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| Blaise Pascal (Wikipedia) |
The issues that existed before, still exist now. One of which is when Jews that have been raised as observant - experience a crisis of faith. Causing many of them to no longer believe in God or the basic tenets of their faith.
People that experience a crisis of faith do so in a variety of ways. A lot depends on the circumstances of one’s life; how they were raised; whether they come from a mentally healthy family or a dysfunctional one; whether they are raised in an insular society Chasidic society, the bit more open Yeshivishe society, or a modern Orthodox society.
Those who stop being observant for rational reasons are different in many respects from those who stop for emotional reasons. In either case the reaction of going OTD is understandable.
If one is raised in the tortured environment of dysfunction in an observant family, it’s very understandable that they will associate the mental (and sometimes physical) pain of an abusive situation - with their religion. This especially true when someone with the trauma associated when sexual abuse is part of the dysfunction. It is also understandable as a result of simply falling through the cracks of an intensive yeshiva type education where one is not cut out for it, or suffers from some form of learning disability went unaddressed. And is therefore ignored or pushed aside by his Rebbeim (teachers of religious subjects).
Although there are exceptions, I believe that some of these situations can be reversed with the proper guidance and therapy. As long as it is caught early enough by loving parents who accept and love their children without being judgmental.
Then there are those that lose their faith as a matter of searching for truth via the rational mind and finding it elsewhere. That is a much more difficult thing to change. The questions raised are legitimate and sometimes difficult if not impossible to answer in rational ways. What often happens is that the rational side takes over and one’s spiritual side is set aside. Scientific inquiry drives the rational mind. The ‘Null Hypothesis’ drives scientific truth.
If I remember my basic science education accurately enough – The Null Hypothesis is presumption that something is not true until it can be proven in a laboratory. And repeated several times with the same results . Only then is it accepted as fact – replacing the presumption that is wasn’t.
It is obviously impossible to prove the existence of God in a laboratory. The fallback to that is the Null Hypothesis - He does not exist. The argument then goes the other way: There is so much evidence that He does not exist! What they apparently fail to recognize is thate there is so much evidence that God does exist. Conclusive proof either way? That is another matter.
I am not here to debate the issue. Only trying to understand where the skeptics get their doubts about God and Judaism. In the face of lack of any proof of God’s existence, an intellectually honest individual that places value only on science can easily have a crisis of faith, stop believing in God (and certainly Judaism) and stop being observant.
In my view people like this are almost impossible to ‘bring back’. Their rational minds won’t allow it. They are certain that the lack of any proof of His existence - plus the ‘evidence’ to the contrary shows that God does not exist.
This is a bit of an oversimplification. But I think it more or less describes how they arrived at their current state of skepticism.
What I do not understand is the certainly so many of these skeptics have. To be certain of a negative is to deny the possibility of a positive. Just because one cannot prove something exists, doesn’t always mean it doesn’t. This is not to say, that I expect a skeptic to re-think his skepticism. It is only to ask why an intellectually honest person is so sure that God does not exist.
Seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, Blaise Pasclal’s intellectual honesty led him in exactly the opposite direction. In not knowing - and in not being able to prove God’s existence he decided he had nothing to lose by acting and living as though He does. This is known as Pascal’s Wager.
When I pose this question to a skeptic, the answer usually falls along the lines of… OK. But even if I were to concede that God exists, maybe another religion is the right path of belief. Why Judaism? Or maybe God exists but doesn’t care what goes on in the world or what people do.
I hear that argument. But I must still ask why an intellectually honest individual should not accept Pascal’s Wager at least with respect to God’s existence?
Arguments about which belief system is valid, may be a legitimate topic of discussion with each religion arguing that theirs is legitimate to the exclusion of all others. And no one will concede that their version of truth is not the truth.
Fine. But if raised in the Jewish tradition and one is unable to conclude which argument is more true, why not act in accordance with the one in which one is raised? Absent proof to the contrary, it is at least as legitimate as the others claim theirs is. What have you got to lose? Doesn’t intellectual honesty force you to admit that God may in fact exist and that there is meaning to life which might be beyond what the mind can grasp in rational ways? After all even science has such conundrums. As in (for example) the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Mechanics.
There is another reason for a Jewish skeptic to remain observant even while having those major doubts. One which is much more practical. In a Facebook group that hosts dialogue between OTDs and observant Jews, one very bright skeptic who was raised as an observant Jew recently made the following comment:
Every once in a while I look at myself or my family and get a bit of a shock, "what the heck is a nice yeshiva bochur / kollel guy doing in a secular neighborhood and not wearing a yarmulka and not going to shul for minyan?!"
He then asked if anyone else like him felt that way. There were a lot of responses in a variety of ways. It got me to thinking of another reason why a skeptic should remain observant. Here in major part is what I said:
It's interesting to see how one's past affects a radical change in lifestyle. Yet another thing to think about when considering leaving. I suppose that - as some are saying here - after time this feeling might fade.
But I still have to believe that staying in the community that one is used to and being Orthoprax is a far better solution to crises of faith than would be a complete break with one's past.
I realize this is much harder if the individual going through that crisis is from Chasidic world or (to a lesser extent) a Right Wing Yeshivish world.. than would be by someone from the MO world.
But I still believe one can avoid the kind of feeling you experienced and perhaps more importantly retain the bond with family and friends by staying and being Orthoprax. The freedom to drop all pretenses of observance comes at a price. one need to ask if losing all that is worth the price.
Warning
As always when this topic comes up, it should not be taken as a means to argue against belief in God or Judaism. This blog is premised on the belief that God exists and the Judaism by which we Jews live is His truth as expressed in the Torah as interpreted by the sages throughout Jewish history. The purpose of this post is to bring skeptics closer to ways of their forefathers. Not to chase them away.