Question

True, I’m only at the beginning of reading it, but I have to point out that there is one thing that bothers me in the way the arguments are presented as questions and answers. On the one hand, understanding does become sharper and clearer in that format, and there is indeed the idea behind it of the questioners over the years. But a person who is far from religion and has in hand a bundle of sophisticated arguments against faith as a whole, who reads the book, is supposed to identify with the questioner; Hillel supposedly represents him. He is Hillel. And then he sees himself asking simple questions with thin arguments, even written in lighter font… The mistaken feeling is that this is just another rabbi trying to bring people to repentance without listening to the other side, coming more to speak than to hear, and acting as though he is on his own private turf. That is the impression, at least to my feeling, and it’s a shame, because the Rabbi’s whole open and honest character gets missed. Especially since this kind of responsa-style format has already been used by various outreach rabbis, and my concern is that when I show the book to those who need it they’ll tell me, “Oh, yes, we already read Rabbi Neugershal’s and weren’t impressed.” That way, a central and important segment of the target audience is lost. My hope is only that this is merely a completely mistaken impression and that I am entirely wrong. But I was interested in the Rabbi’s opinion on the matter.