Querty – “Kiruv means bringing people close to Hashem. This demands total observance.”
Please explain: Are you saying that only someone who keeps Shulchan Aruch 100% is close to Hashem? That would mean that 99% of Frum Yidden are not close to Hashem.
Or are you saying that in order to be close to Hashem you need to be “Frum”? Please define Frum. (Everyone has their own definition).
The Shitah of Lubavitch (and I believe to some extent Chassidus in general) is that being close to Hashem is on Hashem’s terms, not on our terms.
We may give ourselves a pat on the back for being so “Frum”, but in Hashem’s eyes he may appreciate more the Bracha on a can of cola from someone who is making a Bracha for the first time in his life.
Obviously, we shouldn’t stop by one Bracha or putting on Tefillin once. Lubavitch does try to make people Frum. But the goal is not to give them the title “Frum”. the goal is for every Yid to do as many Mitzvos as possible, and the way to get someone to do the most Mitzvos is by making him Frum.
Querty – “Chabad simply wants people to do Mitzvos but there’s no formal commitment to become Shomer Shabbos, keep Kosher etc. On occasion, that happens, but it’s the exception which proves the rule.”
It should be obvious to you that it is a lot easier to get someone to do an occasional Mitzvah than to make them fully committed. Also, part of the Lubavitch Shitah is that the way to make someone Frum is by getting them to do a Mitzvah, which awakens their Neshama. So yes, the majority of people who attend Chabad Houses are not yet Frum, but there are thousands of people who did become Ba’alei Teshuvah through Chabad.
As I posted before, I myself am a grandchild of someone who became Frum through Lubavitch (and nothing has changed in the Lubavitcher Shitah of Kiruv since then) and I know many others like me.