In his article, Catriel Sugarman makes reference to the term "Harry" ["The Yeshiva World and the Children of Ba’alei Teshuva: The Ugly Secret," June 2008]. Living "out of town," I have never encountered the attitudes discussed in this article. I even thought "Harry" was just a boy’s name.

After reading the article, however, I asked my sons for their definition of a "Harry." From their responses, I gather that a lot of time in yeshiva is spent discussing the definition of this term. In fact, one son said that, according to his classmates, there are different "Harry" levels: "Larry," "Gary," and "Bob".

According to my son and his friends at YU, the term "Harry" is also used there, where it is considered a "yeshivish" expression. At YU, a "Harry" is a person who tries to assume all the outer trappings of the yeshivish lifestyle in appearance and behavior, but misses a detail or two as noted in the article.

More interesting, my sons did not think that "Harry" was a derogatory term; it just means a deviation from the yeshivish norm. As they point out, many of their friends are Harrys, and it’s not a big deal.

Perhaps their tolerance is the result of having been raised in, as one son described it, "an entire community of Harrys." I interpret that as meaning that, in our community, diversity is celebrated; we, therefore, revel in our "Harryness." What a compliment!

The July issue’s "Letters to the Editor" concerning Catriel Sugarman’s bias against the hareidi community were the total truth. I have been in Monsey longer than he has been alive, and he is like a skunk in a perfume factory.

With greatest respect to his knowledge of Jewish history, he does not know of what he speaks. There is not one word of emes in that piece. He is an MO, and he has a very bitter bias against real Torah Judaism. In this, he is an ignoramus with a PhD. His article screams "certified am ha’aretz."

He should ask mechila from Jews who are more Jewish than him. What sinas yisrael it reeks from.

Regarding Catriel Sugarman’s article concerning BTs versus FFBs, I can speak as the daughter of parents who returned to Yidishkeit in the 1980s. Thanks to Rabbis Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson and Menachem Mendel Schneerson, spiritual leaders of Chabad and the first rabbis to have the strength and foresight to say that "America is no different" for Jews to be Jews, the teshuva movement began.

Both rebbes had the purest love and caring for each person which enabled them to bring each soul back to the fold. It is only through the love of a fellow Jew and their pintele Yid that true baal teshuvahs can be made. If there is a hint of arrogance or a feeling of better-than-thou because someone was born frum, it does not work well.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe was once asked how an 80-year-old man like himself could stand on his feet for eight hours straight and hand out dollars and give out blessings to thousands of people. The Rebbe replied, when one counts diamonds you don’t feel it.

The Rebbe was an example for all Jewry. We need to focus on each of our brethren’s souls and not let ego, arrogance, and other details get in our way.

In my case, the fact that a member of Chabad cared enough that my father did not have a mezuza on his business led my father back to Judaism and gave my family a rich life of mitzvoth. My brothers and I went to the best Chabad schools and had no problem being "accepted" anywhere.

Being children of ba’al teshuvas did not prevent us from going anywhere or achieving anything. My brothers and I married into FFB families, and where am I now? I run my own Chabad House with my husband, giving others the same opportunity that the Rebbe gave my family.

I will not say that people who have a holier-than-thou attitude do not exist in Chabad, but I will say that it does not infiltrate into the school systems, nor does it prevent ba’al teshuvahs from going where they want.

The joke in Chabad is that one does not know anymore who is an FFB or a BT. The BTs have definitely climbed the ladder and made their mark in Chabad, exactly what the Rebbe wanted. Am Yisrael Chai!

I read Catriel Sugarman’s essay, and it is sadly very much on the mark. I’ve been writing about this issue for a while—albeit not as candidly

When I read Catriel Sugarman’s important piece on the children in ba’alei teshuva families, I cried because of the wrong that has been committed and is being committed, and because there is scant prospect that there will be improvement. The greater likelihood is that down the road the situation will be worse than it now is.

This is a subject that I have touched on repeatedly, most often in the RJJ Newsletter but also elsewhere. One newsletter essay began with the point that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezer the Great would be denied admission these days to mainline yeshivas because of their parentage.

Although the article includes several exaggerations by people who spoke to Mr. Sugarman, something that he recognizes, the problem that he describes is a scandal and is part of the larger scandal of how our schools treat too many parents and children, including a great number of FFBs.

As I said in a speech 20 years ago at the Torah Umesorah dinner when I was the guest of honor, we are now in the business of Richuk Kerovim. I have written on this subject repeatedly and the news keeps on getting worse.

One of the significant points of Mr. Sugarman’s article is that he does not spare principals. Too many of them have spiritual blood on their hands. Yet, they are lionized at Torah Umesorah events.

I do have a problem with the concluding paragraph in the article, for while, of course, I agree with Dr. Levine, I am hesitant about the reference to "the exceptional accomplishments of Torah Umesorah." These accomplishments are history and they are not part of today’s story. Indeed, Torah Umesorah sadly is part of the problem because ritualistically it exalts principals and does not call them to task for the harshness towards parents and children that has become ingrained in the culture of yeshivas and day schools.

Our roshei yeshiva are part of the problem because they tolerate a situation that is within their area of responsibility, a situation that is wrong and needs to be corrected.

As an NCSY and YU alumnus, I read the article by Catriel Sugarman and the responses with great interest. There can be no denial of the fact that denigration of ba’alei teshuva is a phenomenon that knows no hashkafic boundaries.

On the other hand, it is historical revisionism writ large to claim that the hareidi world "created the ba’al teshuva movement." YU’s James Striar School which has specialized in "learning it and not about it" since the mid 1950s; YU Seminar; NCSY; and the National Jewish Outreach Program are three of many Modern Orthodox huge contributions to the kiruv revolution in the Torah world.

NCSY was endorsed by every Gadol of the past generation, but except for certain rabbinic faculty, it was staffed by advisors who were primarily students from YU, RIETS and Stern College for Women.

Aside from these institutions, one can and should acknowledge the pioneering work of Chabad as well.

With respect to the subject of the article itself, the best proof of the Torah world’s inability to deal with the needs and expectations of some BTs is Hillel Gross’s famous speech on why BTs make FFBs from all backgrounds uncomfortable. This speech can be accessed at NJOP's website.

On the other hand, many NCSY alumni have assumed leadership roles, both in a rabbinic and lay capacities, in many national and communal institutions ranging from the board of the OU to local lay positions.

Advisors and regional directors from hareidi yeshivos became more active during the early 1970s and especially after Rav Moshe Feinstein, z"tl, and other Gdolim urged talmidim in their yeshivos to become involved in kiruv.

Mr. Sugarman’s article made me think long and hard about the way my neighbors and I treat the ba’alei teshuva in our community and in our schools and shuls. Painfully, I found what he had to say was true, and I am as guilty as anyone else. I grew up in this community, and my husband learns everyday. I am proud of his and my children’s achievements, but, after reading that article, I have resolved to watch myself much more carefully. We must all make sure to be more welcoming.