Reply To: Going off the Derech

kkls45-I agree with you completely. I always tell my husband, after we’ve spent hours brainstorming what to do, that there really is only one thing we can do, and that is to daven. I hope your parents are trying to get some help for your brother, before things, chas v’shalom change for the worse. A rebellious child is more at risk, and should have someone to talk to.

aries2756-I don’t mean he should go to a regular yeshiva with a dorm. Apparently, there are many low pressure ‘yeshivas’ where he doesn’t have to wear a kipa, he can wear jeans and an earring, and they don’t put any pressure on them to observe mitzvos. They learn a minimum amount of Torah, since that’s about all they can tolerate, and the rest is secular studies and classes that teach them a profession. I almost believe he would study Torah an entire day, if all the kids in his chevra were doing it. He is ‘following the crowd’, but every once in a while, I try to insert the voice of reason by showing him how these kids are all doing what’s good for them, even at his expense, so shouldn’t he do what’s good for him? He just has to figure out what that is exactly.