Editing Baal teshuva (section)

==Challenges, critiques and difficulties==

As with all social movements, there is controversy and criticism. Early twenty-first century researchers have debated the "drop-out" rate from this movement and the reasons for it<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Simcha Press |title=New Age Judaism: Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World |first=Melinda |last=Ribner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qd3Eec6sriIC&q=%22baal+teshuva+movement%22&pg=PA83 |page=83|isbn=9781558747890 |date=April 2000 }} Cites her research that dropping out will occur if the newly-religious do not marry within five years.</ref> and new challenges that are now presented. From a 2005 paper:

{{blockquote|Now, many of the younger [[Baby boomer|Baby Boomers]] and [[Generation X]]ers are finding their way back to the [[synagogue]]. Some are spiritually hungry; others are just looking for a place to park the children. Either way, they join congregations in large numbers on the suburban frontier. However, it is not so easy to become religiously involved. Meaningful religious life requires knowledge and learning takes time, something that many young families lack. Most of the parents also lack basic religious skills. The vast majority of [[American Jews]] do not know how to read a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] [[Siddur|prayer book]], and this makes it difficult for them to participate in an active manner in synagogue ritual. This frustrates them and their egalitarian religious expectations. [[Rabbi]]s reach out to as many different types of people as possible and encourage them to find ways of connecting to the congregation, and, through the synagogue, with [[Names of God in Judaism|God]]. Given the barriers of language, though, it is a difficult challenge.<ref name="CambridgeCompanion"/>}}