(IsraelNN.com) --- First in a series ---

The Beit El Yeshiva website notes a new phenomenon: Dozens of teenagers who wish to become religious, despite lack of support - or worse - from their families.

The decade-old Beit El Yeshiva website is one of the largest Torah websites in the world, with 100,000 unique visitors each month. It provides thousands of Torah classes - text, audio and video - from leading rabbis, and features a popular "Ask the Rabbi" section.

Among the many visitors are those who are not religiously observant, but who want to learn more. The website's response team replies with initial answers and explanations, and provides those who wish with a local rabbinical advisor who can provide more hands-on help.

In recent months, the website administrators say, "the wave of such questions and requests for spiritual direction - particularly from young readers who have not been formally exposed to Judaism - has been increasingly strong. We sense an undercurrent of a tremendous process of awakening and desire to return to authentic Judaism - a process that is not obvious above the surface, and is certainly not a topic of public discussion."

The yeshiva website provides 16 pages (!) of letters from mostly young readers indicating this phenomenon. A translated sampling follows:

"Dear Rabbi,
I am a 12.5 year old girl, and at the start of 7th grade, my parents decided to send me to a religious school - though my father is very secular. My studies led me to become stronger religiously and even to become religious. I am now the only child at home who makes sure to pray, to go to synagogue and to wear modest clothing. But my father does not exactly 'like the idea,' and actually shows that he is very much against being religious, and this makes it very difficult for me to get stronger religiously. Many times I am afraid that he will make some remark, and when I say Grace After Meals, I say it with my prayerbook hidden under the table and my head bent down so that he won't see. I don't know what to do, I feel very much in despair. I ask G-d every day to help me and help my father become religious, but it has not worked. In addition, I am embarrassed to ask my religious friends for help in laws and customs. I would be very happy if you could give me some advice..."

"Dear Rabbi,
Thank G-d, I have found the way to observant Judaism little by little, and about ten weeks ago, thank G-d, I began to observe the Sabbath. I also began studying for the psychometric exam, and I am also a soldier in the army. I feel that I am collapsing; all of a sudden, it is hard for me to arrange everything I have to do in the barely six days of the work-week... How can I overcome my evil inclination? For I know that G-d would not let me 'lose' this great mitzvah [good deed] of the Sabbath. How am I to deal with this?

"Dear Rabbi,
I study in a secular school, age 15, from a non-religious home... I always wanted to be religious, study in a religious school, wear modest clothes, etc. Of late, this desire has become stronger, especially since I changed schools and hear extreme anti-religious views from teachers and students. I very much want to be religious, but my mother objects because she comes from a religious home and she rebelled against it... How can I persuade my mother to let me go to a religious school, wear modest clothes, and become more religious? My mother says that only when I turn 18 can I do what I want...

Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed, the yeshiva's founder and dean, and community rabbi of the town of Beit El, said in his annual Repentance Sabbath lecture to some 500 people this past Sabbath:

"There is some kind of bug in the air, a bug of spirituality and holiness, and it attracts itself to those who are even a little bit sensitive to it. It is going around, and this generation is particularly prone to catching it, and we have to recognize it and encourage it and realize that we are taking part in a critical cultural battle for the religious character of the State of Israel. This is a special moment; all of us gathered here, as if to receive our special instructions and take on our special assignments in this battle. Everyone should try to increase helping others spiritually and materially, as well as Torah study and good deeds, and with G-d's help we will emerge victorious!"