i had an interesting conversation the other day with someone who is not frum. he asked me why "those people" who are asking him if he is jewish are trying to convert him because he's already jewish. well, i figured "those people" must be lubavitchers. my answer was that though they might want you to be like they are, what they really want is for you to become more involved in your heritage. next, he said they asked him if he knew hebrew or yiddish , of which he knew a little. and then he told them actually , he speaks indonesian. and then that made me think...
so many times people become frum and then they shun all other parts of their lives, not just the totally unkosher parts, but the other parts that are just worldly . studying about diverse countries and languages is interesting and makes one appreciate the world that we live in. it can even make one appreciate one's own culture, religion , country even more.
even though people may not be shomer shabbat, it doesnt mean that they they dont feel a strong connection to their heritage. they just may have other ways of expressing it. i think its important to respect that. especially since often this can be a relative. they may not emote their religion the same way you might, but they may feel just as strongly about it.
i dont denounce what any kiruv organization is doing. i think that its great for jews to become more involved in their heritage, but i think that it shouldnt be done in a way that embarrasses the person they are trying to bring closer. it should be out of love , not out of cultishness. and ... if the person that they are trying to mekarev declines to be frum, they should still welcome them. otherwise, this is being cultish. i think that kiruv should be just that . bringing someone closer to hashem. closer just means closer. closer cannot be defined. it just means closer. closer doesnt not refer to how frum. it just means closer. or at least that is what it should mean.
4 comments:
I'm anti-commercial kiruv, pretty much because of the reason you stated, SOME people just aren't cut out for frumness. by "reaching out" to them, you may just make them uncomfortable. Spending thousands of dollars to have people go and try to encourage their kids go to yeshiva, is just ludacrious. People should search for ways to do it on their own, if they don't, they don't really want to go.
I'm gonna, eventually, write a post all about it.
There is a camp in Frederick, Maryland called Camp Shoresh. It is a camp that many non-frum Jews go to. Thei goal at camp is not make anyone become frum. They just want Jewish children to learn more about their roots. Shoresh = Roots
Many of their campers have gone to Jewish schools, seminary and yeshiva, and even become frum. All because it is done in a very loving, not pushy environment. The camp also has activities for the whole family and parents only classes and activities. They also organize trips to Israel for teens and adults. This is a very wonderful organization. If you are looking for a place to donate to, this is one organization you should check out.
frayda- this organization sounds really good. i have to check it out.
A lot of these organization are deluding themselves into thinking that you can force someone to become frum and/or that not frum people are all miserable and are just waiting to be shown the light.
I have guests every week and quite a few of them not frum and I don't force anything on them. They're here to enjoy themselves, not to be lectured on how evil their life is.
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