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Rabbi Chaim Coffman
Rabbi Coffman has helped people from all across the spectrum to prepare themselves properly for Orthodox Conversion to Judaism. His students admire his vast knowledge and appreciate his warm, personal attention and endearing sense of humor.
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Followers

Welcome to Rabbi Chaim Coffman's Blog!

I would like to thank you for visiting my blog, Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism.

The conversion process can be a lengthy and daunting one to say the least and I want you to know that I am here to help you through it.

I have been teaching newcomers to Judaism for over a decade and over the last few years I have seen that conversion candidates really lack the support and knowledge they need to navigate the conversion process and successfully integrate into the Orthodox Jewish community.

I created my mentorship program in order to help make this whole experience as smooth and as painless as possible! (Can't do much about the growing pains, though ;)

Feel free to get to know me a little through the posts on my blog and visit the mentorship and syllabus page if you are interested in possible joining us.

I sincerely wish you all the best in your search for truth and spiritual growth.

Looking forward to meeting you,
Chaim Coffman

My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sternbuch

In case you were wondering why I have all of these articles written by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, he is my Rebbe, and one of the gedolei hador (greatest Rabbis of our generation).

Rav Sternbuch fully endorses me and supports my mentorship program.

He is the address for all of my halachic or hashkafic (practical and philosophical) questions that I or my students may have.

The articles are based on his weekly talks on the Torah portion that the Rav gives in Jerusalem in his kollel. As a member of the kollel I get first dibbs on the photocopies and I type them up for my blog so you can all benefit from the Rav's erudition and insight.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013

The 48 Ways to Acquire Torah: Directing him to Truth

The next of the 48 ways to acquire Torah is directing him to truth. Why is getting to the truth so important and why should I search for it? Everyone needs meaning in life but most people never search for the truth either because they don't believe it is exists or because they are not interested and would rather live the life of fantasy.

This is because if they would come to the truth, it may obligate themselves to do things and change which is not on most people's radar! Not only that, they don't even want to get into a discussion because they are afraid of being brainwashed!

As I was learning with someone many years ago, he told me that even if you prove to me 99% that the Torah is true, I still have that 1% free will to say it is not true. I then asked if you were writing a term paper, would you leave your conclusion to a doubt? He said of course not.

The way you write a term paper is to pick a topic with a thesis and then spend the bulk of the paper of bringing proofs for that thesis. If I spend all that time trying to prove it and then leave my conclusion as a doubt, I will fail.

I then asked the million dollar question. If in real life you find the proofs for 99% of what the Torah tells us as being true, would you say that 1% is a doubt and I still have my free will? How far are you willing to take it?

At that point my trusted study partner looked at me and said, "What I am willing to do to prove my thesis for my term paper is not the same as I would do in real life if it meant I had to change my life!"

In essence this is really a sad way to look at things. Another person told me that they would rather not look for the truth and live fantasy because if I find the truth and I have to change my life, that is something I am not willing to do.

We get the character trait of truth from our ancestor Yaakov and the extent he was willing to sacrifice his life for it. The truth is something we should all strive for and try to live up to!

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