Why not ask the rav why he believes what he believes?
He e-mailed you, so it seems reasonable to think he'd still take a stab at answering your questions...
As to mentorship, what kind? Moral? Spiritual? Practical? Professional? We wind up with lots of mentors, who may be as diverse as our interests.
The Talmud says "find yourself a teacher." It's an interesting concept, and one that has struck me lately-- if I'm to "find myself" a teacher, it's up to me to evaluate the teacher's qualifications, isn't it? And yet, as the person in need of a teacher (on a topic about which I entertain a good deal of uncertainty), I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in evaluating credentials.
Rav Solomon (at the Agudah convention) was (so I've read) lamenting a loss of respect for (or deference to) Torah authority. And yet, if I'm to find myself a teacher, perhaps a bit of skepticism is required, at least in the selection process, no?
Anyhow, that's my 1.5 cents for the moment.
I'm pretty sure he would answer my questions if I did ask. At the moment, though, I am a secret skeptic and therefore not sure if I want to talk to him about it. And I do feel like the answers will disappoint me. But maybe I'm underestimating him.
You're right that one mentor won't fill the role. I guess spiritual is where I feel the lack.
Maybe a skeptics we should be trying to find the teacher that's most likely to be a secret skeptic. Actually, of all the rabanim I know, I'd be least surprised if this one was.
Isn't it possible to ask all (or at least most) of the questions you might have without disclosing your own skepticism (or at least not the extent of it)? One need not say "rabbi, I don't believe, because of X, Y, Z, what should I do?" It's always possible to say, "rabbi, there are those who claim X, Y, Z, and these claims seem reasonable-- what's the Jewish answer?"
Perhaps you're right, though, and the big problem is that you feel like the answers will disappoint you. Still; in the worst case scenario, you really won't be any worse off than you are, right?
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