My “Testimony”

I prayed the sinner’s prayer when I was twelve years old, just after seeing the series of movies made by Mark IV Productions (A Thief in the Night, A Distant Thunder et cetera). I was baptized at the age of fifteen, having spent my first three years reading the Bible (in King James) and learning to challenge adults in their thinking regarding the Bible. I started to learn Greek at the age of seventeen and went to Bible College at eighteen, with intentions of going into ministry. I was there for three years before I left Christianity (as the result of a long inner struggle) and began my trek into Judaism. After three years of study at the local synagogue, I converted in 2003 and came to Israel for the first time in 2004. I held onto my belief in God throughout those years and believed in the revelation of the Torah up until last year. I no longer believe that the Torah was inspired by a divinity or given on Mount Sinai. I no longer believe that there was an exodus in which over a million Israelites left Egypt. I’m rather sold on the position that the Torah was majorly composed in the time of Josiah, king of Judah – probably by his scribe Shafan in collaboration with the priest Hilkiah (Jeremiah’s father).

New Directions

Hello and greetings to my friends out there in the universe, whoever and wherever you are.

I have decided to make some serious changes to my online presence. Until recently, I have engaged in discussions about the Hebrew language and also about the Greek New Testament from a mildly religious perspective. Included in this was the hosting of forums online for people of various religions to discuss and learn about the Bible and its languages. First, there was JHR Online, which was more centered in the religious discussion, and then lately there has been the Hebrew Café, which has focused more seriously on both Hebrew and Greek.

Basically, I have decided to leave behind the religious side of things and take on all of my discussion of the Bible (which really is the top of my interests) from a secular perspective. I'd like to discuss the things that have brought me out of religion. I consider myself datlash (דַּתְלָ״שׁ), a Hebrew acronym meaning "formerly religious" (דָּתִי לְשֶׁעָבַר dati l'she'avar), even though I never maintained a level of observance that would count for "religious" (that is, "frum") in Orthodox groups.