moshe concluded their conversation writing, ‘I wholeheartedly disagree, but I’m glad we’re on the same page.’

Despite all of the back and forth, the aunt and nephew decided it was best to agree on disagreeing and Moshe even told Bored Panda that his aunt means well and only has good intentions.

‘She’s always been a big fan of mine and treated me well since I was a kid,’ he shared.

He also went on to tell the site, ‘I wouldn’t say my atheism is accepted by everyone in my family but for the most part, people respect me despite my beliefs.’

When asked what religion him and Cia’s dog Pebbles is Moshe joked, ‘I’d say she’ll get to decide her religion when she’s older.’

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