One of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of being a pulpit rabbi in our age, is the making and welcoming of a Bal T'shuva into an established Jewish community. The challenges involved is two fold; one must present Judaism to the returnee it a way they will understand and embrace and help them overcome old ideas and habits to become religious. A second and equally difficult task is the acceptance of people in the congregation and community of a Jew that has in the past committed sins and now is looking to return. To accept that this person is sincere in trying to change and not belittle or remind me of his sinful past.
It is the Rabbi's job, or whoever is into kiruv, to try to achieve this balance.
I believe this is first done by reeducating both the BT and the FFB in the community about what is the meaning of tshuva in how one must view another Jew.
Whether that Jew chooses to embrace yiddshkiet or not, it is imperative to look at him or her as an equal.
This applies to the FFB ( Frum from birth) who must accept the BT ( Bal tshuva)
the BT who must not look down or judge the FFB who seems to have stagnated in his Judaism.
To better explain it to another we need to better understand this ourselves and live the idea that Tshuva is not only for a sinner but for every Jew.
All of us are in essence both a BT and an FFB. A FFB still have areas that are in need of improvement and a BT even before doing tshuva has done good; hence a Mitzvos.
Yisroel milmaim mitzvos krimun- every Jew is full of mitzvos like a pomegranate with seeds.
So what does tshuva, loosely translated as repentance, mean.
On a halachic level the mitzva of tshuva is for the person who has committed a "Chet"- a sin in the Torah and now must repent and correct that sin. That process is called Tshuva. It entails has three steps:
a) regretting having committed the sin.
b) verbally confessing the sin.
c)to accept never to commit that sin again (Rambam Hilchos Tshuva Perek 1 Halacha 1 ).
According to Sod-Secret and soul level of the Torah, The Zohar (Chelek 3 , page153:2) writes that Moshiach will bring the tzaddikim to tshuvo; "Oso l'asova tzadikai b'tiuvta" . Rabbi Shneur Zalmen of Lidia - the Bal Ha" Tanya( Torah Ohr Parshat V'yechi) explains that the idea of tshuva is the "shuva" returning of the soul to back to where at has come from. The soul having descended into the body now yearns to return back to G-d, it source.
Hence tshuva is needed only for one who sinned, but tzaddikim need to do tshuva as well.
They differ in that tshuva of the sinner, is addition to a "returning to G-d", to achieve forgiveness. while the tshuva of the tzadik is to bring him to a higher level of serving G-d and closer to Him.
The higher level that the Tzadik now reaches by becoming a Bal Tshuva is to serve
G-d; "bchali yeter" with more fervor. To serve not in limited way and only to fulfil the halachic obligation but with mesrat nefesh-self sacrifice.
This yearning and drive can only come if the soul has been separated from G-d. Whetehr through coming down to earth in a physical body or committing sins and going gasint G-d will. it is a like a sling shot that the further it is pulled back the greater the force it will spring forth.
Today it is very difficult to find pure tzaddkim who have no sin or sinners that are all evil. A jew today is a combination of both.
Part tzaddik part bal tshuva.
We can see a person who is FFB who in certain areas in Yiddishkiet is very weak and decides to do tshuva for it. In that area he has the element of Tshuva and is more careful -"bcheli yeter" than before. And a BT coming from no observance to practice, will find there where jewish practices they did before they became "officially religious" because they are jews.
The perfect jew should be one that is a combination of both. BBT and FFB in every area of life and Jewish observance. To have never sinned but to serve hashem with the fervor of one who has.
on a practical level this means that even a person who is FFB can fall into the trap of "mitzvas anashim mlumoda" doing the mitzvas by habit. The BT will arouse in him the desire to reexamine what he has done before mechanically and now do with more meaning.
while the FFB should embrass the BT and explain that even before they did tshuva they where Jews and by doing Tshuva they are now only revealing what was always there. What a wonderfull comunity that would be!
Yet this is all fine in theory, in practice however, when a unaffilated jew comes into your commmunity, and you teach them yiddishkiet they than look at that person and other FFB's if they are actually practicing what they preach.
The Shulchan Aruch says no speaking in shul; people are speaking.
the Shulcan Aruch says no gossip and people gosssip.
The Bal Tshuva is now wondering where is the beauty and truth of what he was taught. while the FFB is annoid that the person they brought to yiddshkiet is now trying to teach them or worse, looking down on them!
This can test a community in many ways. A communty can decide to curb its outreach due to its desire of not having in thier communty a person who will rock the status qou.
on the other hand it can also loose they people who are FFB and been in the comunity for years, supoorting it and running it becuase they feel they are now being left behind and being judged to be not religous enough by the BT.
Obvousily every Bal Tshuva is a blesing to any community and brings it to a higher level yet he to can make uncomforatble other memebers who do not have that same fervor yet and want to come to shul without being bothered about improving onself.
Here Both parties need to understand that a community is made of all kinds of people and none should be made uncomforatble by another.
G-d willing more on this next time.
too see more of my writings please look at http://rabbiyw.blogspot.com/
I am also avaible for speaking engagments and the like for fee.
to contact me email rabbiyw@yahoo.com
or Congregation Israel of Kingsbay 3903 Nostrand av Brooklyn ny 11235
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