The Hebrew word “baal” in the expression “baal t’shuva” means “a master of t’shuva.” The Hebrew word “t’shuva” means “return.” Thus the expression “baal t’shuva” means a “master of return.” The expression is used to describe a Jew who has returned to Torah observance. In light of this understanding, a non-religious Jew in Chicago, Los Angeles, or London who becomes an Orthodox Jew is only a semi-baal t’shuva because he or she has not returned to Torah observance completely. As long as the person remains in Chicago or London he fails to observe the Torah commandment of living in Israel which our Sages say is equal in weight to all of the other Torah commandments together! (Sifrei, Re’eh 53).
Imagine that a secular Jews begins to observe the Torah except for Shabbat or keeping kosher or reciting daily prayers. Can this person be called a “master” of t’shuva? Certainly not. Perhaps he can be called a semi-master or a quartermaster. Earning the title of “master” designates completeness. Obviously this partial level of Orthodoxy is not complete. Thus a secular Jew who becomes a Chabadnik in South Florida is making his way back to Torah but he has not returned all the way, for the last stop on the return journey is Jerusalem – not West Palm Beach or Miami.
Let me try to illustrate this point. The goal of the Exodus from Egypt was not simply to win freedom from bondage. The goal was to bring the Jewish People to the Land of Israel to build their own independent Jewish Nation. This is what Hashem tells Moshe when He appears to him for the very first time: “I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of Egypt and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large Land, a Land flowing with milk and honey…” (Shemot 3:8).
Our forefather Yaacov and his family had to leave the Land of Israel due to a famine and now the time had come for them to RETURN. If they had remained in Egypt, Jewish History would have ended there. Similarly, those who refused to follow Moshe’s instructions to prepare themselves for departure from Egypt perished during the Plague of Darkness, just as the Jews in the Wilderness who did not want to enter the Promised Land were punished with death. In the same way, to atone for our being exiled from Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael after the Destruction, we have to RETURN to Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael. Why? Because the Jewish People are supposed to live in the Land of Israel and not in America, Australia, or Mexico City. If robbers steal a person’s house and force him to flee, the house remains the possession of the homeowner and the injustice cannot be amended until the owner returns to his house. The return of the scattered exiled Jews is promised in the Torah and by the Prophets of Israel. So why be a semi-baal t’shuva in Brooklyn or South Florida when you can be genuine master of t’shuva who has journeyed back all the way?
