As someone raised as a Muslim, I feel I have a lot of misconceptions against Jews and Judaism. Where can I find a Rabbi to answer my tough questions and get over my prejudice?

Hi there,

I live in Bangladesh and I was raised as a Muslim. There are no synanogues in Bangladesh and no Jews who live openly and publicly. Bangladesh does not have any diplomatic relations with Israel and Bangladeshis are not allowed to visit Israel and Israelis are not allowed to visit Bangladesh. The only public figure known to visit Israel was jailed for a long time.

The only thing we know about people from the Jewish faith is through Imams at the mosque, discussion among people and the news media.

The general views on Jews and to some extent Judaism is very negative. The Imam at my local mosque frequently speaks during Friday sermons about how Jewish have always had enmity towards Muslims and they will be the enemies of Muslims. How they have persecuted Muslims in ancient times and still today (like in the modern Palestinian-Israeli conflict).

My colleagues say that there is no thing called Adam, only Adom and that Jews have manipulated the scriptures and therefore their scripture like the Hebrew Bible is wrong.

Now, I want to be open minded and hear the other side’s perspective before holding a judgemental belief about them in my mind. I also dont think people can be as bad as they say. There must be more complexities involved. I want to know the truth and clear my prejudices if my beliefs are inaccurate.

There is a lot of information online and its difficult to know fact from fiction. Its also mind bogglingly overwhelming and difficult to get answers to my specific questions.

I am looking for a Rabbi with whom I can talk to. Over chat or even over video and who can answer my questions, honestly, without jusgement and without sugarcoating. The truth and only the truth. Someone okay with tough and controversial questions. Someone who is objective and familiar with the science (history as well as archaeology) as well as Judaism and can cite reliable sources as evidence to back up their claims. I am looking for someone who does not live in Israel and is a citizen of some other country, because talking to Israelis is illegal (I honestly dont know)?

PS: My apologies if anything in my post is offensive or disrespectful or anti-semitic. It is not meant to be. I am just trying to know the truth to shed my prejudice and become a better person.