Neve Yerushalayim Type of Program for FFBs?

amother

Thu, May 06 2021, 2:10 pm

My post-HS daughter is interested in going to learn in EY for the sake of learning, not for tests or full-on sem. Neve Yerushalayim apparently no longer has a program for girls who grew up frum and learned in yeshivos/Bais Yaakovs. Can anyone tell me if there is anything like that elsewhere? Simply a program for girls who want to learn for the sake of learning and grow in their spirituality? She is not looking for Shanah Bet-type of programs, and does not want to commit to any particular length of time.
Thanks for any help!

amother

Orange

Thu, May 06 2021, 2:35 pm

Nishmat might provide what she is looking for, but it wouldn't suit a Beis Yaakov graduate. It is very firmly Dati Leumi.

I always remember my first class there with Rabbanit Henkin. She told us, 'Learn the pasuk. Then learn the Rashi. Look up the midrash. Compare it to the Ramban. See who the Sforno agrees with. Look up his sources. Go where the texts take you. Fly. And be back here in two hours.' It was really just intense and wonderful learning for the sake of learning.

Practically, most places will be looking for some kind of time commitment, because they need to make their plans about class sizes and dorms. BT seminaries are more flexible and don't have exams, but aren't aimed at eighteen year olds. It might be worth looking though. This year they have suffered so badly because of Corona they might be willing to accept a wider range of students to get the numbers up a bit. Look at She'arim and Midreshet Rachel.

amother

Thu, May 06 2021, 3:36 pm

amother [ Orange ] wrote:

Thanks, we will look into both. She doesn’t necessarily need dorming- we’d be willing to rent a room somewhere as long as it was safe, obviously, She is only interested in the learning aspect and does not want the whole seminary experience, that’s why she didn’t go right after high school. (I would have loved for her to go but wasn’t going to try to “force” her, especially this year with all the upheaval.)

Elfrida

Thu, May 06 2021, 3:40 pm

You probably know this, but at the moment Israel isn't letting tourists into the country, and I don't think they are granting student visas. The plan is to open up to tourists at the beginning of July, but that's a long way off and anything could change by then.

Summer programmes would be an ideal way to register for a short period and get a taste of the school, and see if she would want to carry on there. I think there is more flexibility about who they take for the summer.

amother

Thu, May 06 2021, 5:28 pm

Elfrida wrote:

Yes, a summer program would be perfect if things open up. She’s pretty flexible so she might be able to do that at short notice.

doctorima

Thu, May 06 2021, 7:46 pm

Look into She'arim run by Rebbetzin Pavlov and Midreshet Rachel. I think that many (most?) of the women there are BT's, but it's a BY atmosphere with high-level learning and an older, more mature crowd who comes for whatever period of time they are able to. I think they would be happy to work with your daughter to arrange a program that would work for where she's holding.

amother

Denim

Thu, May 06 2021, 8:55 pm

I went to Neve and had friends at Shaarim. I don’t think Shaarim would be right for her unless it’s changed drastically. The students are mature people mostly 30s and older with rich diverse life experiences and I just don’t think a young ffb girl would find her place. I have daughters the same age as your daughter and I can’t imagine them enjoying it. Also the students are struggling their way through learning to teitch, which is so beautiful but not where your dd is holding.

Does Neve really not allow ffbs anymore? I have several friends who were regular BY types but wanted to explore and think, and they had fantastic experiences at Neve.

amother

Thu, May 06 2021, 9:06 pm

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

Yes, it's a shame because I got her all excited to go based on my impressions of Neve, which were similar to yours. Apparently they changed the rules a couple of years ago and they're pretty strict about it now. What about the other one mentioned, Midreshet Rachel, are you familiar with that?

amother

Denim

Thu, May 06 2021, 9:35 pm

I don’t have current info about Midreshet Rachel, but in my day it wasn’t a BY type place. It attracted a lot of bright, idealistic, growing BTs who were serious about learning. Wonderful place but not a place I’d send a BY graduate to.

amother

Thu, May 06 2021, 10:12 pm

doctorima wrote:

Thank you, we're going to look into both to see if they might be suitable. I understand they might not be exactly what she's looking for, but maybe one will be close enough...