Evidence for Judaism. Links from Rabbi Gottlieb

What University education really gives
you is the knowledge how to use sources.
— Andrzej Sapkowski

A friend of mine asked me to send some evidence for Judaism. I usually recommend Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb's stuff for the start. Here's my response, which includes other links for Rabbi Gottlieb that I found useful in the past.

Living Up to Truth

I usually recommend people to read in the following order: skip chapter 1; go to chapters 2 and 3; then to 6; then to 4 and 5; if you want, 1, and finally, to 7.

But this is for the people who are likely to stop reading a book if the beginning of it is not very convincing (which is true, in my opinion, about Chapter 1). If you think you can maintain objective attitude, you can just read straight through the book, bearing in mind that the main line of argument (for me) is in chapters 2 and 3 (introduction of the idea of what evidence for a religion is) and in chapter 6 (which provides the main evidence).

Also, Rabbi Gottlieb's audio lectures are pretty good, if you are more of an auditory learner, but they are of course less organized and concise than the book.

In general, a lot of topics: Audio shiurium

Specifically about the evidence for Judaism:

Historical Verification of the Torah - Standards & Prophecy (1 of 4) (download)
Historical Verification of the Torah - Sinai & Miracles (2 of 4) (download)
Historical Verification of the Torah - Revelation (3 of 4) (download)
Historical Verification of the Torah - Higher Quality of Life (4 of 4) (download)

Evidence for Oral Torah (some information may be repetitive, but some not, and both the questions asked and the answers given were fascinating to me, although not without problems, in my opinion):

The Oral Law (download)

The Oral Law part 1 Direct Download
The Oral Law part 2 Direct Download
The Oral Law part 3 Direct Download
The Oral Law part 4 Direct Download
The Oral Law part 5 Direct Download

Some stuff in these lecture I found interesting to contemplate, but not completely convincing:

Evidence For The Soul 1 Of 5 (download)
Evidence For The Soul 2 Of 5 (download)
Evidence For The Soul 3 Of 5 (download)
Evidence For The Soul 4 Of 5 (download)
Evidence For The Soul - How Do You Know 5 Of 5 (download)

And, although this has nothing to do with the evidence for Judaism, I also found these lectures interesting:

Golden Calf - Torah Myths Direct Download

Evolution & the Age of the Universe Direct Download (not the evolution bit so much)

Men & Women - Philosophical Intro (download)
Men & Women - Philosophical Intro - Q's (download)
Men & Women - Legal Intro (download)
Men & Women - Legal Intro - Q's (download)
The Roles of Women & Men - Deep Background (download)
The Roles of Women & Men - Another Thought (download)

(Regarding the last set, my rabbi's wife says: "Nice theory; little to do with reality, at least, in most communities".)

In general, the closer Rabbi Gottlieb stayed to simple, pure philosophical questions, the better the lectures were for me (in the core philosophical questions, I still find his discussions the best I have encountered, despite my problems in minor issues).

In the areas concerning science, there was quite a lot lacking or misinterpreted, although I found myself in agreement with his main theses. In the questions of core Yiddishkeit (i.e., once you accepted the idea that Torah is true), such as free will, reward and punishment, reasons for mitzvos, roles of men and women, etc., etc., I found the philosophical discussion excellent, but overall discussion lacking without the contribution of Chassidus Chabad (and I am not saying this in the sense of "my favorite spice was missing from the pie", but "one of the key ingredients that would transform a damn good dish into a masterpiece was missing").

[Any personal opinion is very humble, limited and subjective, of course.]