Preface

With putting my response up online, I have in mind to provide answers to people who have already read Naftali’s letter, or those who have significant theological questions about Judaism.

For those of you who already have sufficient belief in Judaism and don’t have such questions, I would prefer that you do not read any further, as even if one finds satisfactory answers to these types of questions, it still comes with a certain undesirable “cost”. Therefore, I cannot encourage in good conscience, anyone who is not familiar with these questions, to read any further.

For those of you who are already familiar with such questions, and for those who can’t control themselves, I have tried to provide answers that I believe are satisfactory and truthful. If you disagree, feel free to let me know in the comment section, but please make the effort to keep the dialogue civil.

I would also like to acknowledge here the work of those who came before me, and have provided some answers to these questions, most notably, Rabbi Gil Student, whose work can be found at www.aishdas.org/toratemet/, and Rabbi Meir Goldberg, at www.truetorah.blogspot.com.