I’ve said before, but I just read something so disturbing that I think I need to reiterate the fact that the BT movement is destroying our community from within. I’m not just talking about polluting the pure blood yichus and…
Tag: baal teshuva
I finally heard an inspirational BT story firsthand
As a certified conspiracy theorist of the frum community, I generally doubt the validity of inspirational stories, especially the ones that seem to be designed to make people frum. Back in the day, before the Charedi world decided it could…
BT Mussar is an abomination
I can’t think of anything much worse than having a newly indoctrinated Baal Teshuva giving you mussar. As if several beautiful and inspiring shabbos meals, followed by some Aish discovery brainwashing gave them the right to rebuke me, don’t they…
An Atheist and a Baal Teshuva walk into a bar…
I have this love and hate relationship with Atheists, it just so happens to be that Atheists are almost always interesting and smart people, but sometimes their militant views can get on my nerve, probably the same way religious fanatics…
Stop trying to make Off The Derech people frum again
I’m not a big fan of kiruv, as many of you know, I believe that the FFB master race has become diluted with Baalei Teshuva and converts who inflict us with their secular culture. I also believe that those who…
10 step guide to becoming a Baal Teshuva
The flaming BT is one of the most interesting and talked about phenomena in the kiruv world. I’m certian that there are whole seminars devoted to the subject of people becoming too frum, too fast, and within the frum world…
Dear Heshy: Hating on BT’s will not solve any problems
Dear Heshy, I follow you on facebook fairly regularly and noticed your post on what you hate about baalei teshuva. Now before all of your fans jump me for being offended by something you wrote, I read your site and…
The Nut List
By Charles Zucker Anyone who believes less than me is a heathen. Anyone who believes more than me is a nut. I’m a patchwork Jew. I’m a collection of memes and tropes and minhagim. I’ve clearly gotten more religious over…
Why Baal Teshuvas are bad for the frum community
I already know this post is going to disliked by some of you, but I hope that some of you will be open minded enough to read through it and understand that this is not against the entire Baal teshuva…
The latest in frummy hocks: BT Insurance
by Chaya Miriam Fried I used to joke that every beis din should have insurance, kind of like errors & omissions, for cases in which they convert someone whose observance level goes south as soon as they come out of…
21 ways not to be a Harry
A Harry is one of those terms you hear in the yeshiva world that you don’t hear anywhere else. For someone to even call someone else a Harry would automatically relegate them to some distant yeshiva past because modernishe folks…
Matisyahu gets heter to eat on Yom Kippur for Parnassah purposes
It seems that Matisyahu is trying to stick it to the frum world by going off the derech in a very public manner. First he chopped off his beard, which is almost as bad as coming to shul in those…
If an FFB goes OTD and then comes back on the derech is he considered a BT?
Dear Heshy, I have a predicament which I’m sure you can help me with. I grew up frum, fairly yeshivish by some standards and then during my year in Israel I decided to go off the derech. I have since…
Attention BT’s: Shuckling like a madman won’t get you any closer to God
Have you ever been taken out by a BT throwing down some crazy shuckel? I don’t think so, but you should know that I have. I was in this shul in Atlanta once and I swear that the place was…
I’m more off the derech than you are
I was recently at a meetup of a bunch of folks who are off the derech and I could have sworn that if you changed the conversation just a tad it would have sounded like a bunch of Baal Teshuvas…
Frum society’s approach to frum girls is stiffling
Hi, I wrote this. I don’t know if its any good. What do you think? I am so irritated. I am trying to pick a seminary for next year, and of course, everyone has their opinion. I am a baal…
Aish uses boy band breakdancing video to reel in those BT’s
I’m not too impressed with the stuff Aish puts out for it’s baal teshuva indoctrination video channel on you tube that shows you can be frum and with it, but I do admit that the Rosh Hashanah Rock anthem video…
Off the derech community affiliations
One of the things I like most about folks who are off the derech is seeing the differences between their views and how they label themselves depending on their backgrounds. As the unofficial frum community sociologist, I like tp study…
You know you’re a BT in seminary when…
I love flattery, especially when it comes from seminary girls who spend their days learning how to be good balebustah’s and their nights reminiscing over cheeseburgers and the days before shomer negiah. Heshy, You may or may not know, but…
The flagship shul of the American Kiruv Industry
I was bored in shul this past Friday night, so I decided to do a statistical analysis of the people in attendance. I first counted out 120 men, then started breaking it down a bit more, I noticed very few…
BT’s versus FFB’s
I am in love with this rant and the fact that I could just jump into making videos again and it’s so much fun. I can give over so much stuff on video that I can’t do with writing and…
Maybe I’m losing my edge in observing frum folks
I love when guests come to shul in northern California because I get to observe them on my home turf, it’s like having tropical animals lost in the north pole, especially if they happen to wind up in San Jose.…
The Baal Teshuva’s guide to shidduch dating
As much as we kiruv industry professionals like to think we have prepared the baal teshuva for the real (frum) world we really haven’t. So while the girls know how to to dress according to tznius social norms, the guys…
Baal Teshuvas love bacon
One of my favorite pastimes is getting baalei teshuva to talk about the forbidden things of their former lives that they miss so much and rarely does anything elicit the same response as talking about food, specifically bacon.
Hi you don’t know me – can I come for shabbos?
I was chatting with a blog reader the other day over Gchat and I was telling him that I could hook up with folks to stay with for shabbos in the city he’s living near in upstate New York. I…