Why Religious Jews Encourage Others to Keep Torah and Mitzvot

What makes Torah-observant people wake up one day and decide to turn an average, secular individual into a Shabbat-observant Jew with a kippah and tzitzit? Why do religious Jews seem to reject the simple, seemingly fair idea of “live and let live”? What is the source of the drive to convince complete strangers to change their lifestyle?

This approach of reaching out to complete strangers, people we’ve never met and may never meet, doesn’t come from a gene, but from a loving heart for the Jewish people.

Judaism teaches that the Jewish nation is fundamentally different from other nations because of the deep spiritual bond that connects one Jew to another. Among other nations, each soul stands alone as an independent, isolated unit. Jewish souls however, are bound together, intertwined like the organs that make up one single body.

The Malbim, a classical Torah commentator, writes in his work HaTorah VeHamitzvah about the commandment “Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18): “All people are connected as one body... all of them as one person, as one body composed of different organs — the head loves the hand as it loves itself... And thus, a person will desire for another what they desire for themselves, for the other is his own flesh and bone... since all are one body, it is only just that one should love his fellow as his own soul.”

The Torah teaches us that even if we don’t know each other personally, even if we’re “strangers” in the social or physical sense, on the soul level, we are brothers and deeply connected.

In this spirit, our Talmudic sages taught: “All of Israel are responsible for one another.” Because our souls are woven together, there is a natural responsibility between us. We cannot turn a blind eye and say: “That’s his problem, it’s his life, let him deal with it.”

With this in mind, we can begin to understand the inner world of those Torah-observant Jews who try to influence others to return to Judaism, such as for example, those behind the organization Hidabroot. When you care about someone, the heart doesn’t allow you to ignore them.

Those involved in outreach could easily live their lives differently, focusing solely on their own personal growth. And yet, these individuals choose not to live a self-centered life, but instead, they dedicate their time and energy for the sake of the Jewish people — for the spiritual and eternal well-being of their brothers and sisters.

When someone reaches out to bring another Jew closer to Judaism, it’s because they care deeply about that person’s spiritual future.
They simply cannot remain indifferent as their spiritual siblings walk a path that, from their perspective, leads to eternal spiritual loss.

Out of deep concern and love, these outreach workers who strive to bring Jews closer to Torah, devote their time to strengthen the Jewish people in Torah observance and mitzvot.

Next time you come across a baal teshuvah (returnee to Judaism) outreach person, or a Hidabroot pamphlet, remember that it all comes from a loving heart.