Gary Yourofsky’s inspiring speech touched the hearts of thousands of people in Israel. Many of them sent a thank you note to Gary.
* Between May 18-31 there were many more letters from Israelis that are not listed here. Listed from that period, are only the ones that their content indicates the author is from Israel.
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 1:15 AM
Me and my husband and friends are vegan, and we thought, oh what can this lecture do to us? we are already convinced anyway! Surprisingly, we sat glued to our chairs admiring your amazing energy and fierce way of delivering the message. No more silk gloves (literally and metaphorically). Harsh things need to be said in a harsh way. I forwarded your Georgia Tech lecture to many; hopefully they will watch it and feel the same. Thank you so much, it is good to know of people like you, and it makes me feel I am not alone carrying all these strong feelings.
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 12:22 AM
I am currently living in Israel. I saw you lecture on facebook and decided after years of thinking about it, to go vegan. My dog Jojobean was sitting next to me throughout the whole video making me feel even worse about eating animals. So, i went out and bought myself a ton of nuts and veggies and fruit and soy stuff and went nuts. It’s been a week and i feel great! Thank you for listening and for helping me get to the decision to make this change. You took my breath away , and helped me understand i can make a change. By you taking your message and passing it on, you have changed my life, made me understand what i am doing. MY BLINDERS ARE OFF! I hope that by passing this message of truth along, I can help as well.
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 4:02 PM
I’m from Israel. I was very impressed to see your lecture and to hear your ideas. I’m planing on starting to spread these ideas here and might need your help.
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 7:57 PM
I’m so happy. Two of my closest carnist friends just saw your lecture with the hebrew subtitles and decided to go vegan. I have been trying for 6 years and you have succeeded in an hour. They have posted the video on their facebook page and there are now at least 2 more vegetarians that we know of.
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 10:36 PM
it’s almost 6 in the morning in here. i’m writing u from my hometown in israel a few moments after seeing your lecture. i am speechless. and i am so thankful by watching your wisdom and simplicity. i am going to take a part in the revolution and become a vegan. i know it can be hard at the moment because i’m living with my parents but i’m gonna do it. i am totally against killing and am going to spread the true love however i can. thanks to u i’m gonna make a change by making others aware. i wanna help to stop the suffering. this is crazy. we lost the respect of our own principles because we kill a pure, innocent creature that doesn’t do anything wrong to us. thank u for teaching me and opening my eyes, may God bless u.
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2011 2:39 AM
I’ve seen your lecture at Georgia Tech and got filled with compassion. I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that it got translated to Hebrew and been watched over ten thousand times since April this year. I’ve also peeked at your website and was happy to find out that there are plenty of replacements for meat. Thank you for the fascinating lecture, I hope to hear more from you on this subject in the future.
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 1:06 AM
I LOVE your lecture. It is the most amazing lecture I have ever seen, in my life, bar none. What you are doing in educating people, is priceless. If I wasn’t a vegan before I saw your video, I would have been one right after. let me say, I’ve only been vegan a couple months- but I wish I had done it a life time ago. I had NO IDEA what was going on with the animals. And sadly, I guess I was too selfish to realize that the meat and dairy on my plate were the products of murder. Why didn’t I ever realize that? Why didn’t I care? I’ll never know, but I know now, and I will never turn back. I feel like a piece of shit for eating that crap for 22 years of my life.
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 9:02 PM
I already got 2 people to become vegan after showing them your speech. Then I watched your speech again, and it inspired me to write to the follwoing to the Anti Defamation League: “I am 17 years old, Jewish, and vegan. I read a couple of articles on the ADL website that condemn animal rights organizations for comparing what animals go through to the Holocaust. What is different between what animals go through today and the Holocaust? The victims go through the same thing such as being gassed and shot. What you are condemning in your articles is promoting discrimination. The same kind the Jews went through. I am furious that one of the most famous anti-discrimination groups, would be promoting speciesism.”
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 10:31 AM
I saw one of your lectures. I always was a vegetarian. but now you convinced me to give up cheese.
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 1:50 PM
I’m from Israel. I was lucky to receive your lecture on youtube from a friend today, and I wanted to thank you for everything that you are doing to promote veganism and animal rights. I have been vegetarian since I was 15, and I avoid dairy almost entirely, but it has been very hard for me to give up eggs – until now. I am determined to become fully vegan, thanks to your lecture!!
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 6:47 AM
I’m from Israel. I watched your lecture last night and was amazed. Not because I didn’t know about the horrific and unbearable abuse out there, because for 23 years I was one of those people who supports this industry. I want to say THANK YOU for opening my eyes. I feel disgusted and ashamed. Mostly, when I look at my mirror. I have been working in a dairy farm for a decade, and always had animals around me. I have always knew what was the future for the cows and the calves. They always went to a slaughterhouse. I will make a drastic change in my life, and hopefully in others lives. I will become a vegan and will raise my future family as vegans. You are my hero and my inspiration. I can’t thank you enough.
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 08:00 AM
Thank you gary.just ended my first vegan month.I feel like a 1000000 dollars.
Thank you!
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 3:28 PM
Thank you very much for your unforgettable presentation! You changed my life and many others in Israel. Because of you I realized what it really is love animals!
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 2:36 AM
I want to thank you for all of your lectures. you changed my life. I became vegan and I live much better, morally and health-wise.
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 5:02 PM
I live in Israel. Just wanted to tell you that i agree with everything you said in your lecture on youtube, including the concentration camps metaphor which I thought of myself a few years ago (McDonalds = Maidanek, Burger King = Bergen Belsen). Until a week ago I was a vegetarian and because of that lecture you gave I’m now a vegan and so is my wife. The world can be a better place because of people like you. If there is a god I’m sure he agrees with you 100%.
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 11:20 AM
I just saw one of your lectures. I’m all shaken up. The slaughterhouse movie made me cry and I forced myself to watch it all through. thank you for you important work!
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 7:51 AM
I believe that with your approach you touch many people’s hearts. Thank you for being such a dedicated loving human being. I’m inspired! Cheers from Israel!
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 6:46 PM
I want to say thank you. I really appreciate people like you. Fish is the only non vegan thing left in my diet. Now I will stop eating fish. Best wishes from Israel.
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 8:46 PM
Just saw ur lacture, amazing!! you opened my eyes & I’m a vegan now thanks to you. My fridge is full of cheese & meat … guess I will make lots of cats happy.
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 5:00 PM
I’m an instant vegan thanks to you. I will do what I can from now on to help spread the word. Thank you for saving my life. You have a friend in Israel.
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 11:14 PM
So many new vegans here in Israel thanks to your lecture. Even my Brazilian mom decided to stop eating meat right after watching you (just vegetarian for now, but she used to buy at least 5 kilos of meat every week).
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 7:29 PM
I just wanted to say thank you so much for your beautiful lecture about veganism, it has touched so many people here in Israel. please continue the excellent work you’re doing for the animals. on behalf of all us vegan activists in Israel.
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 8:36 AM
someone from my office is going vegetarian because of your lecture and is passing it on to other people. we’re in Israel and your lecture is being intensively circulated in Israel.You’re having a H-U-G-E impact here.
