Finding the Right Seminary

Try to contact someone who’s child attended any of these seminaries &

ask for feedback. If the parent was happy, pros, cons, etc..

A smaller seminary might be a better choice (if they have years of experience)

depending on the girl.

Confused Tatte- would you look into other seminaries besides those? There are tons of seminaries that are not as publicized that might be right. Before, when I meant academic, a better term would be textually based or not. Some, like machon raya and BJJ, seem to be mostly textual classes. Some seminaries have a mix, while some are mostly non. Textual also can mean “will they make you learn the entire sefer shoftim on your own in a week with meforshim” or it can mean “we will be learning shoftim in detail and depth in class with homework preparation”. Hatzlacha finding the right seminary for your daughter!

The only proper way to rate a seminary is to look at the percentage of girls who get engaged within a month after returning. All the other info is meaningless.

Was just kidding.

First of all: It is not easy to get into any of these sems, so the point is to settle on a few. I recently had girls in both Bnos Chava & BYA. Bnos Chava is very big, it is easy to get lost. It is also is very hard work and most of the girls are extremely talented as well as bright – if your daughter is a star in HS she may not be one there, the competition is fierce but the experience is worth it. My girls LOVED it and learned a lot. BYA was perfect for the daughter who went there – she is quieter, the school is smaller and less diverse, it is not low level at all but more like HS type learning on a higher level than HS(at least that is how I found it the one year my daughter was there). Bnos Sora is a blend of the two but VERY HARD WORK.I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the schools you mentioned but be aware that the student body can vary from year to year. I think your HS mechaneches is your best source of advice. Hatzlacha rabbah.

Save the money and have her stay home. Be a leader not a follower.

EDITED

How about this confusion. When did a community known for its tuition tzoros decide that seminary is a must?

Once again, are you only going to look into those seminaries listed? Just because it was right for shmerel and berel doesnt mean that it will be right for your daughter. Just because her friends are going there, it might be best to go somewhere different. She can be who she wants, instead of who she was in hs (no one is there to say- frumy, you know she wasnt like this in hs…) I know a girl- all her friends went to BJJ and the like and she didnt but she grew so much and had such a wonderful year! Some of the less popular ones might be right. Your daughter is different from everyone else’s so she shouldnt be forced to go to the same ones as they are. Look into different ones!

It sounds like this might not be right for your daughter, but just today I heard about a new seminary, Shir Bamidbar. Since they are new, there is no history, the only information available is what you can get from their web site. It seems it is not for everyone, but for the right type, it looks pretty good.

I applaud the fact that your daughter is not following the crowd. I assumed that they were popular in your daughter’s school as well as from what I heard from some girls, those seminaries have been popular the last year or two.

Have you looked into tiferes? Its warm, smaller (not sure how many are there this past year), and the girls that I know went there are academic but dont want the huge pressure of BJJ and Mesoras Rochel. They want to learn but without the major stress and panic of some seminaries. You learn but they wont tell you to memorize the tanach. Real BY seminary. Girls I know who went there are “daughter of rebbetzin” type but still fun, sweet and kind. I know of a few teachers who work there and they are really warm and kind. You can be close to their staff. its in a great location- sanhedria merchevet- walking distance to the kosel (cant do it 2 times a day but do-able) and near great neighborhoods.

Confused tatty – it has been 10 years since I was in sem, and I can’t tell you specifically more than a “feel” I got of schools, but I can tell you that I had Rebbetzin Tarshish in Maalot, and she is unbelievable, in a good way. I don’t know how close you can or can’t get to her, cuz I don’t know how busy she is these days, but she is very caring. But academically, or learning torah, nothing compares – she is brilliant ka”h and brings machshava to life – whether in teaching mitzvos, or tanach, or machshava – anything….she brings all kinds of torah sources before you finish processing the first point and then she ties it all together, and each shiur ends with a huge “WOW!” and tons if inspiration. I personally learned “Shoftim” from her, and it seems at face value like one of the most boring and least thought provoking (if I can say that c”v) of the neviim, and she would bring aggadata and maharal and tons of sources, and break apart each pasuk, and explain from these mekoros what people’s names represented, what “ben so and so” represented, what the name of the place they were from or conquered represented, and what the number of years each one ruled represented – and it was so meaningful and powerful, it both gave me a lot of machshava and yesodos to think about, and it gave me a deeper emunah and appreciation for what tanach is all about, or how much depth there is behind it that we don’t understand – when such seemingly basic “non-inspiring” pesukim could “pack such a punch” of meaning and inspiration…!

As far as warmth, I think that is the most important thing to look into with any school (and/or families you can hook up your daughter with here in israel that will look after her and give her familial warmth when she goes for shabbos, y”t etc) as that is both the biggest factor in “losing” kids c”v, and the greatest factor in inspiring them and keeping them infused with wanting this derech for life…

hatzlocha rabbah! and if I can be of more help you can ask YWN for my email…

I was reading this post and decided to pipe in with a seminary that has not been mentioned yet…BAIS YAAKOV SHOSHANIM!

It is an amazing seminary that has warm and caring staff. It is so easy to gain a kesher with the teachers, am habayis, and staff. The seminary is academic but not crushing in the amount of work they give. There are girls there who are on different academic levels there so the seminary staff will work with those girls to help them make the most out of seminary. It is smaller, close-knit…they become a family to the girls almost immediately! There is a nice mix of in-town and out-of-town girls. It is anything but “jappy”. It has been small in the past (purposely) but they have bought a new building so they can accept more girls this year! It is great to know everyone’s name within the first week!

The work is not too overbearing but you gain tons! The seminary feels that you are in seminary to learn from some of the best teachers- so you sit in class and learn more than have homework. Classes cover such a wide range of topics (Halacha, Nach, Parsha, Middos, Hashkafa and more) that girls have trouble picking a favorite! There were those who got straight “A”s throughout high school and were challenged, but they wont make you memorize 10 perakim of nach. You learn it and internalize it.There were papers to write and they left huge impacts on the girls. They need to do research, but there are people willing to help, loan sefarim, explain things ect. There is preparation to be done, but there is a set period in the schedule to work on it where there is staff ready to help if necessary! The food is great (as compared to other seminaries where it is barely edible) and they are willing to take suggestions! It is home-style and cooked fresh (not institution food). There are in-shabbosim and “out shabbosim” where the seminary goes to different areas as a school, about one in/out shabbos a month- more than many seminaries! They even made a special shabbos that was not mandatory for the shabbos before pesach because they realized that the way the calendar was set up that year, it would be hard to find shabbos placements. They take you on amazing tiyulim, some that are hard to go on in the 150 girl seminaries. It is so special to be able to travel with the entire seminary together and not have to split up. The have guest speakers quite often, as well as “workshops” where you go to specific teacher’s houses and, in a relaxed, comfortable setting, have animated and in-depth discussions about specific topics, many times relating to the theme (changes about monthly)- the theme coordinates with guest speakers and yomei iyunim as well! It makes it so much more understandable and you get a fuller picture of the topic, rather than getting a snippet here or there.

It is a real BY seminary for BY girls who want to grow, learn and internalize the lessons! I know its cliche, but the seminary girls who leave feel like they are one big family!

My daughter is in Mesores Rochel now. She loves the seminary. Everything that was said above about Mrs. Tarshish is true. The learning is of a different dimension. Rosh Chodesh is not a regular day, it has meaning! The month of Cheshvan, what it’s all about, the mazel of the month, and how it all connects,…these are just some of the things my daughter has told me about recently. However it’s a lot of work, a lot! There doesn’t seem to be any letup because in order to understand Mrs. Tarshish’s Shoftim class, there’s a tremendous amount of preparation that has to go in beforehand. This class is in addition to preparing the entire parsha each week, homework from all the other subjects, and tests every week. There’s very little time to sleep. My daughter really enjoys the learning but she is very tired.

My daughter says the girls are a nice blend and everyone is friendly with everyone. Some dress up for Shabbos, some don’t and it’s all okay. Mrs. Tarshish goes with the girls on the tiyulim. Her rich insight of history and hashkafa make these tiyulim more than just fun trips; and yes, they have fun too. The food is good, the staff is wonderful and they’re located in Geulah. There’s class in the morning, an afternoon break, and evening classes. No uniform but a dress code. Anything else?

*and bjj is more institutionalized.its a great school(espeshially if u like 2 learn and b challenged) but i dont think its so personal and VERY large.*

rebetzin- that is what i said in my original post.

and abt type, i guess it really all depends who you know that is there.

1. yes

2. yes

3. depends on the year. girls are girls,and it depends which girls are there in any particular year

4. While she is worthy of a whole sem. revolving around her, it really doesn’t – there are other teachers. Rabbis Geisler & Abramov weren’t mentioned and they deserve to be!!!

5. I think it is not on the level of the above academically, but is super in terms of students middos/personality. But again, it depends on the year. If you have sem age daughter you surely know the vort that hatzlacha in raising children depends on “trairen and tehillim”. Kudos on your due diligence. Again, you won’t go wrong with any of these schools.

To confused Tatty. You’re right about the mix. The good thing about the sems you mentioned (and not to add to the fun but Nachlas IS right in there; a good friend’s daughter was accepted to a number of top sems among the ones you mentioned and chose Nachlas when it was brand new) is that they are all great, and if your daughter is considering them, she is a quality girl. Iy”H when all the applications come back, may she actually have a choice (i.e. get accepted to two or more), may the choice be easy, and may she get into at least one.

Well i went to Bnos Chava a few years ago and loved it. I noticed that the Bnos Sarah girls (its right next door) got very close, like one big family- more so then in BC. not that we didnt but as a bigger more diverse school it wasnt the same bond that ALL the girls in BS shared. At that time (Mrs. Tarshish days) I think they had a more steady workload and a little harder then BC. meaning in BC we had the shoftim tests and then a couple papers that were over two over parts of the year, but they had a few more papers maybe not as big as the medrish paper (which was very intense) but as big as the other paper.

i dunno what it is now, but i heard that BC’s workload is comparable to what it was then.

Just remember that its hard to get into some seminaries!! especially BJJ! so apply to a few places your comfortable with and let Hashem do the selection for you!

First off, I think you should really talk to girls who are in those seminaries now! other people just hear rumors and often false impressions. You realy dont know unless you’ve been there.

THat said, I’ll mention that I’ve visited these seminaries and have friends in both BJJ and Bnos Sara but Im not actually in either of them. My impression has been that Bnos Sara is alot warmer than BJJ, but its still very acedemic. Both are very good seminaries and are similr in many ways. Its proably best not to decide on one until you have been accepted.

Also, just curiousity, but where’s your daughter in all this? Does she really want the same things as you?

I wish there was a clear cut outline to lay out exactly what every seminar is like…but i want you to know that same type of girls can apply to BJJ Bnos Chava, BYA and BNos Sara and then when acceptance letters arrive, girls decide where they want to go…so the group dynamics which you are asking about will change every singel year in every seminary…thats why you hear that some years this seminary had a fantastic year while another seminary, girls didn’t like it that much…

but you can never really know what type it will be that year until you go there…

however u were asking about BJJ and Bnos Sara…I heard Bnos Sara is warmer…thats from my friend’s experience.

and just like with everything in life…it pays to daven to Hashem that He directs you to right seminary cuz this is one of things in life where you need mazel as well!!

good luck!