Reply To: Going off the Derech

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EzratHashem
Member

WOW–is there something he shows particular interest or talent in, or an inclination to know more about? Maybe it’s possible to use that as a starting point to find work as an apprentice or a part time job, in order to get him into a new environment with new people, where he is interacting differently than in yeshiva or with the chevra. If the tormenting in yeshiva was long in duration, or involved more than one other tormentor, or was particularly brutal, or twisted so that the victim seemed to be causing the problem, I’m guessing it will be very tough for him to ever feel good at that yeshiva, and maybe at any other yeshiva. But you have a chance since he agreed to finish there. I’m not sure if you mean he will finish until the end of this zman, or afterward as well. But eventually he will move on so maybe your focus needs to be on gently guiding him into what will come afterward. At 16 he probably cannot see that far, but you can, so he may be interested in listening to you if you begin with the things he is already interested in, or feels competent at.