Gary Yourofsky’s inspiring speech touched the hearts of thousands of people in Israel. Many of them sent a thank you note to Gary.
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 5:42 AM
i’m 32 years old from Israel. i was referred to your lecture on youtube and i have heard about it from friends and seen it on the news. i’m sitting in my office and i have just finish watching your lecture. i have to admit that i didn’t see how bad and sad it was until you described it. you got me and have definitely opened my eyes. what you are doing is priceless. i wanted to say that you are the best emissary that animals can ask for. i’m so happy to know that there are people like you in the world. i hope that you will continue doing what you are doing and convince people around the world to see the truth!
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 5:42 AM
You’ve just pushed me over the edge. I’ve been Vegetarian for 10 years, but the last few years I’ve been saying I need to be Vegan. Your comment on cheese stopped me.
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 8:43 AM
Thank you for opening my eyes.
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 12:25 PM
I am a 36 year old Israeli living in NYC for the past 9 years. I wanted to thank you for changing my life and allowing me to cleanse my body and my soul from eating animals and animal products. I feel great, energized, vital and alive! When I was 5, I told my mom that I do not want to eat any animals and went veg for about a year and a half till the doctor told her to make me eat it cause I needed to protein to grow. I ate meat ever since and loved every minute of it. Like you, I thought it was so tasty and was comfortable with the disconnect, putting my head in the sand. It is a paradox cause I had so many animals growing up: turtles, cats, dogs, bunnies, hamsters, fish, parrots and more, yet I ate meat and dairy without asking myself too many questions. Your lecture opened my eyes and I immediately went veggie. You gave a wind of purpose to my life. I promise to spread the word the best way I can and wake up more people who, like me, are sleeping in their denial comfort zone. You are right, they have to give it up! Unfortunately, humankind is in most cases the worst kind. We kill each other and others with no good reason. Most of the people in your video are sadists who really enjoy hurting others. They get a kick from making others suffer. I had a neighbor like that back home and after I caught him throwing stones at stray cats for the second time I gave him a demo of how it feels to be tortured and he stopped. Thanks again, you are a great man with a great cause!
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 6:26 AM
I am a dietician, living in israel. Before I began university I was vegetarian. Through the 3 years in university, I got the message that eating meat was very important for health. So, at the end of the third year, I started eating chicken because I thought it was crucial for my health. I was affected by a lot of social pressure. Yesterday, I saw your lecture, and am totally convinced. I will totally start a vegan lifestyle. I think it is very very important to do your lecture to the dieticians all over the world. We learn different things, and I think we are a little bit brainwashed on this subject.
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 7:33 AM
i wish to thank you so much. I was enlightened by your lecture, fascinated by your words. I turned immediately vegan after watching you lecture. Now a week after watching you and listening to your words, I am a happy vegan. My body is lighter. My mind is clearer. I feel energized strong and vital. I have always been a big animal lover but I was a meat eater so I felt the contradiction in life many times. How is it possible that a big animal lover like me eats animals flesh, blood, bones, etc. without any regrets. I am happy and privileged that I have came across your lecture, your story, your ideas, and wish to do anything in my power to spread to word. By the way, I went to my local drugstore and spoke to one of the pharmacist that works there. I told him I became vegan and he says,”Oh, you heard the Gary Yorofsky lecture. I stopped eating meat after listening to him as well.
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2012 3:34 AM
I am from Israel. You are the first living human who approved and agreed with my thoughts. I cannot even describe in words how much it will be an honor for me to be able to watch your lecture LIVE. I am trying to contact my school which seems to be quite hard since it is summer because I have read somewhere that if we wanted you to come speak at our school, we have to get the approval from the administration and send some forms.
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2012 2:28 PM
i’m from israel and i just wanted to say thanks. me and my sister became vegan because of your video. your work is amazing and blessed.
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2012 8:21 AM
Like many other Israelis I watched your taped lecture online and was “converted” immediately. A dear Rabbi named Simcha Roth just passed away about a month or so ago. Last year he wrote a long detailed essay about why being Vegan is a godly decree in Judaism. The essay is in Hebrew : http://www.bmv.org.il/v/h-vegan.html but I suspect with some help you might put it to good use. He summarises the essay with these assertions; Organised premeditated slaughter of animals is cruelty-to-animals which is forbidden by Torah. (צער בעלי חיים), eating processed animal products as accustomed in the west is against the Torah decree of keeping one’s health (ונשמרתם לנפשותיכם), Torah-keeping Jews should stop eating animal products in order to decrease the damage we inflict on earth (שלא תקלקל ותחריב את עולמי), When a religious jew goes vegan, they make a great contribution for enhancing the justice and integrity in the world (צדק צדק תרדוף). As you can imagine, most Jewish people today will find all this as novelty, and many will probably even mock it. He ends up his long essay with these words: “The message is clear – alas there’s no deaf as the one that does not want to hear. Open your heart and open your mind: Would you like to be a good Jew? Would you honestly like to be religious Jews? Do you really want to be pious? – Go vegan.” Spreading Truth is the most noble thing a man can do.
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 1:52 AM
You really changed my life. I was already a vegetarian and now I’ve fully transformed to a vegan diet. I’m from Israel, and it’s always surprising to me to see how Jewish people, who suffered so much and were considered to be lowlifes, were abused and slaughtered, are still having absolutely no compassion for animals. One thing about humans, we never learn from our history. Nothing. Thank you for removing my blindfold. The problem is we are born with our eyes wide open but we become blind because other people tell us how to think and how to feel. I’ll continue following the right way, and one day when I become a mother, I will teach my children this way as well. So know you made a difference for the future as well.
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 3:40 PM
I’m part of a band called Page One from Israel. We have a new song that was inspired by an insightful quote of yours. We thought you would like to hear it. It’s called “What the Fuck Does an Elephant do in the Middle of Detroit?” Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3spLgTztBc&feature=youtu.be. [Note from me: My mild epiphany happened when my stepfather, a clown in The Shrine Circus, took me backstage to see the elephants. They were chained to the floor in the warehouse of the Michigan State Fairgrounds. I turned to my girlfriend at the time, Wendy, and said, “What the fuck is an elephant doing on 8 Mile and Woodward in Detroit in the first place?” It was the first comment I ever made about the injustice that animals endure.
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 4:24 PM
I am 21 years old from Israel. Two weeks ago my coach discussed nutrition. He told me to stop eating meat, eggs and dairy and to start eaten vegan. I was very confused and decided I must check out what the hell he is talking about. Then I found your lecture and it changed my mind and got me to start thinking about the animals that I used to eat, and about their suffering. Thank you very much for opening my eyes.
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 4:25 PM
I’m 16.5 years old from Israel. You changed my life ! really I just don’t know how thank you. I heard that you are coming to Israel so I wanted to know what are the chances you will come to my high school?
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 9:48 AM
I live in Israel and watched your video on Youtube yesterday. I agree with you on is that killing animals is wrong, unjust and should not be done by humans. It is a moral claim needed to be strongly expressed. I support, with great enthusiasm, your moral point of view. Your speech mainly got to me in the sense that I am practicing a hypocritical life style – on the one hand protecting and loving dogs and cats, and at the same time eating meat, milk products and eggs. I will be a vegan to support the idea that humans should not murder other creatures, because it is ethically wrong.
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 2:33 AM
I am fourteen years old, and after listening to a lecture of yours I became a vegan. At first the words were hard to hear, but then I realized that you’re probably one of the only people in the world nowadays that has common sense! I was just wondering if you had any general advice on how to spread the word about veganism.
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 4:53 AM
you’re my hero. thanks to you i became a vegan. i’m from israel and i am 11 years old. i hope i can be like you when i grow up.
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 5:46 AM
I don’t usually write to people. However, in this case, after watching your lecture on YouTube, I felt I had to. I have been contemplating the removal of meat for a long time mainly because of the cruelty involved. I can certainly say, that after watching your lecture today, I made up my mind for good about that. Your speech was what I needed to see and hear to finally make that decision. Exact, bright, comprehensive, exactly to the point. Way to go! And I wanted to thank you for that. Deeply. I am not much of a religious person, but there is something in Judaism called Tikun Olam (Tikun = Fix, Olam = World). World Fix. And that means leaving things better than you found them. Therefore your work is sacred. Not only is this a “Tikun Olam”, it’s doing it in the greatest way possible by actually saving lives. This is for posterity, as future generations will no longer eat corpses, and will look backwards on these times as dark and primitive. And it is because of dedicated and brave people like you. Thanks again from the bottom of my heart. I strengthen your hands and wish you the best in this holy war!
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 7:46 AM
i am 29 years old. i live in israel. i am jewish but i dislike all categories like that since it turns us into “us” and “them” and is the fundamental base for hate and discrimination. yesterday i gave myself the most amazing gift. i watched your lecture. you are an amazing teacher and i hope you will never stop teaching. i can say now that i am fully awake and aware. i feel like i’m giving birth to myself in my 30th year on this earth. i faced my old self in order to be my real self, to start my life over with a choice to be in and to feel every moment, and to be guided by truth and love. when i came into this world, my dad was a butcher. i loved the taste of meat before i even knew how to say the word. i saw dead animals in the large freezer since i was 4 years old, and i never gave it a real thought. you are a real teacher because you do it for the right motive, in the name of truth. the truth has set me free. thank you for bringing it into my home.
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 7:32 AM
I became vegan after watching your lecture on YouTube. Thank you for enlightening my eyes: Some of the things I didn’t know and some I tried to look away and ignore. The big bonus was that right after I started being vegan, I noticed that my body functioned better.
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 5:57 PM
i’m from israel and my husband is from france, but we are living in turkey. we’ve been trying to go from vegetarian to vegan. but the moment we finished watching your video, we went vegan!
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 8:31 PM
i’m from israel. two months ago i watched your lecture and my life changed. i became vegan
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 1:25 PM
i’m 16 years old, and me and my friends support you so much.
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 5:44 PM
I’m 16 from Israel. Three days ago i watched your speech, and it really changed my point of view about the veganism subject and animal-human relations. It has been a long time that this issue was on my mind, and your video caught me at the right on time. You made me believe that we can reconnect people with animals, so that in the first time of my life i feel part of something that is bigger than me. I wanted you to know that many people know about you in israel, and you really changed things here.
