“Another important safeguard is that they keep outsiders out.”
I would like to disavow this comment on behalf of the non-Chabad side of this thread. I’ve met Chassidish BT’s and gerim. Belz, for example, actively pursues kiruv in Israel. Not to mention the massive kiruv efforts that go on in the yeshivish world (where the BT movement actually started).
When you make this argument, you’re almost excusing the issues, as if to say “these problems in Chabad are a side effect of their success in kiruv.” Others have had plenty of success without these issues, so I don’t think it’s a good point to make. Other organizations usually weed out the BTs who aren’t going to be able to get rid of their ideological baggage. Edited do agree that a lot of these issues are due to new people coming in, but the issues aren’t inherent to kiruv. They are inherent to poorly-done, sloppy, quantity-obsessed kiruv.