Hi, greetings from Israel,

[veganatheistexjew]

Hi guys, my name is Sam, I'm 18 years old, 3 weeks vegan from Israel. Been veg-curious and reducitarian for about 6 months, now I'm fully vegan.
As my name implies I'm an ex Jew, well not exactly. Judaism is both a nation and a religion, I belong to the nation but not the religion. I was raised an ultra orthodox Jew and during my last 2 years of high school I questioned the world and seeked the truth. I came to the conclusion that the ideology washed into my brain from age 0 is complete bullshit, and that religion is immoral, harmful and detrimental to the advancement of humanity. Along my journey of truth seeking I came along theveganatheist and unnatural vegan on youtube, they sounded really logical so I decided to become vegan.

Because of the way I was raised I am extremely socially awkward and have difficulty fitting in with the secular society, I am unaware of popular social norms and have great difficulty talking to girls(since I was raised in an ultra orthodox segregated society). I don't have much friends and I spend most of my free time surfing the internet, learning and philosophizing.

[brimstoneSalad]

Welcome Sam, congrats on going vegan! Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Sorry to hear about the religiously isolated upbringing; it's good to know many people are breaking away from that. It happens in the states with Jehovah's Witnesses too.

You'll catch on to social norms, it will just take a bit of practice. Have you tried joining a local vegan group? (Are you near a large city?)

[veganatheistexjew]

Haven't found any local vegans(I live in a small city which is mostly ultra orthodox) but I do occaisonally travel to a large city to meet a vegan group.

[PsYcHo]

Hello!

18 is a very trying age. Old enough to be a free thinking adult(ish) , but lacking in life experiences, so everyone older than you is constantly bombarding you with advice on how to live your life. (Funny though, most of them aren't happy with theirs, I'm assuming ) In America it is interesting how many Jewish people are atheist; I suppose that is frowned upon in the "Holy" land. Not a Vegan myself, but I assumed most meat is harder to come by in Israel, but I am ignorant in that aspect. Glad you found the forum!

Welcome!