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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling
Is there a need for another Chabad sem?



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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 3:17 am
I’ve been working in education for the last 15 years and I’ve been approached by some people, and now I kind of always joke about it, but I am starting to seriously consider opening a seminary.

If you are Chabad, and even better if you have teenage girls or girls who went to seminary, do you think there is a need for another Chabad seminary, and if so what type of seminary?

Just thought I would pick all your imamother brains here.

Thanks so much!
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amother
Pewter


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 4:02 am
An affordable one? Yes.
Another impossibly priced Sabbatical for our girls? No.

That being said, unfortunately almost no affordable options exist, and the seminaries seem to be thriving regardless. But you don't have to be part of the problem.

Although many sems claim to cater to non-academic girls, I have yet to see one that actually does so. Helpful note: Having extra-curriculars available does not cancel out 1.5 hour long classes on deep maamarim.

General observation: Sems rise and fall on the basis of the director, assuming said director has a strong enough personality. Chitrik, Touger, etc.
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Israeli_C




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 4:05 am
Where?
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 5:23 am
Israeli_C wrote:
Where?

I'm not Chabad, but this was my question too.

Right next to an existing Chabad seminary? Probably not.
Someplace where there are many Chabad families and no Chabad seminary? Possibly.
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amother
Red


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 6:11 am
There are definitely not enough places for all the girls graduating school each year.

Btw the girls in Melbourne seminary do a lot of shlichus and have opportunities for things other than the learning they do
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 6:13 am
The chabad sem I sent my dd to in Israel was actually very affordable with the MASA grant. Price (approx $17000 without grant) included board, 3 meals a day, health insurance. I sent another dd to a sem in the USA and it was the same price but no masa grant, plus no health insurance, and we had to pay extra for an Israel trip too. Beis Rivka Seminary Beis in NY charges about $8000 not including a place to sleep. If you are american you can get a fafsa grant and sleep at home, so its not much, but if you are not american it can end up costing almost as much as seminary in Israel.

I don't know if there is a lack of spaces for seminary. (My dds had no problem getting into the seminaries of their choice) I'm from oot, but maybe a large percentage of CH girls are not going to seminary due to lack of space? If that is the case, maybe a new seminary is needed, and Israel may actually be the cheapest place to have it, due to access to grants and possibly lower cost of running a seminary. It doesn't actually matter if it next to another seminary. There are 2 chabad seminaries in Tzfas, both seem to be thriving. Another one in the centre of Israel/Yerushlayim would be fine. (not sure if there is more then one right now)

My daughter is a very chassidish girl who loves learning but does not want to be a teacher. So a seminary that combined some sort of vocational training (computers, graphics, writing, photography, accounting, business) with excellent torah/chassidus learning (and a good group of girls) would be ideal.
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amother
Rose


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 8:13 am
Yes there absolutely is. The type of girls who want to go to beis Chana are often the type of girls who don't want to go elsewhere so things get complicated. I would say that we need a seminary that's on par with the level beis Chana officially is. The only way to get those kinds of girls attracted to your seminary is for the first two years to pick a group of girls that you want and offer their parents a steep discount so that they will be the core group and set the tone for the kind of girls this seminary caters to.
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 10:52 am
Yes!
And a sem with more than one track. So if you have large groups (like Beit Chana) let the girls choose some classes, say some more textual vs more discussion based, or different hands-on ones.
Anon Bc I discuss this often in real life.
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 11:03 am
amother [ Rose ] wrote:
Yes there absolutely is. The type of girls who want to go to beis Chana are often the type of girls who don't want to go elsewhere so things get complicated. I would say that we need a seminary that's on par with the level beis Chana officially is. The only way to get those kinds of girls attracted to your seminary is for the first two years to pick a group of girls that you want and offer their parents a steep discount so that they will be the core group and set the tone for the kind of girls this seminary caters to.


A lot of girls want to go to Beis Chana or the one in Yerushalayim.

I think seminaries could easily lower prices. Beis Chana charges much less for the Israeli program which is a much more career focussed program leading to a BA. (you can't teach without this in Israel) And they still have to feed them, house them, and provide qualified teachers. They also charge less for the shana bet program for english speaking girls. I'm not bashing Beis Chana for charging what they do (still a lot less then then non chabad seminaries) but my point is you could probably easily make a seminary and charge less and still attract great girls. I love the idea of offering multiple tracks, or giving steep discounts to really great girls. (call it a scholarship and offer for midos, chassidishkiet, good grades)
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amother
Rose


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 11:23 am
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
A lot of girls want to go to Beis Chana or the one in Yerushalayim.

I think seminaries could easily lower prices. Beis Chana charges much less for the Israeli program which is a much more career focussed program leading to a BA. (you can't teach without this in Israel) And they still have to feed them, house them, and provide qualified teachers. They also charge less for the shana bet program for english speaking girls. I'm not bashing Beis Chana for charging what they do (still a lot less then then non chabad seminaries) but my point is you could probably easily make a seminary and charge less and still attract great girls. I love the idea of offering multiple tracks, or giving steep discounts to really great girls. (call it a scholarship and offer for midos, chassidishkiet, good grades)


Many girls who want to go to beis Chana do not want to go to Yerushalaim because it's a very different feel than beis Chana and they wouldn't be comfortable in the other seminary. I can speak for myself (seminary 5 years ago) and many girls I know both younger and older than me.
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naturalmom5




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 11:37 am
ONLY

I REPEAT

ONLY

I REPEAT

ONLY

if it is a real deal Chabad of the 70s place.. with real learning and real chasidish and Tanya in depth

Not another clone of a litvish BY wanabee place that stresses superficial tznius dresscodes and acting weird 90% and watered down learning 10%

Ask any old School Chabad lady over 45 if you don't know what I am talking about
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amother
Rose


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 12:02 pm
naturalmom5 wrote:
ONLY

I REPEAT

ONLY

I REPEAT

ONLY

if it is a real deal Chabad of the 70s place.. with real learning and real chasidish and Tanya in depth

Not another clone of a litvish BY wanabee place that stresses superficial tznius dresscodes and acting weird 90% and watered down learning 10%

Ask any old School Chabad lady over 45 if you don't know what I am talking about


Beis Chana has a very basic dress code that isn't widely enforced and very very in depth learning. Personally I think I gained nothing to help me through life but did learn heavy duty text based maamarim.
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 1:39 pm
amother [ Rose ] wrote:
Many girls who want to go to beis Chana do not want to go to Yerushalaim because it's a very different feel than beis Chana and they wouldn't be comfortable in the other seminary. I can speak for myself (seminary 5 years ago) and many girls I know both younger and older than me.


Really? I was basing this on girls I know who applied to both.

Just curious, is Yerushalaim more or less intense? More or less chassidish?

Naturalmom, my dd (and a bunch of her cousins) went to Beis Chana, I am very impressed with it. She learns on her own, for fun, chassidus and gemara.
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amother
Rose


 

Post Wed, May 15 2019, 2:00 pm
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
Really? I was basing this on girls I know who applied to both.

Just curious, is Yerushalaim more or less intense? More or less chassidish?

Naturalmom, my dd (and a bunch of her cousins) went to Beis Chana, I am very impressed with it. She learns on her own, for fun, chassidus and gemara.


Yerushalaim is less intense, about the same Chassidishkeit wise. My year they had a very strong group but even so they had fewer farbrengens and more distractions being that they're in yerushalaim not on top of a mountain in Tzfat Smile

There are definitely many girls who apply to both with equal interest but there's a large group who only want beis Chana and wouldn't want Yerushalaim.
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amother
Babyblue


 

Post Wed, Nov 20 2019, 10:32 am
Those familiar with Beis Chana...they write that the girl must have a good command of spoken Hebrew. Yet my dil & her sisters did not. Does a girl actually need to speak well?
What about MSY is the level of chassidishkeit on average lower? I have an impression that beis Chana graduates are very serious girls but it seems that the administration of MSY is more in tune to the whole person not just her grades.
Do people apply to both? I heard that the sems share their lists of applicants & hence if you really want beis Chana then don’t apply elsewhere.
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