Are you frum (observant) from birth?” is a question I am asked occasionally. While I feel that there are telltale signs that I was not born in a religious home (i.e. my pronunciation of some Yiddish words), those of us who decided to become Torah-observant at some point of our lives are accepted in “frum” communities like never before. Of course, there are some strongholds where the vast majority of people can trace their tradition of observance back for generations, but he Baal Teshuvah is becoming more and more commonplace. Almost every Jew has a cousin or a sibling who has decided to start living a Torah life. What really is a baal teshuvah?
“Baal teshuvah” literally means “master of repentance.” A baal teshuvah is a Jew who grew up in a secular household and who decides at some point to observe the commandments of the Torah. A baal teshuva is distinguished from a convert, in that the convert was born to non-Jewish parents, whereas the baal teshuvah was born to parents who were Jewish but not religious. The prospective baal teshuvah may encounter religious people who inspire him or her to start exploring the Torah life. Many times, this happens on college campuses or through friendships.
One of the reasons that there are more baal teshuvahs today than ever before is that Jewish Outreach movements have developed and taken hold in the fabric of Jewish life. A pioneer of the early outreach movement was Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn and his son in-law and successor, Menachem Mendel Schneersohn. These rabbis were leaders of the Chabad movement which stresses the intellectual aspect of Chassidic philosophy and bringing Jews closer to the Torah. There are Chabad houses in virtually every major city in the world to provide kosher food, schools and other services to Jews who live in the area or who are just passing by. In addition to Chabad, Aish Ha Torah and the followers of Shlomo Carlebach z’l have made great strides in bringing Jews closer to their roots.