I was once on the bus and I entered into a Torah discussion with a young man, what is called "talking in learning". He expressed various opinions on the topic I raised, which was "Nezirus Shimshon". After a little while I asked him if he knows the Mishna that talks about Nezirus Shimshon. He responded that he did not. I asked him if he knows the Gemara and the Rishonim. He told me that he doesn't.
WOW!!! A person can have so many opinions on a topic that he knows NOTHING about. This is an ALL TOO COMMON phenomenon. People can talk and talk and talk about a topic that they essentially know nothing about.
I thought about that when I read this interesting article. The point of the article is that virtues and traditions are primary and beliefs are derivative. One can argue the point but food for thought. My point is that "Heidi" denies what she knows virtually nothing about. Tanach she doesn't know. Shas she doesn't know. Midrashim she doesn't know. Jewish Philosophy - Moreh Nevuchim, Kuzari, Maharal, Rav Kook etc. etc. - she doesn't know. [These are all very safe assumptions I would put a lot of money down on...]. But she KNOWS that Judaism is not true. How? What are her rational proofs? What is her logic? How does she deal with the many difficulties with her assumptions? She denies a system she knows nothing about.
How does she explain - rationally and scientifically - how the world came onto being ALL BY ITSELF? How nothing created everything??!!! How does she explain the integrated complexity of the world? Is she a world-class scientist who knows that science has disproven G-d? Well, there are many world-class scientists who believe in G-d and those who don't, haven't disproven Him. They just don't see Him so they assume that He doesn't exist עפ"ל. If we are just a bundle of cells without a soul then how does she explain self-awareness, the ability to step outside ourselves and view ourselves from there. How does she explain the spiritual yearnings of mankind from time immemorial? How does that fit into the "survival of the fittest"? How does she explain man's innate sense of morality? In every culture lying - for example - is seen as an evil act [everyone does it but we know it is wrong...]. Why? Where does that come from? How does she explain the miraculous history and survival of the Jewish people? How does she explain the fact that it was all foretold in Tanach? There are so many arrows that point to G-d in this world, yet at the ripe old age of about 19, she already knows not to believe in Torah or Hashem.
My favorite middah is humility. Humility is awesome. We are limited. Very limited. Humility is to appreciate your limitations and thus always being open to learning more. I hope that today Heidi is a Torah observant Jewess with children and grandchildren who are Shomrei Torah and Mitzvos.
We should always be open to learning more and more and more, therby discovering that what we knew yesterday and the day before wasn't necessarily "fake news" but it was "partial news".
