Opinion: An Open Letter to Seminary Girls – Etiquette in Geulah

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chareidimBy Yeshiva Guy

In a tradition dating back to the opening of the doors of the first seminary way back when in the fifties, the second week of Elul is host to an ingathering of exiles, so to speak. I refer to the yearly migration of those known colloquially as “Sem Girls,” otherwise known as our holy seminary sisters. Yes, every year around this time they invade Geulah. They take Malchei Yisroel and transform it from the once sleepy Yerushlayimer shopping and food center it was into a yearlong virtual sleepover. 

Somehow, the Ribono Shel Olam has seen fit to force us, yeshiva guys, and them to co-exist in the same space. And like many other things in life, this is something I don’t understand, yet I accept it. But I do have some things I want to get off of my chest…

Every year, we moan and groan about these issues. We go on the same diatribes, vent recurrently to ourselves, and wish things were different. Well, this year I’m determined to change all that. So below find some of the many things that you do to frustrate us. Kindly take note and refrain from doing so.

Don’t:

-Talk loudly on your pelephones about nothing. If you must do so, at least make sure to, slowly and clearly, enunciating every syllable, list off your fathers’ bank accounts so that I, too, can enjoy unlimited cakes from Moishy’s Bakery.

-Wear Crocs in public. This is not cool, and does not fit in with the bas melech image your teachers will be attempting to teach you over the next year.

Daven Minchah on the street because shkiah “just…happened” and you have no place to daven. Either watch your watch, like we do, or don’t daven. As much as it may pain you to learn this, females are not bound by time-related mitzvos.

-Loudly barter with the shopkeeper as if he were deaf in your Americanized Harry-ess Ivrit that you think you’re proficient in. You’re not. Either learn and speak the language with the local accent, or stick with the English you don’t know. Trust me, the locals understand your English better than your Ivrit.

-Feel the need to litter the entire Yerushalayim with the yellow/purple/clear plastic/paper cups that you just got from Fro-Yo or Sam’s or Mitzei Uri. It’s nice that you enjoy them. It’s wonderful that you’re supporting local merchants and all, but really, what about recycling?

-Rave about Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky’s shiur last night that is definitely, positively, OMG, OMG, gonna change your life. We all know it won’t. And if it really was such a life changer, you wouldn’t still be sipping that Mitz Pri as you stroll down Yechezkel. People don’t eat/drink in the street. Not even sem girls.

 -Feel like you have to go to the Machlis’, the Blind Couple, and every other chavayah during your stay here. You can still be Jewish without going to those people. I know, because I still am.

-Use the default ringer on your Disposa-phone that came with your seminary’s suggested student plan. Hashem gave you kids all that creativity and individuality to be able to create all those plays and singa-thons and dances and whatever. Express it. If I hear that la-di-dah-di-dah one more time, I may just…

-Feel obligated to take over Sam’s Bagels between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. every afternoon. How about just ordering your food and taking it back to your dorm, huh? I’ll arrange for the teenaged Israeli shibob with the knockoff UnderArmour spray shirt to give you an oversized bag so everyone will know you went…M’kay?

-Be scared to take Arab taxis. Your seminary giveret is bluffing you. The story about the girls who took one once and…yeah. It never happened. Sorry, I know Israel is much more exciting that way, but…

-Buy leather-bound Tehillims/siddurim for all of your cousins/aunts/uncles. That creativity thing? Again, demonstrate.

-And finally,under no circumstances are you to enter Pitzuchei Moshiach. PM is a male-only establishment. Aside from the narrow aisle issue, PM is just…well…sacred. Don’t defile it. Go to any one of the other fine nut houses.

So welcome to our town. Geulah is our turf. You can have Har Nof, Sortozkin, Minchas Yitzchak, Ramat Eshkol, and the other shechunos. But Geulah is our turf. We own it.

So adios, and see ya back in America.

Yeshiva Guy

{IsraelYeshivaGuy/Matzav.com Newscenter}


115 COMMENTS

  1. Yeshiva Guy, great stuff, chuckeled as I read the last one. Hvaen’t learned there in a few years, and I am glad to hear that PM is still the place to buy nuts!

    Is felafel miro still around by the mir? Thanks g-d that is not in geuala, so bachurim can have it all to themselves!

  2. Having sent 2 daughters to Seminaries, and visited them – this is one of the best articles ever!! Girls seminaries for too many girls is a big joke.

  3. im really surprised that u would put this on your site. especially erev rash hashona. & yeshiva guy, If the girls start making a list like this then there’s no end to what they can tell u . .. !

    Matzv maybe make a section for letters ppl. write so we don’t have to see this letters at the home page.

  4. Im shocked Matzav put this up. Yes to #3 this really brings down this website!

    Whats the point of this article before Yom Hadin?

    Hashem should give all of us the clear mind before Rosh Hashanah. Ridiculus article!

  5. Ha! Loved it! Hilarious, and great writing style…but not in good taste, and is probably loshon horah.

    Also, the author makes himself sound SLIGHTLY bigheaded and full of himself.

    But I do have to admit it was a good read!

  6. even after spending 3 years in the mir living 1/2 a block off geula, my knowledge of seminary girls activities while strolling geula pales in comparison to this guys. the obvious ammount of time he commited to the study necessary to write this article is astounding. what yeshiva are you in and are there any sedorim in said yeshiva? its obvious he feels he is providing some sort of service by writing this article, im just not sure to who. regardless im honestly amazed by the ammount of time and effort aloted to the study and documentation of “sem girls” necessary to write an artcle of this eye opening capacity and would like to wish the author better spent zmanim in the coming year!

  7. What can I say having learnt in Eretz Yisroel myself for a while I think this “Yeshiva Guy” is really over doing it!

    Maybe he just doesn’t understand why he came to Eretz Yisroel in the first place!

    A Yeshiva bochur doesn’t come to Eretz Yisroel to ‘Hang around’ Geulah all day. He doesn’t come to eat out every afternoon in Sams’s Bagels ect. ect.

    He’s supposed to be there learning!!

    Were as the Seminary girls come for the ‘Isreal Experience’ and some ‘uplifting classes.
    Soo as much as it may bother you Mr. “Yeshiva Guy” your there to learn.

    EVERY Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel serves meals one way or another so there really isn’t much of a reason for you to be in Geulah anyway!! So your Erev Shabbos shoping is a little more crowded….Just Imagine when Mashiach comes Iyh BiKorov….Have a Gut Yur! Oh, and enjoy the Massive influx of Yidden Succos time in Geulah!!

  8. The tone of this article is a bit much, but I do agree with the overall point. I was in sem years ago and if I knew then how we looked and acted, i would’ve never gone to sem. Geulah is not an entertainment park. The local yerushalmi residents are not there for your “experience” (they actually LIVE there!).

    When I was a newlywed living in Israel, I went to watch my husband dance in his yeshiva on simchas torah. I got to the ladies section and saw a pile of 3 rows of sem girls squished, talking loudly, and pushing each other in order to get a peek at the dancing. To make a long story short, I did not get a chance to see my husband dance – it was too important for the seminary girls to have their “chavaya”. I did nicely ask the girls to make a small section with no pushing for the wives and mothers to see their husbands and kids, but no one even acknowledged that there was an issue – it’s just too important to come back to sem and talk about how they got to “see”.

    One day they’ll look back, be embarassed, and see how immature they were.

  9. I was thinking about opening a shidduch pub in guela, where we can have boys and girls come together and have like a lakewood chavrusashshaft, and make shidduchim, all under the auspices of the local yeshiva rabbonim and seminary menaheles. With the current shidduch crisis, why not get a head start on shidduchim??

  10. all the people that left negative comments on this article are girls and they have to get over the fact that they are not perfect first of all its a joke so calm down second of all stop making such comments like you cant believe that they let this on the web site your false outrage just makes me want to throw up

  11. Yeshiva guy, get a life…
    You do not own the streets of geula, meah shearim, or beis yisroel. I do not like your cigarette butts, sunflower seeds and pushiness either.

  12. Personally, I love when the seminary girls arrive in Yerushalayim.
    The economy sees a shift upward, the photo stores are busy, eateries are full, dry cleaners are once again employing more workers, taxi drivers are happy, tzedakah men and women are smiling and life is joyous.

  13. he made it into a joke… BUT these seminary girls in geula are very much bringing down the level of tznius in this country. I see what goes on in geula when the need arises for me to be there. its scary that these girls will be the cream of next years shidduch crisis crop for my yeshiva bochur friends!!

  14. I have list of don’ts for the “Yeshiva boys”.

    1. Don’t talk loudly on your cell phones, girls can here too. They are just a little better at listening without making it too obvious.

    2. Don’t forget that if you are lucky enough to get a seat never get up for anyone older than you, or g-d forbid a woman, and make sure to make fun of other people on the bus in English, because no one in Israel speaks or understands English.

    3. Don’t forget that when you get invited to someones house for a meal never get up to help. Instead lecture the family because you know more.

    4. Pretend your real purpose this year is learning

    5. Don’t chase each other down the street, in a store, on the bus, in rented cars…

    6. Don’t throw the four words you know in Hebrew into an article you decided to write before Rosh HaShana. Or for that matter into conversation, Lashon HaKodesh is not the same as modern Hebrew

    7. Don’t feel obligated to get so drunk on Purim that you pass out in your own vomit or g-d forbid someone else’s.

    8. Don’t date a girl who’s parents have mad e Aliyah so you have a place to stay and eat and crash when you don’t feel well. They are not your parents so treat them nicely.

    And girls be yourselves don’t conform to what the Yeshiva boys want, they don’t know what they want anyway.

    A Woman who lives in Israel and has had many Yeshiva boys and Seminary girls visit and stay for meals.

  15. Because I feel tznius is very important, it is very nice to write to seminary girls how they should act in the street/geulah.

    I don’t think it is tznius’dik for a boy to be talking like this to girls. (I know he is not really talking to them but this contains pritzus.) As we grow up we learn that the more we are careful in tznius, we watch over kedusah of am yisroel and then we have hashra’as hashchinah. Please Matzav, help out klal yisroel with this.

    Kesiva vechasima tovah to everyone.

  16. Think its bad now, wait until after Sukkos when they bring their parents visiting too to walk in Geulah. The mothers try to make believe they are still in sem and the fathers (wanna be shvers) walk around like they own the place and want everyone to hear them talk about which hotel they are staying in and over their phones back to the states about business transactions!

  17. YO, YOU COULDNT HAVE SAID IT BETTER AND BESIDES I ALWAYS FELT THE SAME THAT GEULA IS SURROUNDED BY YESHIVAS ANY WHERE I WANT TO GO IS PRACTICALLY WALKING THRU GEULA
    KUDOS TO THE WRITER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  18. girls will be girls!

    I guess it is imperative for girls to be sent off to Israel, leaving their parents with a $20,000 bill to fill. Their weekly trips to geula to purchase those delicious candies, will enhance their abilities to properly conduct themselves ina coherent manner, and to better serve and understand their spouse.

    Oh! not to forget those yummy smiley jumbo lollipops that need to be bought, so that these girls will not be to homesick or miss their mommy.

  19. Okay a few points:
    1) I’m a girl (that’s for the person who said that all the people who k’nocked it are girls)
    2) Yes, it is a bit exaggerated
    3) BUT IT IS ALL BASED ON THE TRUTH
    4) I was B”H zoche to be in seminary this past year, and the behavior of girls on the streets and in the buses and stores is something to be embarrassed about
    5) However, that woman who lives in Israel… WAS ALSO SAYING THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!
    6)Piece of advice for the bochur who wrote this: go back to learning. Oh, and hatzlacha finding a shidduch if you can only find fault in what girls do.

  20. all you girls relax this guy is a wacko but stop being anonymous be open state your name i wanna hear which girls are proud of themselves!!!

  21. While you might have some points (I’ve never seen the sem girls “in action”, your tone is malicious and aragant. If you really wanted to make a difference, you could right a letter to the sems instead of trying to be clever on the internet.
    Also, having seen boys getting out of yeshiva in the USA, I think you should probably study #26’s notes and pass them on to frineds.
    #20, if you feel like thowing up after reading this, I do hope you make it to a pail.

  22. Seriously ppl, have the so many Jews become so uptight?

    Would you even know comic relief it it bopped you on the sheitel?

    If you can’t laugh at yourself who can you laugh at?

    In my opinion there was too much left out. If I had the writing talent of Yeshiva Guy, maybe I would try to addenduminate, alas your writing and comic talent greatly overshadows anything I could ever write.

  23. side note…
    anywhere I can find a nice frum open minded tznisusdig girl, who appreciates a guy who is working, and does not rely upon others (ahem the shver for money?)

  24. Loved the article! My daughter was in sem/Israel 3 yrs ago; my son is there now. If I would have seen this beforehand–they may not have gone!

  25. really nice to write just before rosh hashana. you should be proud of yourself yeshiva guy. since youre defining yourself as such, send this to youre rosh yeshiva lets see how impressed he is with you and what you’ve learned so far

  26. This article is cute, it’s funny, and it is candid. There is nothing wrong with it at all. It raises good points. That doesn’t mean that boys are perfect. It means that there are some things to consider.
    Excellent article. I have emailed it around and everyone seems to love it.
    Thanks for sharing this with us!

  27. As a yeshiva guy learning in ey for the past 4 years I’m so happy someone finnaly brought this out to the open what’s goin on there’s is outa control yes we yeshiva guys r here to be learning but everyone needs there space there is nothing wrong with getting out and going to geulah. Now these sem girls r always around whatever store u go into there always making a scene (I won’t even discuss what goes on in ben yehuda) they walk up and down geulah every friday back and forth with the mitzi uri cups. Ur making it so difficult for us guys just to get out.

  28. To #46, what are you doing in Ben Yehuda anyways? If you feel you just have to “get out” as you say it, why are you in Eretz Yisroel? Go back to what you’re supposed to be doing, or don’t come.

  29. listen mate one thing you have to know thease girls also wnat to get olam haboh and thats the way they go through the corridor if you dont like it stay in the beis hamedrash and stop wating time before rosh hashanah
    do what the novi says shuvo yisroel el hashem eloikecho and do it now

  30. I decided to stop reading Matzav immediately after reading this …RIGHT BEFORE YOM HADIN YOU PUBLISH THIS AGAINST BNOS YISROEL, THIS NARISHKEIT??? You should be ashamed of yourselves. This long rant was newsworthy? Very immature

  31. Also, just to correct a basic factual error in halacha: according to all contemporary poskim women ARE obligated in shacharis and mincha. So this yeshiva guy’s ignorant statement: “As much as it may pain you to learn this, females are not bound by time-related mitzvos” simply doesn’t apply to tefilah..”yeshiva guy” should spend more time in the beis medrash learning and being humble than obsessing over seminary girls.

  32. hilarious!!!a bit of a touchy subject though-people,this wasn’t meant to be taken so seriously-think of it as constructive criticism.:)

  33. first of all, this article is dead on the money! everything you wrote in here is 100% true and its even annoying to most normal sem girls, believe it or not. we hate being represented like that.
    anyway, another point – (#46 you listen up too) you guys go to the streets of geula… lets be honest. you know that they’ll be there, sorry, im sure you’re all great tzaddikim and going to be the future gedolei ha’dor but… dont sit around and complain about how there are girls EVERYWHERE,
    and just a question for you “yeshiva guy”…why didnt you leave your name

  34. i lived and learned in yeshiva a few min from geula for a few years and i only went to geula on erev shabbos twice bec i didn’t want to see what goes on there.I maid that decision for my own good. I am not saying that sem girls shouldn’t go but is it relay necessary for them to go every week when the things they “need” to get for shabbos or the food and drinks they want can be gotten elsewhere closer to their seminary. where as me and other yeshiva guys geula is the closest place to go.i have no problem with sem girls goin all week on their brakes but erev shabbos as a yeshiva guy is the few hours a week where we are not in sedar learning and can get the things we need for shabbos

  35. GREAT ARICLE!!!
    very surprised it took 20 comments until somebody realized all the negative comments were from girls! just imagine what’s going on in sem rooms right now about this article- probably sounds like kapparos started early!
    also it only took 46 comments till it became a yeshivishe chakira about something!
    also special kudos to #32 out of all the good comments.

  36. Like the article or not – every sem girl and person who runs or works at a seminary – if they have have a real interest in doing the right thing – should read this article

  37. I learned in Brisk and never ventured out to Geulah – except on Friday. One day a week. And you know what? Everything this yeshiva bochur wrote is true – and more. Every word. I used to go to buy some basic food and get out of there as quickly as possible. But the bottom line is that there was no way to ignore that absolute takeover of Kikar Shabbos and Geulah by the seminary students. It was almost impossible to walk doen the street.

  38. #56 Let’s do it said: “WOMEN ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO DAVEN AT ALL”..it seems this is a common misconception, but please ask your rabbi or do some basic research and you will find that the Gemara explicitly says otherwise. Tefillah is an exception to the time bound rule. All poskim require women to daven at least once a day and mishna berura and almost ALL contemporary poskim require them to say the amida of shacharis and mincha. Women are only exempt from tefillah BETZIBUR, with a minyan, but not from davening alone every day.

  39. i tot agree with this writer it is our hood and i dont think the sem girls or the sems would apr8 if everyday 100’s of guys strolled thru bayit vgan!!!! YESHIVA GUY your awesome! SEM GIRLS stay out of our hood.

  40. I really think that everyone should focus on what THEY have to work on. What about being Dan LKaf Z’chus? If girls would realize how innappropriate some of their behavior is they wouldnt do it! And it takes time for Americans to get used to the culture, but as they do their behavior definately improves. I was there three years and saw it happen each year. It just takes some time to catch on.

  41. My response to you bored chevra with no life.
    K’sivah V’chasima Tova!

    -4 Fellow Bochur
    PM is definitely still the place to go for pitzhuchim. King of them all.
    Re Miro- not sure…Bais Yisroel is not my hood.

    -7 geefers
    Great idea. Or why not just that Moshiach should come, and we could change i to Eretz Yisroel?

    -11 surprised
    I wrote this way before R”H; Matzav just posted it now. I don’t have any control ove r their timing.
    Re a letter to Bochurim. I am always ready to hear Mussar. Should someone be interested in composing such a letter, I’d likely post it.

    -12 wow
    Agreed. I am SOOOOO weird. You must be a bochur, btw. SOOOO

    -16 AMAZED
    To come totally clean, I had some (OK, a lot) of inside help here.

    -17 Not impressed
    Incorrect. Many yeshivos dont serve. Until last Pesach zman, Brisk itself didn’t serve. And as other bochurim poitned out, we def need to go to MY on Friday for Erev Shabbos tzrochim. And yes, that’s why I’m running home Succos!

    -18 you have a point
    Thanks for your candid admission.

    -20 i like em
    Umm…it exists, although not in Geulah…vhamaven yavin.

    -22 Israel is home
    Touche!

    -23 Frumsatie
    I dont!

    -26 seriously
    Its true. The locals get more and more ticked every year.

    -27 Anon
    Mine was more accurate, and funnier. Sorry. And can I eat by you?

    -28 Mother
    I hear. Will ponder.

    -31 Knaydel
    See my comment to -17.

    -35 anon
    Sure I can find good…usually. Here, Yaga’ata, v’lo matzasa.

    -37 Me
    Its in the mail to Mrs., no, Rebbetzin, Tarshish right now.

    -39 pm???
    No one. Was abbreviation to alleviate my carpal tunnel.

    -40 Cents of humor
    Send them to me and I’ll update the post.

    -41 KISHKA
    I learn there…what should I do? Hang myself?

    -44 Anon
    B”H, he doesn’t read English. Sorta.

    -46 Y Werther
    Disagree. We are perfect. In every way.

    -47 mir bocher
    Ben Yehuda? What’s that?

    -48 Anon
    Yes I do.

    -49 iTechITeasy
    Thanks.

    -51 smartman
    Good to see you’re learning your M”Y…proud of you.

    -53 Moshe Y
    Obsessing? Last time I heard a Bochur using that word was…wait. I haven’t. Is your name really Moshe?

    -56 recent sem girl
    We must- its where we leave and have to do our shopping. Didnt leave my name cuz didn’t want to be kicked out of Yeshiva.

    -58
    Perhaps. Sent in a shtickel Torah on R”H. Also, you can check out my blog.

    -60 wonder why
    Nope. Yom HaKippurim, not R”H.

    -61 yeshiva bum
    Repent. Anyone who can spot chakira’s still has hope.

    -63 Rechov Press
    Do I know you?

    -64 semgirl
    Certianly, we can sepll. And btw, it is customary to capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence.

    -67 KOG
    See my q to -63.

  42. Good article, as a recent sem girl i’d say you really got a lot of it right. I only davened mincha on the street in geula once! And I was really stuck. There are definitely opinions that girls, especially single girls, are obligated in mincha, and most seminary girls do daven it regularly. I’d advise to go inside a store or something, generally, they’re nice about it.

    There’s something else that belongs on your list- Yeshiva bochurs, NEVER take the 21 on a motzei shabbos, I’ll leave it at that.

    and its a shame this is on the internet, where the people who need to read this won’t see it!

  43. im in yeshiva now ive been to sams 10 times between sedarim and been to geulah more then that and i dont think its that bad at all so im not saying its false but seriously dude if u dnt like it dnt go. theres many more places to eat and buy food on shmuel hanavi example dr toast!!!
    GIRLS WILL B GIRLS SO DNT CRY

  44. 3 problems
    1 if this wasnt a prob u would think of some other prob about girls to write about
    2 y would u care just dnt go there there are many other places to eat and shop on other streets
    3 if ur a real yeshiva bachur u would be learnind and not even know they were there

    GOOD YOR to you

  45. The girls ARE loud in sept. By chanukah, though, they’ve toned down considerably. THAT’S what they get out of coming here: the Jerusalem take on tzni’usdig behavior and attitudes. So, B”H for the Jerusalem Experience!

  46. “he made it into a joke… BUT these seminary girls in geula are very much bringing down the level of tznius in this country. I see what goes on in geula when the need arises for me “to be there. its scary that these girls will be the cream of next years shidduch crisis crop for my yeshiva bochur friends!”

    and i am scared for my friends in Shidduchim for the kind of bachurim (some) that are in Eretz Yisroel.

    To yeshiva guy: There was a famous story of a a Rav that went to collect money in England with one of his talmidim.His Talmid commented ” Did you see the way MR.X’s cleaning lady was dressed” The Rav commented “I wasn’t looking so i didnt notice- what were you looking for?!

    There is a time in life to stand up for the kedusha of am yisroel- banning women off the streets is hypocritical and isn’t the way to do it-we are not Saudia Arabia!Seminarys need to disscuss with their students how to behave and YESHIVAS need to disscuss with their talmidim how to behave!

    Take control of yourself- at the end of the day you are responsible for yourself.I am not excusing innapropriate behaviour-however stop blaming Seminary girls, I have seen Yeshiva bochurim do worse!Perhaps you should rant about the way that all those that are in Eretz Yisroel behave.
    And by the way if you are so holy what are you doing on the internet I really don’t think that the internet is a place for a Yeshiva bochur.

    to Mr. uh “King of Geulah”
    you said “sem girls..stay out of our hood” Uh, excuse me..your hood -who do you think you are -Geulah aint ur hood- Eretz Yisroel belongs to all of the jewish people Seminary girl’s included.If you don’t like what goes on in Geulah then stay out of Geulah!You are not Hashem, you don’t own geulah -so Geulah isn’t exclusively yours.You need to learn a thing or two about Vehavta Lereacha Kamocha!

    Girl’s are allowed to go to Geulah, buy Mitzi Uri’s,go to Sam’s bagels ect.. However in life it is not just what you do that counts but it is the way you do something.Acting in a tznius manner and making a kiddush Hashem applies to both boys and girls wherever they may go!

    Gemar Chasima Tovah to all!

  47. to yeshiva guy-
    contrary to what you may think a woman is mechuyav to daven twice a day-that is what my father who is a talmid chacham told me !

  48. well said …..i think this should be posted in the dorms of all the sems so they see how people see them when they come to geulah!!!!

  49. Two monks came to a river there was a girl there that didn’t want to cross so her dress won’t get wet, one monk hoisted her on his shoulder and walked across, an hour passed the other monk asked him how he could do it, he answered I put her down an hour ago your still carrying her.

  50. ppl! get ovr urselves..!…this article was hysterical. im in sem now and my friends and i do all those things,albeit unintentionally but still…,and yeah i would imagine its kinda hard not to notice. so all u bitter, mad at the world ppl who hav nothing bttr 2 do but waste their time telling ppl off on these sites….chill please!! this article was purely 4 the humor and it is funny 2 those of us who happen 2 like 2 smile once in a while. so quit telling yeshiva bochur wat he shud or shud not do or notice or wtvr and if this so offends u please log off k?! and yeshiva bochur this article as awesome…it kept my brthr on the floor2(hes in israel2..LEARNING btw..)…

  51. just one more addition to the list of “DON’T”S:
    GIRLS ARE HEREBY FORBIDDEN FROM SAYING “OH MY GOSH” WITHIN 50 MILES OF ANOTHER HUMAN BEING!!!
    also Yeshiva Guy i am extremely honored that you mentioned me in your responses i will remember this day for the rest of my life!! jk
    and to #77 the first step in your recovery must be to stop fooling yourself, then u can give up on fooling others

  52. Lets bring Moshiach, not hatred against our OWN!!

    Some of these “crimes” they may actually be doing…
    YET
    What YOU can do
    that will REALLY help the situation
    is to daven for those that dont know or understand!
    Hating or despising others does nothing!

    May we only continue to see the good in others and bring Moshiach B’SHALOM (IN PEACE!!)!!!!!!!!

  53. Oh and by the way to all the sem girls now, make sure not to get bleached. I only went to Geulah once or twice on fridays cuz i happened to think it was a little nuts sometimes and i got bleached. Everyone just make sure to use ur year/ years to the fullest! Boys and girls! And make sure to do or not do wtvr that will take!
    Gmar chasima tova to everyone!

  54. I must agree with ‘942 bus’. This is one of the most poorly written articles that I have ever read (not so surprising when looking at the author’s pen name).
    I’m not against satirical articles per se, in fact, I usually enjoy a good piece of satire, but this, this was pure garbage.

  55. yeshiva guy you posted”Be scared to take Arab taxis. Your seminary giveret is bluffing you. The story about the girls who took one once and…yeah. It never happened. Sorry, I know Israel is much more exciting that way, but…

    -Buy leather-bound Tehillims/siddurim for all of your cousins/aunts/uncles. That creativity thing? Again, demonstrate”

    Why on earth is that a problem -what do girls being scared of Arab taxis and buying tehillims have to do with you or a lack of tznius-You need to sort out your priorities!

  56. i think you went quite “overboard” with this article. Lets start from the top.

    -there are NO signs that geulah is just for men.we are entitled to go where we want.

    -the crocs thing and the speaking loud bad hebrew thing…the guys do that too. the litter on the street is probably mostly from guys and maybe a group of the jappy girls from the jappy sems. but generally, most girls clean up after themselves.

    -raving about rabbi orlofskys shiur or any other seminary rabbis shiur is not just a show. girls who come to israel are very often on what we call a “spiritual high” and they mean it when they say theyve changed their lives. i take offense to that because those rabbis really DID change my life.
    -with the mitz pri and walking around with drinks? im sorry, but #1, the guys do that too. and #2, what do you expect? there are a total of 2 chairs outside of mitzpri to sit. if there are 45 ppl online waiting for their drinks (espesh on fridays,) you do the math.

    -guys: you all have your “chavayas” too. just dif. renting cars on fridays and driving up to “Tzfas” and tiveria? yea.

    -the arab taxis: STILL DO NOT get in those cabs. be careful because i myself as well as plenty of friends have had enough experiences with them.

    lastly.
    -Sams bagels. i know u guys like to order food (even from america) and wtvr- but we dont really go to sams necess. just for the food. we go as our activity for the day. we like to socialize and do things. sorry. its just the way we were created.

  57. Sorry to all those people who don’t like it – I think this article is serious and very true. OK, it could have been better written and may apply to American guys too, but the JAPs are much more obvious to spot!

    Why are the American girls in Israel for a year anyway?
    – Just to support the economy???
    – To learn? yuh right!
    (maybe to learn a bit about the world – yes, it does exist outside of Brooklyn.)
    – Anyone know a better answer?

  58. to -Too True
    you said “Why are the American girls in Israel for a year anyway?
    – Just to support the economy???
    – To learn? yuh right”

    What are all the boys in E’Y there for?!

  59. K so I wrote a comment earlier but it didn’t get posted so I’m reposting it:

    So you are actually hysterical. ( a little arrogant, but hysterical.)
    Most American students look and act like idiots in Israel. But hey, it’s our land too and a majority of the students gain a lot from their year in Israel. Yes, it’s so sad how people can act- the girls clog up the streets and the boys clog up the square and yeah, both genders cause chillul Hashem and both genders are rowdy on the busses…but at the end of the day I think people gain a lot from being here. The schools should probably put more of an emphasis on how to act in public and explain that we do not own the streets-even if we do support this country economically.

  60. OK, I think this is the point:

    Sure Geula is Public property, but there isn’t much we can buy in Geula / MS that you can’t buy closer to your sem. For the most part you don’t see Mir guys mobbing Kanfei/BVG every Friday, do we really need to schlep all the way down there?

    Seminary is SUPPOSED to be a life growing experience, so maybe we should be a bit more sensitive to growing experience of others.

    Sure Geula isn’t, nor should be, banned from females, and when one walks down it’s no different then walking down any other streets. However massive amounts of girls overwhelming the neighborhood, does lack in the CONCEPT of tznius.

    So although calling it “you’re ‘hood” is a bit in appropriate, the point is local shopping for Mir guys is Geula (Not that there aren’t guy who go because of the girls). Should they be forced to schlep out to wherever, because a few hundred girls want to “see and be seen”? (OK, a bit harsh, but you get the point)

    I think seminaries should discourage their girls from going on Friday. I’d like to hear a (valid) counter point.

  61. 106 u make a lot of cents in theory. but reaistically, geulah is the place to be! girls come to geulah every single day of the week. So its not just for the guys. Its that geula is geula so like-ya! its like saying that someone should go to their corner grocery instead of going to the pomegranite!!!!! Lihavdil elef havdalos of course:)

  62. I find this article to be very discriminatory and offensive towards women. Why don’t the yeshiva boys stay in the yeshiva and learn instead of going to geulah? sem girls have every right to experience eretz yisroel. (and those colored leather bound sidders are gorgeous, just by the way.)

  63. i literally cant stop laughing!! this article waas AMAZING and everyones freaking out over nothing. wow.w . .goooood times! and im a girl who gets SO embarrassed from other girls when im in geula and i think the guys are right.. but thats life.

  64. I was in sem last year and my friend read out this article and we were all in hysterics- and number 109 goooood times; I think I might know you my friend!

  65. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. People here need to get off their high horses, come down from the clouds for a little bit of what we mere mortals like to refer to as a “reality check”:
    1)Being a post-seminary girl, now married B”H, with a daughter, I can relate to everything he addressed. He hit every single point perfectly as a casual observer, it’s not hard to make out the hordes of sem girls who flood the street, gabbing away on their phones or to the shopkeepers or to their friends, making a scene right there on the street. Yes, even the “frummest” girls from the most “heimishe” backgrounds do this.
    2)He isn’t “talking” to girls through this letter, he is venting his frustration, so everyone who claimed this as not tznius, is getting a little carried away.
    3)This is how he phrases things. He uses a little humor to bring these annoying little sem girl habits to light. All the sem girls who’ve read this, laugh at themselves when they read this, because they know it’s true.
    4)Lastly, as he makes clear in the letter, the boys have complained to their Rebbeim about this, to the effect of- nothing. It seems that the girls are just not getting the message. Maybe if the girls heard it straight from the source of the complaints, maybe if they heard the guy’s unadulterated, non smoothed-over, white-washed, prepped-for-a-girl point of view, it would actually have more of an effect and the behavior might actually be toned down.

    People need to calm down, and see this for what it truly is: nothing to get heated over.

  66. And girls, if you have been to sem, be honest with yourselves and get a little bit of a sense of humor. It’s okay to crack a smile once in a while. Even if you’re frum.
    If you have not gone to sem, make a mental note of this and make sure you do not call attention to yourselves, because this is how you are being perceived.
    And for goodness sake, he’s not kicking anybody off the streets of Geulah. “It’s our turf” simply means “we belong here, this is our territory, this is the one place we have to chill and hang out, do what you like everywhere else but when you’re in Geulah, leave us alone and making hyenas of yourselves”.

  67. Hi, really amazing what you wrote!
    planing on going next year to seminary in israel, thanks for your advice, ill take it into consideration.
    but i dont understand why are you saying that geulah doesnt belong to girls only to guys?
    Who told you this? girls are allowed to go almost everywhere if they dont do to much noise.
    but thanks for bringing this up!

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