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Speaking from the perspective of your son @writeorwrong
There is very very little you can do that will have a positive effect on his religious observance.
The decision he made to leave Yeshiva was a very liberating one and trying to get him to go back is like telling a recently released inmate that he should go back to prision because all of his inmate friends miss him.
As someone who went through what your son did I can tell you that it is more than likely he will not go back into the cage of religious life.
The baby has been thrown out with the bath water because he has realized it is all bathwater. By having this wide divide between religious jews even, parents and schools have subconciously implanted the idea that if you arent “exactly what we are” you might as well be a non jew. Even though you will protest to the contrary and talk about that “one modern orthodox family that you know” you know it is true.
We’ve taken this divide and conquer attitude and deemed which ever group we belong to as the “gatekeepers of the mesorah” and it’s a sad and sick joke.
All you can do at this point is be his mother and not someone trying to cheerlead him back into a life that he doesnt find fuffilling and worthwhile to him at this point in his life.
That being said, there is still a chance to help him develop into a healthy and functioning adult. Offer to help get him into a decent college or trade school (one that isnt attached to a yeshiva) and tell him you want to see him succeed and fufill his full potential.
The street life can do some serious damage but from what it sounds like he remains on the fringes of some of the really nasty charachters. Try to show him that being aimless is frowned upon even in non religious society.
There are very few reasons kids who leave will “go back into the cage” but one of them is missing a close relationship with family.
Sometimes they can come back to the fold but not with a full heart, you need to ask yourself if you want him to come back if it’s just to make you and your husband happy.