Ofakim Seminary information please

amother

Sat, Dec 05 2020, 9:40 pm

hi there moms!
we are a South AFrican family in the 'chareidi' community here. I am looking for an israeli sem for my daughter as she wants to get her degree in Israel. university in SA is not an option for us.

I am looking at Ofakim seminary and wanted to know if there are any people out there that could help me find information on Ofakim. she really is a beis yaakov girl in her demeanor. the only challenge she has is wearing stockings as she is so tactile. but I honestly feel like that is not enough of a reason to not send her to a beis yaakov seminary. she can either wear long skirts or will beH get the better quality stockings available over seas (the ones in SA are really scratchy and uncomfortable).

please could moms who have been to Ofakim or have daughters at ofakim let me know what they think about the sem for an out of ISrael girl. also what they think about the type of girls that go there.

Success10

Sat, Dec 05 2020, 10:08 pm

Ofakim is an Israeli Chareidi seminary. In Hebrew. Very Chareidi. In a small town in South Israel. Stockings are not optional there, of course. It doesn't seem like a great fit. I think an American style seminary that offers a degree program would be better suited. I think Pninim has this, but I"m not up to date on Seminaries.

amother

Salmon

Sat, Dec 05 2020, 11:35 pm

I went to Ofakim Seminary. It's a great school but very intense. Your daughter shouldn't have any problems wearing a long skirt with socks. As long as she is covered nobody cared what type of covering she has. Most the girls going there are very Israeli. It'll probably be difficult for culturally. The girls are different and the hashkafa is probably different then seminaries that are geared for girls who are coming from out of Israel.
If it's possible she should try to visit the school before she makes her decision.
Good luck!

amother

Sun, Dec 06 2020, 12:07 am

amother [ Salmon ] wrote:

thank you for your reply.

do you know what the rules are regarding emails and communication devices?

also could you please elaborate about the hashkafa

polished

Sun, Dec 06 2020, 12:15 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

thank you for your reply.

do you know what the rules are regarding emails and communication devices?

also could you please elaborate about the hashkafa

Not saying for a fact but I assume they would only allow a kosher phone without text even.
Email wouldn’t be dreamed of.

Ofakim is very intense chareidi!

Elfrida

Sun, Dec 06 2020, 4:41 am

amother [ Bronze ] wrote:

I'm not sure Ofakim is open, due to covid 19

If the OP is looking for next year, hopefully it will be by then.

Ofakim is an Israeli seminary. Is her conversational, written and spoken Hebrew on a level to allow her to understand and participate in classes?

Israeli chareidi is often a lot more extreme than you find in chutz l'aretz. She needs to be prepared for a very different environment. Including, of course, no smartphones.

salt

Sun, Dec 06 2020, 4:56 am

Being an Israeli seminary, the girls probably go home most shabbatot and holidays. I didn't quite understand if you live in Israel? Or does she have family in Israel to go to?

What degree does she want?

Other options that are slightly more open-charedi -
There's the charedi program in Machon Tal, if she's looking for something technological/science-oriented.
There's Michlala if she's looking for a teaching qualification (maybe they have other stuff there too by now).

Elfrida

Sun, Dec 06 2020, 5:05 am

salt wrote:

Being an Israeli seminary, the girls probably go home most shabbatot and holidays. I didn't quite understand if you live in Israel? Or does she have family in Israel to go to?

One of my friends daughters went there a few years ago. The girls are expected to stay in most Shabatot. I think they were officially allowed to come home once a month, though there were often exceptions. They were home for Chagei Tishrei and for Pesach. I don't remember if she came home for Shavuot. Chanukah I think they got a long weekend at home, and I don't remember about Purim. That was a few years ago, and things might have changed.

It's fair to say that they don't provide the same level of support as a seminary that is catering to girls who don't have any local family. Equally, I'm sure that the Israeli girls, would offer invitation s for Shabatot and Chagim to any chutznik girls who needed somewhere to stay.