Baal teshuva
| Part ofa serieson |
| JewsandJudaism |
|---|
| Part ofa serieson |
| Jewish outreach |
|---|
| Core topics |
| Related topics |
InJudaism,aba'al teshuvah(Hebrew:בעל תשובה;for a woman,בעלת תשובה,ba'alat teshuvaorba'alas teshuva;plural,בעלי תשובה,ba'aleiteshuva,'owner of return [toGodor his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed asecularlifestyle or a lessfrumform of Judaism.
Thebaal teshuva movementis a description of the return ofsecular Jewsto religious Judaism. The term is used to refer to a worldwidephenomenonamong theJewishpeople.[1][2]
Definition
[edit]The phrasebaal teshuvagenerally refers to a Jew from a non-Orthodoxbackground who becomes religiously observant in an Orthodox fashion; however, the concept can also encompass Orthodox-leaning Jews who become stricter in their observance.[3][4]
The termbaal teshuvais from theTalmudand means "masterofrepentance".[5]In Israel,chozer b'teshuvah(חוזר בתשובה;plural:chozrim b’teshuvah), meaning "returning to return" or "returning to repentance" is more commonly used.[3][6]Hence, abaal teshuvais a Jew who transgressed thehalakhah(Jewish law) knowingly or unknowingly, but has completed a process of introspection to "return" to the full observance of God'smitzvot.[4]
Interpretation
[edit]According toMaimonides'sMishneh Torahaba'al teshuvahstands higher inshamayim(lit. 'heaven') than a "frumfrom birth ", even higher than atzadik.[7][8]
According to the teachings of theTorah,"whoever judges himself will not be judged"; however, in the described history ofTalmudictimes and earlyHasidism,many tzadikim were able to "see" the transgressions of others.[citation needed]
Mar b. R. Ashi said: I am disqualified to judge in a scholar’s lawsuit. What is the reason? Because I love him as much as I love myself, and a person is unable to find fault with himself.[9]
| Repentance in JudaismTeshuva "Return" |
|---|
|
Repentance, atonement and higher ascent inJudaism |
|
|
| In theHebrew Bible |
| Aspects |
| In theJewish calendar |
| In contemporary Judaism |
History
[edit]In the United States
[edit]Thebaal teshuvamovement began to appear as an identifiable movement in the United States in the 1960s, as a growing number of young Jews 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.[citation needed]
The Baal teshuva movement was also inspired by thesixties and seventies counterculture,especially thecounterculture of the 1960sand theHippiemovement (RabbiShlomo Carlebachtried to channel the counterculture and its music into a Jewish direction through his music and teachings[10]), theWoodstock Festival,thedrug subculture,the new interest inEastern religions(RabbiAryeh Kaplantried to channel that interest into a Jewish direction through his writings) and the spirit of youth rebellion that pervades[citation needed]US high schools and college campuses. It was in recognition of this phenomenon and in response to it that the earliestemissariesof the Lubavitcher Rebbe, RabbiMenachem Mendel Schneerson,went out to connect with these people and "recruit" them to Judaism.
According to RabbiYosef Blauthemashgiach ruchaniofYeshiva University:
A baal teshuva movement has emerged with a significant number of Jews from non-traditional homes returning to the observance of grandparents and great grandparents. In fact one of the challenges facing modern Orthodoxy is that many of these returnees are attracted to a European Orthodoxy.[11]
Whereas early Baal teshuva trends were partly related to the prevailing anti-establishment atmosphere of the 1960s, an increase in Jewish pride in the wake of Israel's victory in 1967'sSix-Day Warfueled and gave momentum to the beginnings of thebaal teshuvamovement. "[12][13]
Although the effects ofthe Holocaustand the sway of the counterculture movement led many to abandon their religious upbringing, others were willing to experiment with alternate liberated lifestyles, and as part of this experimentation it was intriguing to them to explore JewishSabbath observance,intensiveprayer,and deeperTorahandTalmudstudy. Many of these people adopted a fully Orthodox Jewish way of life, and although some eventually dropped out entirely or found their path withinConservative Judaismor other streams of Judaism, or even joined other faiths, others chose to remain with Orthodoxy:
... in the 1970s. Orthodoxy began a remarkable revival, spurred on by the missionizing done by the Baal Teshuva movement among other Jews. Lubavitch (also calledChabad) sentemissariesto hundreds of Jewish communities around the country and the world. Among the non-Orthodox, theReformmovement grew, which was due in large measure to the joining of many intermarried couples.[14]
In 1986,New Yorkmagazinereported:
The people making this sweeping change in their life grew up in a secular world. They went to good colleges and got excellent jobs. They didn't become Orthodox because they were afraid, or because they needed a militaristic set of commands for living their lives. They chose Orthodoxy because it satisfied their need for intellectual stimulation and emotional security.[15]
In the former Soviet Union
[edit] |
The baal teshuva movement also appeared in the formerSoviet 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 ofIsrael,in reaction to the USSR's pro-Arabandanti-Zionistpolicies, and in reaction to USSR'santisemitism.
The Israeli victory in 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 ostracized by government organizations including theKGB.Many hundreds becamerefuseniks(otkazniksin Russian), willing to suffer jail time to demonstrate their new-found longing forZion.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, often young students in Chabad Yeshivot, came on visits in order to teach how to learn Torah and how to observeJewish law.Jewish ritual objects, such astefillin,mezuzot,siddurim,and evenmatzah,were also smuggled into Russia. With the fall of the Communist regime, there is now a rich resource of Russian religious texts that flourishes and caters to Russian Jews living in Russia, America, and Israel.
The return-to-Judaism movement was a spontaneousgrassrootsmovement from the ground up and was part of the refusenik movement; it came as a great surprise to the Soviet authorities, and even to the Jewish community outside the USSR and it eventually contributed toAliyah from the Soviet Union and post-Soviet statesand thecollapse of the Soviet Union and emigration to Israel.Young leaders includedYosef Mendelevich,Eliyahu Essas(who eventually became arabbi),Herman Branover,and Yitzchok Kogan, who all latermoved to Israeland are now actively teaching other Russian emigres in Israel, aside from Kogan, who leads a community in Moscow.
In Israel
[edit]During the 1960s 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.
RabbiAharon Feldmanobserves that:
Decades of indoctrination by the secular school systems and the media in Israel have failed to have any effect on the sense of identity which most Jews feel with Judaism—as recent surveys have shown. The masses have become aware of the emptiness—and the terror—of a purposeless, consumerist culture. As a result, among the grassroots levels there is a deep yearning for spiritual values.This yearning has taken on massive proportions as expressed in the baal teshuva movement.The secret is out that Jews believe in God and that they have a Torah.[16]
In Israel, special schools developed for the newly-religious, who came to be called "Baalei teshuva" (m. plural), "Baal teshuva" (m. singular), a "Baalat teshuva" refers to a female, and "chozeret biteshuva" inHebrew.Schools were established dedicated to the intensivestudy of Torahspecially designed for the newly religious students who wanted to devote time to intensive study of classical texts with the ancient rabbinic commentaries. These schools opened in the early 1970s, mainly based inJerusalem.Two significant institutions have been theAish HaTorah( "fire of Torah" )Yeshivaheaded by RabbiNoach Weinberg,and theOhr SomayachYeshiva headed by RabbisNota Schillerand Mendel Weinbach.[17]Both of these rabbis had degrees from American universities and were able to speak to the modern mind-set. See alsoDiaspora Yeshiva,Machon Meir.
ChabadHasidism,with manyChabad housesthroughout Israel, and yeshiva programs for Israelis, Russians, French, and Americans, reach out to thousands. Followers of Chabad can be seen attending tefillin booths at theWestern WallandBen Gurion International Airportas well as other public places, and distributeShabbatcandles on Fridays. There are also Chabad houses in almost every location that Jews might be located, whether as permanent residents, on business, or tourists.
AmongSephardiandMizrahi Jews,RabbiAmnon Yitzhakand RabbiReuven Elbazare considered the leaders of the baal teshuva movement in Israel.[18]
Challenges, critiques and difficulties
[edit]As with all social movements, there is controversy and criticism. Early twenty-first century researchers have debated the "drop-out" rate from this movement and the reasons for it[19]and new challenges that are now presented. From a 2005 paper:
Now, many of the youngerBaby BoomersandGeneration Xersare finding their way back to thesynagogue.Some are spiritually hungry; others are just looking for a place to park the children. Either way, they join congregations in large numbers on the suburban frontier. However, it is not so easy to become religiously involved. Meaningful religious life requires knowledge and learning takes time, something that many young families lack. Most of the parents also lack basic religious skills. The vast majority ofAmerican Jewsdo not know how to read aHebrewprayer book,and this makes it difficult for them to participate in an active manner in synagogue ritual. This frustrates them and their egalitarian religious expectations.Rabbisreach out to as many different types of people as possible and encourage them to find ways of connecting to the congregation, and, through the synagogue, withGod.Given the barriers of language, though, it is a difficult challenge.[14]
See also
[edit]- Chabad outreach
- Orthodox Judaism outreach
- Reform Judaism outreach
- Conservative Judaism outreach
- Silent Holocaust
- Jewish fundamentalism
- Tinok shenishba
References
[edit]- ^Dana Evan KaplanContemporary American Judaism: transformation and renewal2009 "Some found it in ahavurahand later inJewish Renewal;others found it in the baal teshuva movement where (hundreds of) thousands of Jews have returned to becoming Torah observant... of Jewish Renewal that is the Baal Teshuvah movement. It is unprecedented in Jewish history. In ed. Mark Avrum EhrlichEncyclopedia of the Jewish diaspora: origins, experiences, and culture: Volume 12009 Page 627 "It is important to note that although Renewal was fed by the Baal Teshuva movement (new returnees to Judaism) in the late 1960s... The Baal Teshuva movement was a movement of disenchanted Diaspora and Israeli youth who turned back to...
- ^Timothy MillerAmerica's alternative religions1995 Page 113 "The Baal Teshuva movement addressed these same issues. Men and women attracted to Orthodox Judaism articulated a vision of renewed selfhood. M. Herbert Danzger, studying this phenomenon, commented on the affinity between the ideals of..."
- ^abLevin, Sala (4 March 2016)."Jewish Word: Baal Teshuvah".Moment Magazine.
- ^ab"What Is A Ba'al Teshuvah?".My Jewish Learning.
The phenomenon has inspired a number of scholarly works. Among them,BecomingFrum,an ethnographic look at how the newly religious learn the language and customs of their newOrthodoxcommunities [...]
- ^Lisa AikenThe baal teshuva survival guide2009 p1 "Since the baal teshuva movement began in the 1960s, tens of thousands of Jews have become observant. The movement's effects were so noticeable by the 1980s that the New York Times, New York Magazine, the Baltimore Jewish Times,..."
- ^Dana Kessler (11 December 2018)."'Baal Teshuvah': The Next Generation ".Tablet.
- ^Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin."Tzaddik — The Baal Teshuvah".Chabad.org.
- ^"Laws of Repentance 7:4, citing Berakot, 34b. C. G."Mishneh Torah.
- ^Finkel, Avraham Yaakov.Ein YaakovJason Aronson,Inc (p. 116)
- ^"Rabbi Shlomo Charlebach (1925–1994)".Jew of the Day.
- ^Blau, Yosef (October 26, 2004)."American Orthodoxy in the Twenty First Century".The Commentator.Archived fromthe originalon 2011-09-27.
- ^Goldstein, Moshe (2007)."The Miracle of '67: Forty Years Since the Six-Day War".Where What When.Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 2007.
- ^Aviad, Janet. 1983.Return to Judaism: Religious Renewal in Israel.Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- ^abDana Evan Kaplan, ed. (2005)."The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism".Cambridge University Press.[permanent dead link]
- ^Jakobson, Cathryn (November 17, 1986)."The New Orthodox".New York.19(45).
- ^"Why the Secular Left Hates Judaism".Jerusalem Letter.Archived fromthe originalon December 3, 1998.
- ^"Rabbi Nota Schiller (" credited with being one of the visionary leaders of the Baal teshuva movement ")".ohr.edu. Archived fromthe originalon April 9, 2004.
- ^Kozlovsky Golan, Yvonne (2019).Site of Amnesia: The Lost Historical Consciousness of Mizrahi Jewry.BRILL. p. 78.ISBN9789004395626.
- ^Ribner, Melinda (April 2000).New Age Judaism: Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World.Simcha Press. p. 83.ISBN9781558747890.Cites her research that dropping out will occur if the newly-religious do not marry within five years.