Reply To: Going off the Derech

aries2756-Believe me aries2756, I was livid when my son told me this. I was full of anger, and I wanted my husband to call the Rav immediately, and challenge him as to why my son was rejected. But my husband refused, knowing that the Rav would only defend himself, and offer some flimsy excuse for the rejection. Yet I still wanted my husband to call, just to let this Rav know that what he did was disgusting and hurtful to an innocent child, to hold up a mirror to this Rav’s face and show him who he is, and let him know that he erred gravely and obviously. But my husband said that this Rav will not feel the intended regret and embarrasment, and we will be the ones feeling worse off.

You are right aries! This Rav, if he were really on Hashem’s derech, should have realized the pivotal role he could have in pushing my son away, and should have bent over backwards to be mekarev my son, or AT LEAST, given him a fair chance at being accepted, instead of the obvious, discriminating rejection. This is the same son who, if you remember, was hit at the park by a Haredi man. Do people even realize the damage they are doing to kids??? And Avi, if you are reading this, here’s a perfect example of the exact kinds of things that could push kids away from the derech, and it has nothing to do with the parents!

You know, people talk about kids going OTD from so many reasons, but I think it’s stuff like this that’s at the core, Hashem yirachem…