Reply To: Hilchos Shmiras Haloshon

I will have to find the Igros Moshe and check it out. But meanwhile, I did want to point out that I don’t know if it’s true that the vast majority of not-Frum know about Orthodox Judaism. In America, many Jews are very ignorant. You live in NY (I think), but there is a whole world outside of New York, where people are much less likely to know about Orthodoxy. A lot of Jews don’t know even know that they are Jewish at all. Others know they are Jewish but have no idea what it means.

Also, even if someone knows he is Jewish and has heard of Orthodoxy, why should he think of being Orthodox? There are a lot of crazy groups in the world, l’havdil. Why would someone think of joining if he has no reason to believe it is true? Do you think you would have become Frum if you had grown up knowing nothing?

Furthermore, what about those people who are moser nefesh to try to do what they can? When FFB’s want to work on themselves, they take small steps and don’t expect themselves to be perfect in one day. Certainly, one can’t expect more from someone who did not grow up Frum and did not have a Yeshiva/Bais Yaakov/Kollel education and all the advantages that FFB’s have. Expecting someone who didn’t grow up Frum to become Shomer Shabbos is like someone expecting you to be the Gadol Hador! (I know – now you are going to tell me that you are the Gadol Hador. But I know you are not, because I just saw the Gadol Hador this morning and got a bracha from him!).