Daniel Ortner grew up Jewish. His mom had a strong belief in God and would routinely make latkes for Hannukah. His father's family was deeply rooted in Judaism. Some of his father's relatives died in the Holocuast.
As a child, Ortner attended a Jewish private elementary school in South Florida. But then, a tragedy in high school shattered his faith - when his mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She passed away on his 18th birthday, right around Hannukah.
"I couldn't accept how [God] could do that to her. So, for several years I became a pretty ardent atheist. I was very adamant that there was no God," Ortner says.
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