Well perhaps here is what I'm getting at, the heart of the matter. Growing up as a fundamentalist christian we were taught that the bible was god's very words and infallible. It's quite easy to accept those ideas while in a self imposed religious vacuum, but then when you get exposed to other ideas outside of ones own faith system, you may be in for a shock, but only if you have an open mind. Frankly, and I'm sure you've heard it said before, some of the stories in the Torah are kind of deplorable, from a modern perspective. So The Torah, from an outsiders perspective, and who the hell am I? Nobody. The Torah is a codified system of laws, do this don't do that and you'll live a prosperous life. There is no promise of an afterlife, this is all there is, believe, obey, try and live a life according to the commandments and you'll live a good life and get buried with your fathers, what more could one ask for?