The paper has two major parts. The first part articulates a working
definition of what is a traditional religious Jew. This includes a discussion of whether
it is necessary to have certain beliefs in order to be a religious Jew. Given the
definition in the first part, the second part argues that it is rationally defensible for some
persons to be traditional religious Jews. Included is a discussion of the notion of
rational defensibility. The paper closes by discussing whether different religions can
be rationally defensible for different persons.