There is a point at which weird turns into nerdy, and nerdy turns into not cool. I have crossed that threshold.
This story is based on my life before teshuvah, but it's fiction. It's a picture of a certain time and place where I was, but everything has been cobbled together.
More than a few people on their way out or fully out of the fold have asked me how I could choose Chabad as a way of life. "You had every choice in the world. WHY would you choose this? WHY would anyone choose this?" I am going to answer that question as earnestly as possible through this imaginary conversation between someone who is on his or her way out and me. I'm not trying to answer for every chozer/chozeret b'teshuvah -- these are my answers.
