About

The Rational Believer is a series of articles dedicated to rationalizing Judaism and prioritizing objective analysis over blind faith. We deal with issues such as Bible Criticism, Torah and science, morality in Torah, the Oral Law, Christian missionary claims, biblical archaeology, spirituality, and faith. Along the way, we also challenge many misconceptions presented in neo-Orthodox Judaism and provide a more rational framework for belief in Torah.

The goal of this work is to be the most objective possible, following the evidence wherever it leads us to. The goal here isn’t to change anyone’s opinion but rather to travel through an intellectual journey of faith and reason. There’s no objective of defending nor of debunking Judaism in this work, which instead focuses on having an honest dialogue about the issues concerning faith in Judaism.

This work isn’t recommended for those who wish to have emunah p’shutah or simple faith (see here). This may bring up questions on Judaism that can shake-up one’s belief, with many “heretical ideas” (apikursus) being entertained.

In the hopes of being open-minded, I am open to criticism and change. For any questions, comments, or constructive criticism, please contact me.

Rabbi Dovid Junik