Baal teshuva

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Baal teshuva (or baal teshuvah for male, baalat teshuvah for female, baalei teshuvah for plural) (Hebrew: "master of repentance") or chozer bi-teshuva ("one who returns in repentance") refers to a Jew (often secular) who has adopted strict observance of Judaism, or a more Jewishly observant lifestyle than previously practiced.

The baal teshuva phenomenon, sometimes also described as the "baal teshuva movement", is sometimes colloquially referred to as "born-again Judaism," because of its revivalistic aspects.

Within Orthodox Judaism the term baal teshuva refers to:

  1. Those Jews who were previously not Orthodox and then choose to affiliate with Orthodox Judaism or to
  2. An Orthodox Jew who has transgressed the Halakha ("Jewish law")and has "returned" to the observances of Orthodoxy;

Outside Orthodoxy this term has a wider use, and can refer to any formerly non-observant Jew who returns to traditional, observant Judaism.

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Origins

Appearing in the 1960s, a growing number of young Jews who had previously been raised in non-religious homes in the United States started to develop a strong interest in becoming a part of observant Judaism; many of these people, in contrast to sociological expectations, became attracted to observant Judaism within Orthodoxy.

This trend was partly related to the prevailing anti-establishment atmosphere of the 1960s. Although the effects of the Holocaust and the sway of the counter-culture led many to abandon their religious upbringing, others were willing to experiment with alternate 'liberated' life-styles, and it was thought to be 'cool' to experiment with Sabbath observance, intensive prayer, and deeper Torah and Talmud study. A great many of these people adopted a fully Orthodox Jewish way of life, and although many eventually dropped out entirely or found their path within Conservative Judaism, others remained.

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In the former Soviet Union

This baal teshuva movement also appeared in the former Soviet Union, which at that time had almost completely secularized its Jewish population. The rise of Jewish pride came in response to the growth of the State of Israel, in reaction to the USSR's pro-Arab and anti-Zionist policies, and in reaction to the USSR's anti-Semitism. The return-to-Judaism movement was a spontaneous movement from the ground up; it came as a great surprise to the Soviet authorities, and even to the Jewish community outside the USSR. Young leaders included Yosef Mendelevich, Eliyahu Essas, Herman Branover, and Yitzchok Kogan, who all later made Aliyah and are now actively teaching other Russian emigres in Israel, aside from Kogan who leads a community in Moscow.

The Israeli victory of the Six Day War in 1967 ignited the pride of Jews in the Soviet Union, particularly in Russia. Suddenly there were hundreds of thousands of Jews wanting to go to Israel, although they dared not express their desire too openly. Several thousand applied for exit visas to Israel and were instantly ostracised by government organs including the KGB. Many hundreds became refuseniks (known as otkazniks in Russian), willing to suffer jail time to demonstrate their new-found longing for Zion. In the middle of this there arose a new interest in learning about and practicing Judaism, an urge that the Communist government had long attempted to stamp out.

Many Russian Jews began to study any Jewish texts they could lay their hands on. Foreign rabbis came on visits in order to teach how to learn Torah and how to observe Jewish law. Jewish ritual objects, such as Tefilin, Mezuzot, Siddurim, and even Matzah, were also smuggled into Russia. Now there is a rich resource of Russian religious texts that flourishes and caters to Russian Jews living in Russia, America, and Israel.

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In Israel

During this time there was a movement among secular Israeli Jews that was essentially a search for spirituality. At the time, most Israeli parents were secular Zionists. While some Jews were hostile to traditional Judaism, a spiritual quest in the 1960s and 1970s caused some Israelis to seek answers in Jewish tradition.

In Israel, schools for the intensive study of Torah have been flourishing especially designed for the newly religious students who want to devote quality time to intensive study of classical texts with the ancient rabbinic commentaries. These schools opened in the early 1970s, mainly based in Jerusalem. Two significant institutions have been the Aish HaTorah Yeshiva headed by Rabbi Noach Weinberg, and the Ohr Somayach Yeshiva headed by Rabbi Nota Schiller. Both of these rabbis have degrees from American universities and are well able to speak to the modern mind-set.

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Orthodox outreach organizations

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the Chabad Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Judaism was responsible for turning Chabad's strength and activities towards outreach. He trained a large number of rabbinic emissaries who carried Chabad's understanding of Judaism across the world. Rabbis and their families were sent to teach college students, to build day schools, and to create youth camps. Most of these were geared towards their secular or less religious brethren. In the late 1960's the Chabad outreach model was, if not replicated, the inspiration in part for the founding of the non-hasidic, Haredi-affiliated institutions that eventually became the Aish HaTorah and Ohr Somayach yeshivas and outreach programs.

Aish HaTorah has had notable success. The Aish.com website attracts over 2 million visits each month, and 160,000 unique email subscribers. The site features articles, movies and audio segments on spirituality, parenting, dating, weekly Torah portion, Holocaust studies, and an "Ask the Rabbi" service. Spin-off sites in Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Russian are all leading websites in their respective languages. At their Discovery Seminar (in different languages) they teach material by prepared by a few Orthodox scientists specifically prepared in accordance with Aish's educational aims to support the authenticity of Judaism and its relevance. More than 100,000 people have attended Discovery, at university campuses, Jewish Community Centers, and Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox synagogues.

Within Modern Orthodox Judaism, the Union of Orthodox Congregations created the National Conference of Synagogue Youth NCSY to reach Jewish teenagers in public schools. Founded by Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, himself a noted charismatic speaker and writer, the movement also developed its in-house literature geared to the newly observant mainly written by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. Modern Orthodox professors presented Judaism in a very true and scientific way. Their books on Jewish sciences are the most readily accessible.

In 1987 an organization called National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) was founded. Headed by a leading outreach rabbi, Ephraim Buchwald in the first 15 years of its existenace it had managed to create, co-ordinate and guide thousands of volunteer teachers and tens of thousands of Jewish adults. They participated in programs advertised via the mass media and taught at Reform, Conservative and Orthodox synagogues, as well as Jewish non-religious organizations, such as Jewish Community Centers.

Using mass marketing techniques, NJOP advertise via the media for the Crash Course in Hebrew Reading, Crash Course in Judaism and other programs. Headed by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald they have won the support of major Jewish philanthropists, and an ever widening audience.

Kiruv professionals, also called outreach workers, have been convening national conventions to bring together the professional outreach workers with leading Orthodox rabbis. The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (later renamed The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs) (AJOP) was founded in 1988 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Orthodox outreach to Jewish women

One of the earliest pioneers of outreach to men and women is Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, the founder of the international Hineni movement in America. A Holocaust survivor she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism. She has written popular books and made tapes. Another notable pioneer of women's Orthodox outreach education is Rebbetzin Leah Kohn founder of the Jewish Renaissance Center (JRC) in New York.

Neve Yerushalayim, founded in 1970, is an Orthodox school for secular Jewish women seeking a college level introductory program Neve Yerushalayim College has a campus in Jerusalem. Its founder and guiding Dean is Rabbi Dr. Dovid Refson.

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Orthodox day schools

Torah Umesorah (The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools), is an American Orthodox organization; it provides resources to many different Orthodox Jewish day schools. It has an outreach effort called Partners in Torah. The method is to learn on the phone for an hour where it is not possible to do so in person. A similar program is called Jnet. Torah Umesorah also sponsors the SEED Program whereby young Yeshiva students spend a few weeks during their summers teaching, this is likely modeled on the Chabad Lubavitch "peace corps" which are Yeshiva-student pairs that visit remote Jewish communities over the summers to help develop Jewish communities by teaching.

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Publishers of English outreach literature

English, Russian, French and other translations of classical rabbinic literature and modern Jewish works are crucial to the growth and popularity of the Ba'al teshuva Movement. Some of the most important publishers include:

  • Kehot Publications, which is the publishing wing of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, has been publishing basic Jewish texts, and Chasidic works since 1941.
  • Mesorah Publications, publishers of the ArtScroll series [1], including the Shottenstein English translation of the Talmud.
  • Feldheim, which offers a mixture of classical texts and lighter literature. [2]
  • Merkos Publications, books on every subject [3]
  • Shamir Books, all kinds of Jewish books in many languages. [4]
  • Jason Aronson, which publishes texts from rabbis of all Jewish denominations.
  • Verdier in France published classical Jewish texts.
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Orthodox rabbis in outreach

The following lists are not meant to be definitive, they are just a sampling of prominent personalities mainly in Israel and America.
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First generation

  • Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994). Last Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch hasidism. He oversaw a vast international educational, outreach, community-building movement. In over 40 years, he trained about 5,000 young men and women to become rabbis and rebbetzins (a rebbetzin is a name for a rabbi's wife) as his personal emissaries all over the world, with the goal of attracting non-religious Jews towards a more intense religious life. In his last years, he was one of the most controversial figures in the Jewish world, because some of his followers desired to view him as the Jewish messiah.
  • Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner (1906–1980). The late Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn. Moulder of many Orthodox rabbis in America. Author of Pachad Yitzchok ("Fear [of] Isaac"). Arriving in New York in the 1930s, he attracted many young man and influenced them to study Talmud intensively in his "Chaim Berlin yeshiva". Many of them eventually became scholars and leaders of Orthodoxy active in education, chinuch and outreach, kiruv. He developed a unique Jewish philosophy combining mysticism, ethics, Talmud, hasidic thought, and law. His daughter, Bruria Hutner David (b.1936-), obtained a Ph.D. from Columbia University and became the dean of Bais Yakov of Jerusalem ("BJJ") reaching many young women. In the 1970s he moved to Jerusalem and built a new yeshiva called Pachad Yitzchok.
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Second generation

  • Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. Founder of the outreach Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan, Chief Rabbi of Efrat,Israel, and Dean of Ohr Torah Stone Institutions, Israel.
  • Rabbi Pinchas Stolper. Founder and builder of the Orthodox Union's NCSY youth outreach division.
  • Rabbi Berel Wein. Author of Orthodox Jewish history books, and an unofficial spokesman for the Orthodox viewpoint in the Jewish media.
  • Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld. Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Sh'or Yoshuv the first serious full-time American yeshiva geared to newly observant Jewish young men.
  • Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The "Singing Rabbi", composer and performer of many now-popular Jewish religious songs.
  • Rabbi Nachman Bulman. Pioneer educator, orator, author, translator, and builder of Jewish communities in America and Israel
  • Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. Translator of Torah literature into modern English and author of booklets and books used for both introductory and in-depth presentations of Judaism.
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External links

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Full-time baal teshuva yeshivas

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Part-time yeshivas

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Organizations

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Online resources

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