BJX Shabbos Project

How many irreligious people became religious as a result?

There’s merit in exposure; sometimes the seeds of a genuine shabbos experience remain in a person and have an influence so some point in their life even if they don’t become frum.

Any improvement is worthwhile. The chofetz chaim supported thw kosher kitchen in an army base, even when he heard that Jewish soldiers were eating treif and then getting a second helping at the kosher kitchen. He said that at least they’ll eat a little less treif – that was enough to justify large investments of time and resources, in an era where food was very valuable.

I’m not a lubavitcher; they take this idea to an extreme, where a person putting on what they believe to be random leather boxes from someone who looks Amish is worthwhile – i disagree. I believe that exposure to yiddishkeit needs to be on a level that a frei person can relate to, such as seeing a shabbos table.

we have about 4 mln Jews in America without any connection to anything genuine and on the verge of disappearing. Why question any attempt to save these people!?

Baltimore, this refers to someone who puts on tefillin and believes in the mitzvah – if someone doesn’t believe – and isn’t even aware – of the mitzvah, it’s a maysoh kof b’alma, a meaningless act. It’s true that if a renegade Jew puts on tefillin once, while shirking his obligation every other day, he has a zchus, but that’s only if he did it with a minimum awareness – I’m not referring to the machlokes if mitzvos require kavanah or not; everyone agrees that you need to accept the reality of a mitzvah for it to count, because if there’s no metzaveh, commander, how can there be a commandment?

… putting on what they believe to be random leather boxes from someone who looks Amish

This utterly bazaar description of a Mitzva would never come from your mouth had it not been for trying to bash Chabad. גדולה מחלוקת שמגיעה עד כסא הכבוד .

Avirah a Jew who never puts on tefilin in his life is a karkafta. While he might not have the right daas or do the mitzvah properly it’s better than no tefilin ever. How many people do the the Lakewood establishment yeshivas reach from the outside and make them religious?

Also lakewhut, there can’t be a mitzvah without a metzaveh – it’s not my torah, this is rishonim who say that a kofer’s mitzvos aren’t mitzvos, we don’t answer amen to his bracha, etc..

@lakewhut, karkafta means a head. You mean, קרקפתא דלא מנח תפילין

Also, I believe that the Lakewood Yeshuva actually does outreach, in the sense of setting up Torah centers around America.

As for your main sentiment, I agree. Someone who felt one-upped by the Tefillin campaign came up with a Lomdus to justify not doing it, rather than just saying it’s not for me. This is completely contrary to our general Hashkafa on every other Mitzva and their effect.

Avira, you love finding the worst in everyone (Briskers excepted). It is an easy-to-verify fact that there are shuls full of people who learned by Chabad shluchim, and even in other places there are people who learned by them. If Lakewood kollelim have a similar effect, then great. Now, if some of them are not doing things right, you are free to direct them to better understanding and mekarev them into Brisk.

Again, we are confronted with 4 mln drowning Jews and we are barely saving 1% of them.

On average how many people do Lakewood Kollelim connect with people who aren’t frum and help make them frum? The numbers aren’t nearly as successful as those of Kiruv organizations and Chabad.

AAQ, it’s ironic that you say on someone else that they love finding the worst in everyone…