Baal teshuva
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Baal teshuva

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 previously followed a secular lifestyle or a less frum form of Judaism.

The baal teshuva movement is a description of the return of secular Jews to religious Judaism. The term is used to refer to a worldwide phenomenon among the Jewish people.

The phrase baal teshuva generally refers to a Jew from a non-Orthodox background who becomes religiously observant in an Orthodox fashion; however, the concept can also encompass Orthodox-leaning Jews who become stricter in their observance.

The term baal teshuva is from the Talmud and means "master of repentance". In Israel, chozer b'teshuvah (חוזר בתשובה; plural: chozrim b’teshuvah), meaning "returning to return" or "returning to repentance" is more commonly used. Hence, a baal teshuva is a Jew who transgressed the halakhah (Jewish law) knowingly or unknowingly, but has completed a process of introspection to "return" to the full observance of God's mitzvot.

According to Maimonides's Mishneh Torah a ba'al teshuvah stands higher in shamayim (lit. 'heaven') than a "frum from birth", even higher than a tzadik.

According to the teachings of the Torah, "whoever judges himself will not be judged"; however, in the described history of Talmudic times and early Hasidism, many tzadikim were able to "see" the transgressions of others.[citation needed]

Mar b. R. Ashi said: I am disqualified to judge in a scholar’s lawsuit. What is the reason? Because I love him as much as I love myself, and a person is unable to find fault with himself.

The baal teshuva movement began to appear as an identifiable movement in the United States in the 1960s, as a growing number of young Jews raised in non-religious homes in the United States started to develop a strong interest in becoming a part of observant Judaism; many of these people, in contrast to sociological expectations, became attracted to observant Judaism within Orthodoxy.[citation needed]

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