charliehall:
“There is no way to prove Torah — or even HaShem’s existence — through empirical data or through logic. HaShem and His Torah are beyond any human comprehension, beyond the physical universe. If I could come up with a proof of the existence of God — certainly our greatest sages have tried — it would not be God that I was proven. How can a mere mortal such as me even think for a second that I could prove God’s existence.”
I have seen many, many proofs to Hashem’s existence brought down by the Chovos HaLevavos, the Rambam, and the Kuzari, to name just a few. They do not seem to share these doubts of yours.
“There is a further problem: Once you have accepted that God is susceptible to proof, you have not only reduced God to a human level chas v’shalom, you have admitted the possibility that God could be DISproven Chas V’Shalom!”
Of course there is that possibility. That is why every thinking Jew should go through the Chovos HaLevavos, Rambam hilchos Daios, and/or the Kuzari and decide for him or herself whether or not they believe in Hashem. If I’m not mistaken, the Chovos HaLevavos holds that doing so is fulfilling a mitzvas asay.
Also, I’m not quite sure what you’re suggesting as an alternative. You say that “If you truly believe in H”K”B”H, no amount of evidence to the contrary will convince you otherwise”. Perhaps, but according to you how does one start believing in the first place? If there is (CH”V) no intellectualism behind Judaisim, why would any thinking person be a believing Jew?
Also, once you suggest simply switching the mind off and blindly believing, why believe in Judaism? Why not blindly believe in Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism?
“Judaism does not pretend to have an Answer to Every Question. Life has lots of things that Don’t Make Sense. The Torah is the tool HaShem gave us to navigate our way through this senseless world, acting justly to our fellows while constantly being reminded of Who Is In Charge. “
I could not disagree with you more. Judaism most certainly has the answer to every question. It is what sets us apart from every other religion; we’re right. We have the answers. We know what God really wants. This is, in my opinion, from the most fundamental beliefs a Jew must have.
aries2756:
True, most teens who go OTD do so for emotional reasons. But that does not mean that there cannot be other causes sometimes. Every once in a while, you will have somebody who really just has an intellectual issue with Judaism.