Jew who returns to observing orthodox Judaism with increased faith
High Priest on Yom Kippur
In Judaism, a ba'al teshuvah (Hebrew: בעל תשובה; for a woman, בעלת תשובה, ba'alat teshuva or ba'alas teshuva; plural, בעלי תשובה, ba'alei teshuva, 'owner of return [to God or his way]') is … Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Baal_teshuva
Baal teshuva - Wikipedia
1 week ago - In Judaism, a ba'al teshuvah (Hebrew: בעל תשובה; for a woman, בעלת תשובה, ba'alat teshuva or ba'alas teshuva; plural, בעלי תשובה, ba'alei teshuva, 'owner of return [to God or his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having ...
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Chabad.org
chabad.org › learning & values › building blocks of jewish thought › baal teshuvah
What Is a Baal Teshuvah? - Chabad.org
April 15, 2018 - Traditionally, a baal teshuvah was someone who left the good path and has now returned. But then, we are all constantly returning. Or, at least, we should be.
Discussions

I’m a Baal Teshuvah. Anyone want to know anything about that?
So having a father whose a BT I know it can be 'tense' in terms of how family takes it how did yours? More on reddit.com
🌐 r/religion
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October 16, 2024
baal teshuva
The most important part of becoming more religious is learning and reading. Most of the formal program would have been learning and reading and participating. I would also recommend trying to get invited for Shabbat meals every week. There is nothing like seeing Judaism done first hand and being part of the community. You really can’t do more if you don’t know what to do. So read read read. Also… Meet with a rabbi and ask if they can help guide you in the journey. That’s the first step a convert goes through and unlike the potential convert who the rabbi has no clue if they’ll actually convert, if you’re already Jewish then the rabbi will likely be jumping out of their shoes in excitement to help. Remember Judaism isn’t all or nothing, and every little thing is precious. Take your time. There is an expression in the Gemara that essentially translates into “if you grab too much, you grab nothing, if you grab a small amount you actually grab it” - so remember to go slow, take your time and treat each new thing you do like a new brick in the foundation of your life. It takes time and you want the base to be strong. More on reddit.com
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July 23, 2023
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Jewish English Lexicon
jel.jewish-languages.org › words › 1957
baal teshuva | Jewish English Lexicon
"Rebecca is a bal tshuvah; she started keeping kosher and Shabbos when she was 17."
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My Jewish Learning
myjewishlearning.com › home › evergreen › what is a ba’al teshuvah?
What Is A Ba'al Teshuvah? | My Jewish Learning
February 7, 2018 - Baal Teshuvah used to mean one who repented. Now it means someone who has returned to Orthodox Judaism.
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Tablet Magazine
tabletmag.com › sections › news › articles › a-baal-teshuvah-takes-the-stage
A 'Baal Teshuvah' Takes the Stage - Tablet Magazine
October 16, 2018 - The words “baal teshuvah” have a lot of weight for Jews. For the observant, it can feel celebratory, the phrase literally translates to “master of return.” Some Jew from a less religious background has found Orthodoxy.
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A Bite of Torah
abiteoftorah.com › developmental-stages-of-the-baal-teshuva
Developmental Stages of the Baal Teshuva
_ The Phases of the Newly Observant A general look at the developmental stages of the baal teshuva by Aliza Bulow I have spent over 30 years in the world of baal teshuva s, as both an emerging baal...
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Berish_Bal-tshuve
Berish Bal-tshuve - Wikipedia
December 22, 2023 - Yissachar Dov Ber Horowitz, known as Berish Bal-tshuve of Kraków (רבי בעריש'ל בעל תשובה מקראקא) (1931–1870) was a religious leader associated with Hasidic Judaism in Poland. Based in the Kazimierz district of Kraków, Berish Bal-tshuva served as a popular Hasidic leader, ...
Find elsewhere
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Freidom Figher
freidomfighter.com › home › kiruv & orthodox judaism › ba’al teshuva, or: “mental health issues”
Ba'al Teshuva, or: "Mental Health Issues" - Freidom Fighter - Mockery Will Set you Free
May 2, 2025 - I have alluded to this before in other scathing posts, but it’s becoming more and more clear to me, to the point that I almost see it as synonymous. People generally become religious because they have a fucked up past, and the more religious they become, the more their past was fucked.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/religion › i’m a baal teshuvah. anyone want to know anything about that?
r/religion on Reddit: I’m a Baal Teshuvah. Anyone want to know anything about that?
October 16, 2024 -

I’m what people (mostly Jews) refer to as a Baal Teshuvah - Master of return; a Jew who is born and raised secular, or born and raised in a Jewish movement other than orthodox who later in life returns to Torah/adopts a Jewish life adherent to Jewish law/starts living an orthodox lifestyle. As a kid I was raised in the reform movement. I was not very engaged and didn’t keep Torah in my heart. As a matter of fact it was a hassle. I was even sent out of Hebrew school class into the hall, twice, alone, as punishment for being an annoying little obnoxious brat in class… which gave me ample time to sneak into the kitchen and dust off some Manischewitz. There was more debauchery. About the time I turned 17 my grandfather, of blessed memory, passed away. He was a holocaust survivor who was lead, mostly on foot, by a 13 year old Dutch girl, from Poland to Germany, England to the United States. He was the only member of his immediate family to survive. Here in the states he got his masters degree in theology and became a Rabbi, joined the army and became a Jewish chaplain. When he passed I was the only person to whom he left anything holy: a menorah, Chumash, siddur, an old hand made tefillin bag and some other little things. It really touched me. Much more than I would’ve imagined. It lit a spark which quickly became an inferno. Then my journey began…The city, Israel, Yeshivah…. Here I am, living the past 30 of the 47 years I’ve been alive as an Orthodox Jew. Any questions?

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Aish
aish.com › human interest › profiles › confessions of a flaming baal teshuva
Confessions of a Flaming Baal Teshuva | Aish
December 19, 2021 - For me, learning 3,500 years of Jewish laws, traditions and language didn’t continue much past childhood. As far as I know, our rabbi didn’t keep Shabbat or kosher, nor did anyone else I met growing up, except for a man who protested the shrimp appetizer served at our wedding. At the time, I balked at such a thing.
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Chabad.org
chabad.org › search › keyword_cdo › kid › 2946 › jewish › Baal-Teshuvah-The.htm
Baal Teshuvah, The - Jewish Knowledge Base
Login · My Profile · My Calendar · My Subscriptions · Logout · Jewish Practice · Mitzvahs & Traditions · Lifecycle Events · Jewish Holidays
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OU
ou.org › life › inspiration › place-baal-teshuva-stands
In the Place Where a Baal Teshuva Stands - OU Life
September 11, 2017 - I had accomplished nothing in my life as compared to the spiritual upheaval they had just undergone. Didn’t they understand they were my role models?
Top answer
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Congratulations on your efforts. You will benefit a lot from

  • developing a relation with one or more religious Jews
  • finding a Rabbi who understands you and can help in your search
  • learning Torah - see here for some online resources which might help you and here for a reading list I compiled for similar cases
  • some resources for those beginning to keep Shabbos here

You will likely find this community to be very supportive, so feel free to come back and ask more questions.

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Welcome to Mi Yodeya.

Your question is a big one (meaning that to really answer properly, would require a very long response). But with that said, hopefully, you will find this helpful.

You open your question by asking, "How do you become a Baal Teshuvah?"

For many, this specific term (in English, someone who has mastered the process of returning to G-d) has a particular meaning relating to someone who is working on themselves to correct some kind of transgression either against G-d, or their fellow human beings, or both and has completed that work. This concept is discussed in many places, but one clearly worded place discussing it is in Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Laws of Teshuvah, Chapter 2, Law 1.

But reading the balance of your question indicates that you mean this in a more general sense. That you are trying to learn more about what it means to incorporate traditional Jewish observance into your life on a daily basis. And that is a very big question indeed!

While agreeing with all the good recommendations already offered by mbloch in the first answer, I would suggest that you might find the following very helpful because of its broadly encompassing nature.

Rambam, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, wrote an all encompassing book dealing precisely with the subject of your very big question entitled Mishneh Torah.

Rambam himself wrote in his introduction to this book that any Jew who used his book would not require any other resource to know what was required to live a traditional Jewish life.

Therefore, have I, Moses son of Maimon, of Spain, girded up my loins, and, supporting myself upon the Rock, blessed be He, made a comprehensive study of all those books and minded myself to construct out of all these compilations a clear summary on the subject of that which is forbidden or permitted, defiled or clean along with the other laws of the Torah, the whole scope in pure language and concise style, so that the Oral Torah be entirely methodical in the mouth of everybody, without query and without repartee, without the contentious thus of one and such of another, but clear text, cohesive, correct, in harmony with the law which is defined out of all these existing compilations and commentaries from the days of our Holy Master till now; so that all laws be open to young and old, whether they be laws concerning each and every commandment or whether they be laws concerning matters instituted by scholars and prophets. The main object of the matter being, that no man shall have a need of any other compilation in the world for any law of the laws of Israel, but this compilation shall be a cyclopedia of the whole Oral Torah together with a code of the statutes, customs and edicts which were enacted since the days of Moses our Master until the close of the Talmud, even as they were interpreted for us by the Gaonim in all their compilations which were compiled by them since the Talmudic era. Therefore, have I named this compilation Mishneh Torah; for, when one studies Holy Writ first and thereafter reads this Work, he obtains herefrom a complete knowledge of the Oral Torah, having no need to read any other book in between them.

The book is intended to be read in order and each idea presented is built upon what preceeds it. The following link will connect you to the beginning of his overview to the contents of the Mishneh Torah.

May it be a continuous source of inspiration for you in learning how to take on traditional Jewish observance so that you may progress for the rest of your life, going from strength to strength and may it be with joy (Serve G-d with joy!) and without boredom.

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Moment Magazine
momentmag.com › home › jewish word // baal teshuvah
Jewish Word // Baal Teshuvah
July 17, 2024 - Religious seekers are as old as religion itself. But it wasn’t until mid-20th-century America that there was a full-fledged, organized movement of Jews who moved from less observant to more observant—and a name for them. Behold, the birth of the baal teshuvah.
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Blogger
rabbiyw.blogspot.com › 2012 › 02 › bal-tshuva-2.html
Grant us our portion in your Torah... (Avos 5:20): The Baal Tshuva - A Perspective # 2
In summation the true Baal Tshuva and true way to serve G-d, for every Jew, is by changing the very nature of the natural inclination, to work to break their very nature. Whether good nature or bad and focus on transcending it and all limitations both within and without, in order to do return G-d. G-d willing next article: What makes a Bal Tshuva do tshuva?
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/judaism › baal teshuva
r/Judaism on Reddit: baal teshuva
July 23, 2023 -

more than anything, i want to become much more observant. i’m already jewish however i find that my current level of practice does not fulfill me in the ways i want. i have done nearly a year of research and learning.

i had a friend in the same shoes who underwent conversation at an orthodox shul. would that be required for a non-orthodox jew to do if they wanted to start practicing orthodox judaism?

even if it’s not “required”, i think i’d be interested in going through some sort of formal process under a rabbi.

i’m wondering if anyone has any knowledge on this?

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OU
ou.org › home › the secret of the baal teshuvah
The Secret of the Baal Teshuvah - Jewish Holidays
September 11, 2023 - Subtitled in both English and Hebrew To see subtitles click on the gear icon and choose English or Hebrew Why is the Baal Teshuvah on a spiritual level that even the completely righteous cannot attain? The answer is given by the Rav in one of his most emotional Teshuva Drashos, presented in 1969.
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The Meaningful Life Center
meaningfullife.com › home › what is a baal teshuvah?
What Is A Baal Teshuvah? - The Meaningful Life Center
January 23, 2020 - The baal teshuvah, who frees the sparks of divinity imprisoned in the realm of the forbidden, is examined in contrast with the tzaddik, who has more limited powers.
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Jewish English Lexicon
jel.jewish-languages.org › words › 33
ba'al tshuvah - Jewish English Lexicon
Original meaning is someone who transgresses and repents. The abbreviation "BT" is sometimes used. Other forms: Fem. ba'alas teshuva / ba'alat teshuva / baalas tshuva (בעלת תשובה). Plural ba'alei teshuva / baalei teshuva / baaley tshuva / balei tshuva (בעלי תשובה).