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A friend of mine made a video about their journey of becoming a baal teshuva and why being religious is amazing. They also mention that people are very supportive and so on/
Baruch Hashem, they are fortunate to have good friends and rabbis to turn to.
I was wondering what other people might experience. It concerns me because if people hear this nice story and then don’t receive that similar experience, it might turn them away, Chas v’shalom
What do you think thanks
I’m sure they ran across some tough times too, so why don’t they include those, but also include how they overcame it and the siyata dishmaya they saw with it? So others should get inspiration from it… also, maybe emphasize the end when they overcame all those challenges how happy they are (light at the end of the tunnel kinda thing). being a bt has some very tough times to go through, so talk how they got dealt with it (but in an inspiring way… i think you catch my drift)
SM 29 –
I’m not quite sure I understood your question, but this is what I took from the OP:
Your concern is what if other people who share thier stories don’t get rave reviews or open arm acceptance?
I can tell you that my life’s journey is not the stuff that movies and books are made of. And more than likely, I’ll never make the cover of a weekly publication. Know what? It matters zip to me, becuase the only fans I care about are my family and the only critic I take seriously is Hashem (or His agents, as they come along)
So to say that
If their emphasis is on the fact that frum Jews are so amazing and caring, they’ll only attract people who are searching for warmth, not necessarily those who are searching for Emes. The former type is exactly what makes ffb’s keep away from bt’s.
Maybe the point to emphasize in any kiruv is how crucial it is to have good Rabbis and friends to support you. Speaking from experience, becoming a BT alone was awful. Today there are a lot of kiruv orgs. to connect with.
All of us (BTs and FFBs) have some experiences (great acceptacne in speechgiving or teaching) that others do not enjoy. I have a friend who for lack of a better word is Mr. Charisma. He just oozes class and charm. You can’t buy it, you can’t fake it. He’s not even the richest or most extravagant of my friends. He just has the aura.
Does that mean I need to jump off a bridge? Of course not. Becuase I write better than he does (or so I think), so while I may never be guest of honor or get a plaque for doing something stellar, I still get my fair share of feel good moments.
The other people you refer to may not experience the same “warm fuzzy” feeling at each and every encounter,but on the whole, I think seeing good happy successful stories are a good morale booster. Besides, they may experience it at a later date and take extra chizuk knowing that they are part of a larger community, and are “in”.
Either way, seeing good happy things helps you see other things that way.
Not everyone’s experience will be the same, and that is true for ALL aspects of life. My husband was set up with a frum girl who knew he was a BT and she accepted the date. She cancelled the date two hours before he was to pick her up, saying outright she didn’t think it would work out. He took it in stride, but was hurt more than he would have been had she not agreed to the shidduch in the first place, because she was not even giving him a chance. When he told me this story, I told him that I was very grateful to that girl, because her loss was definitely my (and our children’s) gain.
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