Dear Matzav Inbox,
Please allow me to introduce a level-headed solution regarding the expense and pressure of sending our daughters to seminary in Eretz Yisroel versus attending a local seminary.
Much has been said and written about the pros and cons of spending a year in Eretz Yisroel—paying the unsustainable price, having girls be far from home—or staying closer to home under a watchful eye, potentially foregoing that life-changing experience. Each option has valid points and can be debated endlessly.
To satisfy all perspectives, I believe seminaries should be split into two halves/zemanim—just like most camps have two halves. Seminaries in the USA and Eretz Yisroel should follow the same model: September to January for the first half and January to June for the second. (Tickets are cheaper in January as well.)
For some girls, it might work better to go for the second “half” to Eretz Yisroel and attend a seminary in the USA for the first half, while for others, the opposite may be true. And for those who can afford it, they can attend both halves in Eretz Yisroel.
This approach ensures that more girls can have that experience without being “looked down on” in shidduchim for not going to Eretz Yisroel. By doing this, we alleviate the parents’ stress of paying so much, including the cost of an additional round-trip ticket and the need to “visit” in the middle of the year. We also avoid the risk of girls wandering around hefker for ten months by condensing the experience into five months. This plan reduces homesickness while still allowing them to have the experience of a lifetime in just five months!
With the money they save, families can always return later for a boost of ruchniyus, either with or without their husbands, whether for a visit or to live there.
Bringing down the cost of seminaries is highly unlikely, given the economics and autonomy each mosad enjoys. However, convincing them to alter the program to benefit more girls—and potentially improve their bottom line—is a realistic solution to this dilemma. After all, if camps can manage registration and split the summer into two halves, why can’t seminaries do the same?
There is a seminary in Eretz Yisroel that offers this model, but for it to be effective, most seminaries in the USA and Eretz Yisroel need to be on board. We need to engage askanim and rabbanim to make this a reality.
Sincerely,
M. Bendel
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Or just don’t go to ey!
Interesting idea- but the seminaries won’t agree
Not a bad idea
but how in the world will you get people to actually do it
Makes perfect sense!
Without ignoring the effort to address this issue rationally, I note that the problem rests with public perception, and this is unlikely to change in short order. We still make general conclusions about specific individuals, and base life decisions on them. This will never become rational. A boy from a wonderful family may turn out to be quite an exception to his family. And vice versa. Girls with all the “right qualifications” can turn out to be nightmares. And vice versa. The beliefs about a girl becoming terrific because of the seminary year in E”Y are ill founded, though one cannot minimize the experience. Same for boys. Having learned in particular yeshivos is not an indication of anything at all, while such experiences might have been awesome.
As long as we are gullible and create these belief systems that are dubious at best, but sound nice, this pattern will continue. But, nice try.
Brilliant
When our oldest daughter went to Seminary in 2000, she was given a scholarship, but we were told we could not visit her. The rational was that if we could afford a trip to E”Y, then we did not need the scholarship. She stayed 2 years and worked as a madricha her second. A wonderful experience. We paid for it with scholarships, Masa, and our local Jewish Federation all contributing.
PS: We have never visited any of our children while they were learning there. Nor have we taken any pleasure trips to E”Y either.
As a seminary owner I love this idea. Instead of charging $30,000 for the year. I can charge $20,000 twice a year. Thank you for your idea to help struggling mechanchim make a parnasa!!
Good idea
But!!!!
Shadchan! Oh she went to one of those half cheapo seminaries
Dream. Prices will go down