Seminary alternative? (RWMO girl)

amother

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 5:51 am

Are there programs that are not a full school year in Israel for a RWMO type? Or summer programs instead?
My DD will be in 12 grade this year. I don't think she is cut out for a whole year away from home. She has anxiety and I think will be overwhelmingly home-sick. Yet, I think some time away from home would be good for her.
Suggestions?

PinkFridge

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 5:58 am

Hatzlacha finding something! I hope there is a way for her to grow in her Torah learning while in college. A big value of seminary is being exposed to more sophisticated learning and ideas. You don't have to have PhD Torah knowledge if you're getting a PhD but it's good not to stay in high school either.

srbmom

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 6:17 am

I don't know specific names or details, but when I was younger NCSY had some summer programs that would possibly work for her. Try contacting them

https://summer.ncsy.org/

amother

Mintgreen

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 6:30 am

This was me. (Other than the anxiety) HS was more than enough for me (both the academic and the non stop hashkafah they didn’t jive with me) I did a summer program to Israel between HS and college. And then I went to stern in the fall, which worked out really well for me. I dormed but it’s not another country so I wasn’t homesick and was able to go home often. Academically it was a breeze after HS. 25 years later and I have zero regrets and would do it exactly the same. I still can’t imagine going to seminary: it holds less than no appeal to me at all and honestly I’m surprised (then and now) and it’s almost universal popularity. It definitely would not have been good for me and I’m so glad I forged my own path.

amother

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 6:54 am

amother [ Mintgreen ] wrote:

She is not interested in Stern. She will likely live at home and go to college from home, primarily because of Shomer Shabbos and kashrut concerns.

If she were interested in Stern, what percentage of girls don’t go to seminary?

amother

Teal

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 6:55 am

This was me too. I went straight to college and then went to seminary the year after. It worked out a lot better for me.

If you think a year off would be good, maybe let her get a job somewhere and build up work experience first?

amother

Mintgreen

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 6:58 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I went to stern 25 years ago but it was a very small percentage of us that were true freshman

amother

Lightyellow

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 7:57 am

I didn’t either want to go the whole year. I went on birthright (the frum all-girls program, I forgot what it’s called) and then Shearim, where you can come and go for however long you’d like

amother

Poppy

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 8:15 am

Lahav is a half year seminary in Israel. It’s open minded BY. Really great option! Don’t know what you mean by RWMO though. You might be looking for a more MO sem than Lahav.

amother

Tuberose

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 8:24 am

OP seminary is overrated hype. Yeah , its nice but its not all its made out to be.
She can start working, go to college part time or fulltime, go to shiurim, whatever she likes.

amother

Hawthorn

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 9:40 am

amother [ Tuberose ] wrote:

OP seminary is overrated hype. Yeah , its nice but its not all its made out to be.
She can start working, go to college part time or fulltime, go to shiurim, whatever she likes.

Please try not to generalize.
I 100% would not be frum today if I hadn't gone to seminary. I owe my life to my seminary and teachers.

PinkFridge

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 9:47 am

amother [ Mintgreen ] wrote:

But Stern offered a lot of Jewish content, and someone going to straight to college only might be missing out.

amother

Mintgreen

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 9:53 am

PinkFridge wrote:

But Stern offered a lot of Jewish content, and someone going to straight to college only might be missing out.

Perhaps. But what was nice about stern in my perspective is that you were treated as adults (rightly so) and the classes were varied but not more of the same hashkafah (as my HS experience was) being shoved down your throat. It was a breath of fresh air. But you also got to pick your courses so I could take Jewish history and Hebrew language rather than (let’s say) Chumash/Navi/mussar.

Also 12 years of intensive Jewish education quire enough. I didn’t need more. Stern gave me more but I chose it more for the community than for the Judaic studies classes

amother

Viola

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 9:57 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I don't have recent info but when I went to Stern 25+ years ago, I was a true Freshman because my parents did not want me to go to seminary in Israel. I was roommates with 4 other girls who were also true Freshman. Most girls do go to seminary first, but there were still a bunch of us straight out of high school.

amother

Mintgreen

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 10:00 am

amother [ Viola ] wrote:

Ha! You might have been my roomie lol!

amother

Wandflower

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 1:23 pm

Do you think she could benefit from working away from home in a jewish environment for the summer? How about a job at an overnight camp and get a way to establish an older mentor to help her learn a little bit at her own pace.