What seminary did you go to?

amother

Powderblue

Wed, Sep 14 2016, 3:16 pm

amother wrote:

Just curious,
What seminary did you go to, and what years?

I went to Neve Yerushalayim some years ago. There were a lot of pretty messed up girls there. Many of them got caught up in the inspiration, got engaged and married very, very quickly while there, and at least 5 of them are now divorced and/or no longer religious. Maybe it's different these days there, who knows.

amother

Indigo

Wed, Sep 14 2016, 5:12 pm

None. And by some miracle I still managed to stay frum, keep a kosher shomer shabbos home, and bring up children who do the same.

(Sarcasm alert. No miracle. Fourteen years of formal Jewish education and twenty-something of living in a kosher shomer shabbos parental home will usually accomplish that much.)

amother

Powderblue

Wed, Sep 14 2016, 5:40 pm

livinginflatbus wrote:

I always wondered if everyone really loves seminary in Israel because everyone I ask looooves it

I loved it. I hung out with friends, partied in town, smoked hash with people from all over the world, got on a bus and went to Eilat, tzfat, you name it. Stopped into a shiur once in awhile and doodled in my notebooks, had no job, no kids, total freedom. Good times! 👍🏼

Chayalle

Wed, Sep 14 2016, 5:41 pm

livinginflatbus wrote:

I always wondered if everyone really loves seminary in Israel because everyone I ask looooves it

I loved my year of seminary in E"Y and I even went back for a second year. (I haven't posted here where I went. I'm not really sure what the point is of a thread of anonymous amothers posting the years they went to seminary.)

But I don't think that's true for everyone - the loving it part. When we looked into seminary choices for DD (she just graduated and decided to stay home) my SIL, who lives in E"Y and hosts alot of seminary girls for Shabbos, told me as follows:

There are girls who are bent on going all thru their high school years, and many of these girls really love it. Then there are girls who are sort of ambivalent; some of these end up liking it, but alot of them tell her that if they could get a refund they'd be on the next plane home. And I've heard of girls whose parents make them go (or they might not get a shidduch!) and some of those girls are really unhappy all year.

A neighbor of mine told me that she cried the whole way there, and never liked seminary at all. Her parents made her go. I can't fathom spending that kind of money to send someone away for 10 months if that someone doesn't want it. My DD felt that 10 months away wouldn't be something she's ready for, so local seminary it is.

amother

Wheat

Wed, Sep 14 2016, 5:43 pm

I actually grew a lot in seminary and it helped me in many ways. There are girls for whom seminary is a very necessary part of their lives, and there are girls who would do better not going to seminary. I don't think blanket statements in either direction are accurate or helpful.