Latest Member-"Atheist"

[Lubab]

Thank Newman,

I finally got to hear the last part of AskJTF about having atheists on the forum. Chaim said they were welcome, but he also said that when one came on on the Hebrew forum he was given a very "negative" response from the posters...Chaim said with approval of the Hebrew forum members' behavior.

FYI: after hearing that it seems pretty likely to me that the person who signed up named "Atheist" is what I call a "tester". After hearing Chaim talk about how atheists are allowed on he wanted to "test" that rule.

This is sort of the way-after the whole Allen-T thing broke out and Chaim said "no missionaries"-someone immediately opened an account with the screen-name "Messianic Guy"-it was pretty obvious he wanted to see how we'd react.

In short, this "Atheist" is probably Hidden Author under another screen name...testing out the rules.

[newman]

Lubab,

I read about a secular Jew who visited the Kotel and was given 'A prayer for an atheist' by a Rabbi there. It was the most brilliant thing I'd ever read. A prayer to G_d from an atheist's perspective yet it was not blasphemous. Do you know of it and could you post it?

[Lubab]

Lubab,

I read about a secular Jew who visited the Kotel and was given 'A prayer for an atheist' by a Rabbi there. It was the most brilliant thing I'd ever read. A prayer to G_d from an atheist's perspective yet it was not blasphemous. Do you know of it and could you post it?

Sound interesting. Never heard of it.

[newman]

Lubab,

I read about a secular Jew who visited the Kotel and was given 'A prayer for an atheist' by a Rabbi there. It was the most brilliant thing I'd ever read. A prayer to G_d from an atheist's perspective yet it was not blasphemous. Do you know of it and could you post it?

Sound interesting. Never heard of it.

FOUND IT!

THE PRAYER OF AN ATHEIST
Here is a true story about a young man who got his prayers answered:

Many people who visit Jerusalem are tourists who come to get a sense of Jewish culture and history. One day, a young tourist named Jeff was brought in to meet me at Aish HaTorah.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"I'm working for my MBA at Harvard University. And I'm an atheist."
"Fantastic! A real atheist! Whoever was able to convince an atheist like you to speak to a rabbi like me deserves a medal."
"Nah," Jeff says, "he doesn't deserve anything. I'll tell you how I came..."
Jeff had been in Norway, visiting his Norwegian fiance. And he decided it was now or never: either he is going to come to Israel or he'll never make it.

So he headed for Jerusalem and the Western Wall. He figured he would stop by the Wall to see some old stones. Yet upon his arrival he was amazed. He felt something heavy. He was moved.

Jeff stood before the Wall, and made up an atheist's prayer. He looked at the stones and said:

"G-d, I don't believe in You. As far as I know, You don't exist. But I do feel something. So if I'm making a mistake, I want You to know, G-d, I have no quarrel against You. It's just that I don't know that You exist. But G-d, just in case You're really there and I'm making a mistake, get me an introduction."

Jeff finished his prayer, and one of the Aish HaTorah students who happened to be at the Wall, saw Jeff and thought, "Perhaps he'd be interested in learning some Torah."He tapped Jeff on the shoulder, startling him so much that he jumped three feet in the air. Jeff whirled around and shouted,

"What in the blankety-blank-dash-bang do you want?!"
"I'm sorry. I just want to know if you'd like to learn about G-d."
That question hit Jeff like a two-by-four right between the eyes. He had just finished asking G-d for an introduction, and immediately someone was offering to introduce him to G-d.

Jeff learned at Aish HaTorah for the next six weeks. He was a very serious student, and went back to the States with a commitment to continue learning. A year later, Jeff came back to Israel and told me the end of his story.

Full story:
http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/judaism/judaism_article.php?article_id=4467&page=1

[Catholic Zionist 73]

I guess there are different types of Atheists, just like any group. There are Catholics like me who are totally pro-Jewish, and pro-Israel, precisely because of what The Catholic Bible says. Then you have people like Mel Gibson and his Dad, who are nuts.

Similarly, Atheists can have different views. Most of the ones I've met here in England, seem to be very anti-Israel. They just believe everthing the Arabs tell them. Atheist and agnostic friends of mine seem to think terrorism was caused by the creation of Israel. When I tried to set them straight, they told me I was brainwashed by The Bible. I've gradually won most of them round, just by explaining secular history, how Israel was under Turkish rule before the British, not Arab. With more Muslim violence around the world, they now see that Islam is the problem.

Atheists in the media seem to spend most of their time attacking Christianity and Israel. Christopher Hitchens, for instance, seems to be very anti-Israel.