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American atheist Jews, I want to hear from you!
#1
Shalom everyone, 

I am not Jewish, but I have always been interested in religion. In my amateur research, I have loved learning about Judaism's history, beliefs, and resilience. That is why for my high school program's mandatory essay assignment, I chose to investigate the American atheist Jew identity. I chose it because a Jewish person I knew identified as an atheist Jews, and I was surprised to later find out that it is a common phenomenon. I want to learn and understand more of this unique perspective for both my assignment and for enjoyment, so if you are an American atheist Jew and is comfortable with answering some questions, please reach out and we can talk. Thank you!
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#2
Hello Curious and welcome to the forum.

Just to let you know, the first couple of posts are moderated to help keep out spam and bots.

You may find an atheist Jewish person on this forum who would be willing to answer your questions.

I guess you'll just have to wait and see if anyone responds.

Hope your assignment goes well!
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#3
Which questions do you have? I am not Jewish, nor atheist, nor American, but I would like to think about your questions.

Welcome to the forum by the way.
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#4
(08-03-2022, 01:35 PM)Blue Bird Wrote: Which questions do you have? I am not Jewish, nor atheist, nor American, but I would like to think about your questions.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

Thank you for the interest and warm welcome. Here are the starting questions, and there are follow-up questions depending on what the person answers with. I've already asked one person these questions, but I asked them further questions that are unique to their background.

1) Was there ever a key moment or influences that made you question god?

2) What makes you confident in being Jewish and claiming your spot in a Jewish community, even as an atheist? Another way to put it: what makes you feel that you "fit in" ?

3) Have other Jews helped validate the identity for you? How did they do it?

4) What are your ways of staying connected to Judaism on a personal level? This is beyond family, other people's affirmations, etc
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#5
You might find some answers here (with the help of google translator if you don't speak German) and he might be able to give you some contacts. He is a Rabbi, but he lived or still lives in a partially atheistic community.

https://rabbiweingarten.com/uber-mich/

You can write to him in English, he grew up in New York.
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#6
I just saw that you can change the language at the top middle of the page, so you don't need a translator.
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#7
Curious,

Welcome to the forum. I am not Jewish, but I frequent the forum and have learned some things about Judaism to answer
this.     

1) Was there ever a key moment or influences that made you question god?

My own background is Christianity of which I have become atheistic.  Just means a non believer. That had taken a good deal of time and study prior to reaching a conclusion that did not occur in a day.  There was no one influence, but several. 

Within Judaism it is perfectly okay to question God. The Torah contains many stories of Jewish leaders questioning God.  Read the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and how each would question what God is doing. Then there is the story of Moses...
All of the characters questioned and debated with God at different times.  Did you mean to ask about questioning the belief in a God? I would think the response to that question would be individualistic.  Being Jewish does not mean one must be a believer.  The story of Jonah and the whale comes to mind, or Balaam and the talking donkey. I doubt that many would receive these stories as literal.

Belief is a criterion within Christianity, however, to determine whether one belongs or not. I could not have sat in on a bible study and told my group that I didn't believe Jesus existed and then expect to be welcomed back the next day.  Judaism is not like that.

I found a link, not too long, that I felt was really good and may answer some of your questions. The title is Questioning God and Torah With an Orthodox Rabbi in Tzfathttps://tcjewfolk.com/questioning-god-to...bbi-tzfat/

Towards the end of the article is a quote from Albert Einstein that reads, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."

Best of luck to you with your studies and I hope this gives you some answer.
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#8
4) What are your ways of staying connected to Judaism on a personal level? This is beyond family, other people's affirmations, etc

I can answer this question too.  I stay connected to Judaism by reviewing my Hebrew language books and practicing the lessons.  I also subscribe to some Jewish sites and read books written by secular Jewish writers.
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#9
(08-03-2022, 03:47 PM)Blue Bird Wrote: I just saw that you can change the language at the top middle of the page, so you don't need a translator.

Wow! A rabbi in a particularly atheist community would be so helpful. Thank you!
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#10
(08-04-2022, 07:46 PM)Dana Wrote: 4) What are your ways of staying connected to Judaism on a personal level? This is beyond family, other people's affirmations, etc

I can answer this question too.  I stay connected to Judaism by reviewing my Hebrew language books and practicing the lessons.  I also subscribe to some Jewish sites and read books written by secular Jewish writers.

I was not expecting much when you said that you were answering as a non-Jew, but your mentions of instances in the Torah that questions God is helpful, actually. I hoped to approach the topic from historical, theological, and cultural standpoints, so this fact about the Torah would be a good theological reason behind this identity. Thank you so much for this!
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