diaryofanotdboy

Who is a Baal Teshuva and what is the psychology behind one in 2022 Western Society? In Rebecca M. Ross's "Blowing the Head Off Of Outreach" which I highly recommend, she points to materials of how Kiruv professionals approach Kiruv. The first trait that a Campus Rabbi will look for:      "1.  Middos  – good character traits. Nice, normal students. Is this person nice, punctual, helpful? These are questions my source tells me are critical to ask before investing serious time."       "Nice, normal students. Is this person nice, punctual, helpful?" is essentially a less blunt way of saying, is this person pacified(not assertive), seeking approval, and receptive to shame and motivating negative emotions like guilt and shame. The second trait that a Campus Rabbi will look for:      "2. Intelligence. Torah’s philosophy is brilliant and true- and completely adverse to many ideas we have in the Western world. A student is required...

As a frum Jew, everything has to be positive and meaningful. Your washing dishes is making worlds of deep meaning, so is your washing laundry, your 9 to 5 job, your driving down the freeway, and your suffering. If you're not feeling positive in every moment, you are told that you lack emunah(faith that God controls everything and that all your actions matter) and your hashgafa(viewpoint of the world) is influenced by goyish(non-Jewish) bad outside influences. The answer to someone with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and just about any mental health issue for men in the Yeshivish community is "Learn More Torah". Torah is told to be the answer to just about everything. I recall a story of a friend who told me he was laying in bed sick and people who are not his roommates came into his room and tried to pull him out of bed and told him he was being lazy and not learning Torah. Those people are living in a zealous fake reality and are doin...