Baal teshuva movement - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Note: This article is about the movement. See Orthodox outreach, Reform outreach
Reform Judaism outreach
Reform Judaism outreach refers to those organizational and educational efforts by the Reform Judaism, Progressive Judaism and Liberal Judaism Jewish denominations meant to reach out and attract Jews and non-Jews, often the spouses and children in cases of Jewish intermarriage, to Judaism and to...

, and Conservative outreach
Conservative Judaism outreach
Conservative Judaism outreach refers to those organizational and educational efforts by the Conservative Judaism and Masorti Jewish denominations meant to reach out and attract Jews and non-Jews, often the spouses and children in cases of Jewish intermarriage, to Judaism and to synagogue...

for more information about the rabbis and organizations that deal with the movement. See Repentance in Judaism
Repentance in Judaism
Repentance in Judaism known as teshuva , is the way of atoning for sin in Judaism.According to Gates of Repentance, a standard work of Jewish ethics written by Rabbenu Yonah of Gerona, if someone commits a sin, a forbidden act, he can be forgiven for that sin if he performs teshuva, which...

about the term "Baal teshuva
Baal teshuva
Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...

" that describes a penitent or returnee to Judaism.

The Baal Teshuva movement is description of the return of secular Jews to religious Judaism. The term "baal teshuva

Baal teshuva

Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...

" is a term from the Talmud literally meaning "master

Baʿal

Baʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...

of repentance

Repentance in Judaism

Repentance in Judaism known as teshuva , is the way of atoning for sin in Judaism.According to Gates of Repentance, a standard work of Jewish ethics written by Rabbenu Yonah of Gerona, if someone commits a sin, a forbidden act, he can be forgiven for that sin if he performs teshuva, which...

". The term is used to refer to a worldwide phenomenon

Phenomenon

A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...

among the Jewish people. It is distinct from the non-Orthodox Jewish Renewal

Jewish Renewal

Jewish Renewal , is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices...

movement.

It began during the mid-twentieth century, when large numbers of previously highly assimilated Jews chose to move in the direction of practicing Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

. The spiritual and religious journey of those involved has brought them to become involved with all the Jewish denominations

Jewish denominations

Jewish religious movements , sometimes called "denominations" or "branches", include different groups which have developed among Jews from ancient times and especially in the modern era among Ashkenazi Jews living in anglophone countries...

, the most far-reaching stage being when they choose to follow Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

and its branches such as Haredi Judaism

Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....

and Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...

. This movement has continued unabated until the present time and has been noted by scholars who have written articles and books about its significance to modern Jewish history

Jewish history

Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...

.

In response to this movement among the Jewish people there has been a corresponding response from the various Jewish denominations

Jewish denominations

and rabbis, particularly from Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

, which calls its response kiruv or kiruv rechokim ("bringing close/er [the] distant [ones]") or keruv, and the terms "baal teshuva" (Hebrew: בעל תשובה‎) and "kiruv" are often linked together indicating that the subject about either Jews returning to traditional Judaism or the efforts and responses to it. There has also been increased Reform Judaism outreach

Reform Judaism outreach

Reform Judaism outreach refers to those organizational and educational efforts by the Reform Judaism, Progressive Judaism and Liberal Judaism Jewish denominations meant to reach out and attract Jews and non-Jews, often the spouses and children in cases of Jewish intermarriage, to Judaism and to...

and Conservative Judaism outreach

Conservative Judaism outreach

Conservative Judaism outreach refers to those organizational and educational efforts by the Conservative Judaism and Masorti Jewish denominations meant to reach out and attract Jews and non-Jews, often the spouses and children in cases of Jewish intermarriage, to Judaism and to synagogue...

that has propelled the movement.

The baal teshuva movement has taken place wherever Jews live and in many different places under all sorts of varying circumstances:

The baal teshuva movement — returnees to traditional Jewish observance — is one of the most startling phenomena of Jewish life in the past 20 years. New York magazine reports:

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.

Therefore the baal teshuva movement, as a modern version of previous Jewish "national" and international movements cuts across all cultures, continents, and communities. The Jews of the former USSR have little in common with American hippie

Hippie

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...

s, and Israelis

Culture of Israel

The culture of Israel developed long before the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 and combines the heritage of secular and religious lives. Much of the diversity in Israel's culture comes from the diversity of its population...

have little in common with South African or Australian Jews

History of the Jews in Australia

The history of the Jews in Australia dates back to 1788, when a number of Jews were among the convicts brought to the country aboard the First Fleet to establish the first European settlement on the continent, on the site of present-day Sydney. Today, an estimated 120,000 Jews live in Australia...

but in all those countries and their Jewish centers there are Baal teshuva communities that keep on sprouting up at all levels, in all professions and walks of life.

The Baal teshuva movement and the events it encompasses received the attention of President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

in a speech to the Bnai Brith

B'nai B'rith

B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....

in 1984 who quoted from the writings of Irving Kristol

Irving Kristol

Irving Kristol was an American columnist, journalist, and writer who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism"...

Now, there's one final aspect of our national renewal that I must mention: the return that millions of Americans are making to faith — faith as a source of strength, comfort, and meaning.

This new spiritual awareness extends to people of all religions and all beliefs. Irving Kristol has written, "the quest for a religious identity is, in the postwar world, a general phenomenon, experienced by Jews, Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s, and Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s alike. It does not seem, moreover, to be a passing phenomenon, but rather derives from an authentic crisis — a moral and spiritual crisis as well as a crisis in Western, liberal-secular thought."

In our country, Kristol asserts, "Ever since the Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...

and the emergence of the state of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, American Jews have been reaching toward a more explicit and meaningful Jewish identity. And according to Rabbi Seymour Siegel of the Jewish Theological Seminary

Jewish Theological Seminary of America

The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...

, this trend among American Jews

American Jews

American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...

is illustrated by a growing interest in Jewish history

Jewish history

and the Hebrew language

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, and by the rise of — and I hope I get this right — Baal Teshuva movement — a powerful movement of Jews, young and old, Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

, Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

, and Reformed
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

, returning to the ancient ways of the faith.

As Americans of different religions find new meaningfulness in their beliefs, we do so together, returning together to the bedrock values of family, hard work, and faith in the same loving and almighty God. And as we welcome this rebirth of faith, we must even more fervently attack ugly intolerance. We have no place for haters in America.

In the United States

Appearing as an identifiable movement 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.

Rabbi Yosef Blau

Yosef Blau

Yosef Blau is an Orthodox rabbi. He currently serves as the Mashgiach ruchani at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He is also the president of the Religious Zionists of America.-Education:...

the mashgiach ruchani

Mashgiach ruchani

Mashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...

of Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...

has noted:

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.

The Baal teshuva movement has not just been about Orthodox Jewish outreach alone as it is a far wider phenomenon

Phenomenon

A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...

that has been noted, researched and written about by sociologists, historians and Jewish thinkers since the 1960s when it came into the fore. The Baal teshuva movement, in its origins, was as much inspired by the sixties and seventies counterculture, especially the counterculture of the 1960s

Counterculture of the 1960s

The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...

and the Hippie

Hippie

movement (Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach tried to channel the counterculture and its music into a Jewish direction through his music and teachings), the Woodstock Festival

Woodstock Festival

Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...

, the drug subculture

Drug subculture

Drug subcultures are examples of countercultures, which are primarily defined by recreational drug use.Drug subcultures are groups of people united by a common understanding of the meaning and value of the incorporation into one's life of the drug in question...

, the new interest in Eastern religion

Eastern religion

This article is about far east and Indian religions. For other eastern religions see: Eastern_world#Eastern_cultureEastern religions refers to religions originating in the Eastern world —India, China, Japan and Southeast Asia —and thus having dissimilarities with Western religions...

s (Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan

Aryeh Kaplan

Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan was a noted American Orthodox rabbi and author known for his "intimate knowledge of both physics and kabbalah." He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and mysticism to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and...

tried to channel that interest into a Jewish direction through his writings) and the spirit of youth rebellion that pervades US high schools and college campuses. It was in recognition of this phenomenon and in response to it that the earliest emissaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...

went out to connect with these people and "recruit" them to Judaism.

Whereas the earliest Baal teshuva trends were partly related to the prevailing anti-establishment atmosphere of the 1960s it was an outcome of the great rise in Jewish pride in the wake of Israel's victory in 1967's Six-Day War

Six-Day War

The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

: "It can even be said the inspiration rising from the Six Day War fueled the beginnings of the baal teshuva movement."
The research of Janet Aviad also suggests that the oft-claimed “miraculous” Israeli victory in 1967 gave momentum to the Ba’al Teshuva movement.

Although the effects of the Holocaust

The Holocaust

and the sway of the counterculture movement

Counterculture of the 1960s

led many to abandon their religious upbringing, others were willing to experiment with alternate liberated life-styles, and as part of this experimentation it was intriguing to them to explore Jewish Sabbath observance

Shabbat

Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

, intensive prayer

Jewish services

Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....

, and deeper Torah

Torah study

Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...

and Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

study. Many of these people adopted a fully Orthodox Jewish way of life, and although some eventually dropped out entirely or found their path within Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

or 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 called Chabad

Chabad

Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...

) sent emissaries to hundreds of Jewish communities around the country and the world. Among the non-Orthodox, the Reform

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

movement grew, which was due in large measure to the joining of many intermarried couples.

In the former Soviet Union

The 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

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, in reaction to the USSR's pro-Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

and anti-Zionist

Anti-Zionism

Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...

policies, and in reaction to USSR's perceived antisemitism.

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 ostracized by government organizations including the KGB

KGB

The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

. Many hundreds became refuseniks

Refusenik (Soviet Union)

Refusenik was an unofficial term for individuals, typically but not exclusively, Soviet Jews, who were denied permission to emigrate abroad by the authorities of the former Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc...

(otkazniks in Russian), willing to suffer jail time to demonstrate their new-found longing for Zion

Zion

Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...

. 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 Yeshivos, came on visits in order to teach how to learn Torah and how to observe Jewish law

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

. Jewish ritual objects, such as tefillin

Tefillin

Tefillin also called phylacteries are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form , it is loosely used as a singular as...

, mezuzot

Mezuzah

A mezuzah is usually a metal or wooden rectangular object that is fastened to a doorpost of a Jewish house. Inside it is a piece of parchment inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah...

, siddur

Siddur

A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...

im, and even matzah

Matzo

Matzo or matzah is an unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the week-long Passover holiday, when eating chametz—bread and other food which is made with leavened grain—is forbidden according to Jewish law. Currently, the most ubiquitous type of Matzo is the traditional Ashkenazic...

, 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 spontaneous grassroots

Grassroots

A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...

movement from the ground up and was part of the refusenik movement

Refusenik (Soviet Union)

; it came as a great surprise to the Soviet authorities, and even to the Jewish community outside the USSR and it eventually contributed to Aliyah from the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states and the collapse of the Soviet Union and emigration to Israel. Young leaders included Yosef Mendelevich, Eliyahu Essas

Eliyahu Essas

Rabbi Eliyahu Essas is a notable former leader of Soviet Jewry and one of the founders of Baal Teshuva movement in the Soviet Union. Currently he lives in Jerusalem, Israel.- Refusenik :...

(who eventually became a rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

), Herman Branover

Herman Branover

Herman Branover is Russian Israeli physicist and Jewish educator. He is best known in the Jewish world as an inspiring author, translator, publisher, and educator. Branover is known in the world scientific community as the leading pioneer of the field of magnetohydrodynamics...

, and Yitzchok Kogan, who all later moved to Israel

Aliyah

Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

and are now actively teaching other Russian emigres in Israel, aside from Kogan, who leads a community in Moscow.

In Israel

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.

Rabbi Aharon Feldman

Aharon Feldman

Aharon Feldman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001....

’s observes 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

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

.’’

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 "chozer biteshuva" in Hebrew

Hebrew language

. Schools were established dedicated to the intensive study of Torah

Torah study

Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...

especially 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 in Jerusalem. Two significant institutions have been the Aish HaTorah

Aish HaTorah

Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...

("fire of Torah") yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

headed by Rabbi Noach Weinberg, and the Ohr Somayach

Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem

Ohr Somayach was founded in 1970. It is a yeshiva based in Jerusalem, Israel, catering mostly to young Jewish men, usually of college age, who are already interested in learning about Judaism...

yeshiva headed by Rabbi Nota Schiller

Nota Schiller

Nota Schiller is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, together with Rabbi Mendel Weinbach. He is an influential figure in the baal teshuva movement, having guided generations of students with little or no Jewish background to master the classical...

. Both of these rabbis had degrees from American universities and were able to speak to the modern mind-set.

Chabad

Chabad

Hasidism

Hasidic Judaism

, with many Chabad house

Chabad house

A Chabad house is a centre for disseminating Orthodox Judaism by the Chabad movement. Chabad Houses are run by the local Shaliach , who was sent to that place by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who founded all Chabad Houses...

s throughout Israel, and yeshiva programs for Israelis, Russians, French, and Americans, reach out to thousands. Followers of Chabad can be seen attending tefillin booths at the Western Wall

Western Wall

The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...

and Ben Gurion International Airport

Ben Gurion International Airport

Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...

as well as other public places, and distribute Shabbat

Shabbat

candles on Fridays. There are also Chabad houses in almost every location that Jews might be located, whether as permanent residents, on business, or tourists.

Rav Amnon Yitzhak

Amnon Yitzhak

Amnon Yitzhak , is an Orthodox Haredi Israeli.Harav Amnon Yitzhak is best known for his involvement in Orthodox Judaism outreach . He is involved in activities which are centered on helping Jews to become more religious or observant...

has claimed to bring 1 million plus Jews back to Torah.

Challenges, critiques and difficulties

As with all social movements there is controversy and criticism. Researchers have debated the "drop-out" rate from this movement and the reasons for it and new challenges that are now presented:

Now, many of the younger Baby Boomers

Baby boomer

A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom and who grew up during the period between 1946 and 1964. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even...

and Generation X

Generation X

Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...

ers are finding their way back to the synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

. 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 of American Jews

American Jews

do not know how to read a Hebrew

Hebrew language

prayer book

Siddur

A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...

, and this makes it difficult for them to participate in an active manner in synagogue ritual. This frustrates them and their egalitarian religious expectations. Rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

s reach 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, with God

Names of God in Judaism

In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...

. Given the barriers of language, though, it is a difficult challenge.’’

In spite of a the barriers and challenges, the Baal teshuva movement has lost neither strength nor momentum, as the movement continues to grow spontaneously among all sectors and classes of Jews worldwide because as a grassroots movement with its own natural life.
Therefore, while the Baal teshuva movement has made an impact it has its limits:

The Baal teshuva movement is a movement of Jews who have "returned" to religion or become more observant. While interest in religion may be on the rise, it has not been sufficient to offset the general demographic loss resulting from intermarriage and acculturation.

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In the United States

In the former Soviet Union

In Israel

Challenges, critiques and difficulties

See also

External links