Baer Miriam?

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  • #618689
    Futuregirl
    Member

    Is anyone hear a recent alumni or knows one who can tell me more about it?

    What is it’s Hashkafa (BY, MO, Tzioni), what type of girls go there; is it very academic, in the middle, or very chill; would an out-of-towner feel comfortable?

    #1192602
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    I don’t know much about it, and what I do know is from years ago, but I am almost positive that it is not “very academic”.

    I don’t know the exact hashkafa, but it is definitely not a BY. It probably is somewhere in the middle. I think that the girls are all from MO backgrounds. There are definitely staff members who are tzioni.

    I know someone who either works there or used to work there. If you want, I can try to call her and find out more when I have a chance. But I don’t think I’ll be able to do it today.

    #1192603
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Let me know if you have other specific questions, and I can try to find out for you.

    #1192606
    Futuregirl
    Member

    I posted questions but maybe the moderator thought they would encourage Loshon Harah.

    To phrase it better, I would like to know about the dress-code,edited, and the size of the school. Also, if the school helps set you up for out-Shabbats.

    Thank you, this would be a tremendous help!:)

    #1192609
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    bli neder, I will try to find out for you when I have a chance.

    #1192610
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    okay, the information you have been waiting for:

    First of all, I would like to recommend that you check out the websites of any seminary you are looking into. You can find out a lot that way, I think. In particular, it is a good way to find out how the girls dress (not the dress code itself – but how they actually dress), since they have pictures of the girls.

    You can also find out if the school in tzioni (on B’aer Miriam’s website, there are a lot of pictures of the Israeli flag, on Tomer Devora’s website, they talk about Yom HaAtzmaut options, for example).

    Regarding B’aer Miriam:

    1. It is very small. As of a few years ago, they generally had app. 30-50 girls a year.

    2. They have a really good, warm staff who really care about the girls.

    3. Very out-of-town school.

    4. The school is tzioni. The administration is tzioni.

    5. The teachers are a mix of Chareidi and Dati-Leumi.

    6. The focus is on teaching Yiras Shamayim, not “hashkafic politics”.

    7. They set girls up for Shabbos. I think all schools do, btw.

    8. dress code = cover knees, sleeves to the elbow, not too low-cut

    9. girls are a range of Frumkeit.

    btw, this info is from app. 3 yrs ago, but it doesn’t sound like most of these facts would have changed. The one thing that can change in a seminary from year to year is the type of girls who go, so it might be kidai to get more recent info on that if possible.

    #1192611
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Futuregirl, I have a few questions for you:

    1. Are you looking for something Academic, in the middle or chill?

    2. Are you looking for a school where the girls are more modern or more Frum (I’m not talking about hashkafa, but about Frumkeit)?

    3. The term out-of-town has various definitions. What do you mean by it? (some possible meanings are: not-Jappy/materialistic, not-so-Yeshivish, warm, good Middos, friendly/not-cliquey, etc.)

    I’m just asking because it would make it easier to advise you about seminaries if I have a better idea of what you are looking for. Also, I don’t want to say something about a school that could be LH and I’d rather avoid comparing schools. It’s easier to avoid that if I understand better what you are looking for.

    Thanks!

    #1192612
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Futuregirl – I just reread your original post where you describe what you are looking for. Sorry, I had forgotten what you had written. Based on what you wrote, it sounds to me like Tomer Devora might be a better fit for you than B’aer Miriam. I am basing that on TD’s website compared with what I heard about B’aer Miriam and to some extent their website.

    Based on what you say you are looking for in your opening post, my impression is that TD might be a better fit in terms of both academics and Frumkeit level.

    #1192613
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    check out the TD website when you have a chance and the video of the girls describing the school. Amongst other things, the girls definitely seem very out-of-townish to me.

    #1192614
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Moderators – why are you still up? It’s way past your bed-time!

    #1192615
    Futuregirl
    Member

    1. In the middle.

    2. Frumkeit – frum (though not Bais Yaakov, in-town Frum, more out-of-town Frum where girls can get away with not wearing socks, that type of thing, watch secular music/moves (absolutely not Lashon Hara, moderators, unless you believe this to be bad, which in my humble opinion, reflects only your opinion not Halachah per se, and I listen/watch secular media and am not ashamed of it).

    3. Not so Yeshivish or jappy

    It absolutely would be Lashon Hora to say about a school that it condones secular music/movies. This is not “my” (or “our”) opinion of Halachah, it is actually a clear Halachah in Shulchan Aruch (regarding literature), and movies have explicitly been called assur by numerous more recent Gedolei Haposkim.

    #1192616
    Futuregirl
    Member

    However, I guess I have more modern Hashkafah: I like the idea of girls learning Gemara, I am slightly feministic, I want to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut.

    #1192617
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Futuregirl – thanks for giving me a clearer picture of what you are looking for. It defintely makes it easier for me to make suggestions, and it is also easier to avoid LH, since I can just tell you if I think a school sounds right for YOU without having to say anything negative about a school.

    Have you had a chance to check out TD’s website? It sounds to me like it fits what you are looking for.

    I’m not sure if B’aer Miriam would be right for you in terms of academics, so you may want to check that out.

    I would also think that DB could be a possibility. But I don’t know enough about what the student body is like and if the girls are out-of-townish enough. Writergirl would probably know something like that. It is not small, but it is very warm.

    #1192618
    Futuregirl
    Member

    I did.

    TD seems fairly Bais Yaakov type, according to the majority of the girls in the video at least. Not tzioni type people, so I’m not sure:)

    #1192619
    Futuregirl
    Member

    Same with DB.

    #1192620
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    “TD seems fairly Bais Yaakov type, according to the majority of the girls in the video at least. Not tzioni type people, so I’m not sure:)”

    On the website (I believe it was in the FAQ section), it did mention that they are open to girls celebrating Yom HaAtzmaut and take those that are interested to Merkaz HaRAv.

    #1192621
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Maybe BM is more for you then. Or Shaalvim might make sense – I don’t know if it’s Outoftownish or not.

    #1192622
    Futuregirl
    Member

    Ok, I guess I got a different impression. I’ll look into it. Your help was really appreciated!

    #1192623
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    “Ok, I guess I got a different impression. I’ll look into it.”

    My impression was that the girls have different hashkafos and they are accepting of that.

    Regarding the secular literature/movies issue, I think that in all or most of the non-BY seminaries (which would include in Writersoul’s words, everything from DB to the left), both of the following factors are true for the most part:

    1. Most or all of the staff members consider these things to be problematic or assur, but:

    2. They recognize that the girls are coming from backgrounds where these are accepted.

    #1192624
    Futuregirl
    Member

    I decided to look into MMY, lilmod ulelemaid. Thank you for all of your help, though. I’ll think about Tomer Devorah, as well.

    #1192625
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    MMY is an amazing school! I didn’t think you wanted something so academic, which is why I hadn’t encouraged it.

    Very warm atmosphere, great girls.

    #1192626
    emunah18
    Participant

    Not DB. I went there. Teachers are all chareidi and the school is not tzioni.

    have you looked into shaalvim? Tiferet? MMY? Midreshet Tehilla?

    #1192627
    Futuregirl
    Member

    I just heard some not very good things about MMY from my sister, though I think she just met the non-mainstream MMY girls during her year in Israel…

    Looking into MT, emunah18.

    It doesn’t have a website… Could you give me more information?

    #1192628
    Futuregirl
    Member

    lilmod: I want something academic, but not overly so. I am a bit worried though, because I have never learned Gemara, and being in combined classes for Judaics, I may not be on par with some of the girls.

    However, that “type” of school (academic – maybe a drop less – , religious yet tzioni, small, open Hashkafah) is what I’m looking for.

    #1192629
    Futuregirl
    Member

    I was thinking Ma’ayonot would work, because it is the more intellectual track of Baer Miriam, and academics is my (and yours, lilmod) only concern about Baer Miriam.

    Wow, threre are so many choices!

    #1192630
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Futuregirl – unless things have changed over the years, MMY used to be either the most or one of the top two in terms of academics. I’m not trying to scare you away – it’s a great school and it would be great if you went – but it is super-academic, so you have to be prepared for that.

    In terms of whatever it is your sister heard, keep in mind that most schools have different types of girls in them. It would be very hard to find a school that hasn’t had any “not-good girls”. I haven’t been involved with MMY in several years, but they used to have great girls there.

    In terms of your wanting academic but not overly so, it seems to me that TD or MT would be more matim. Shaalvim might also be a possibility, but it’s possible that it’s more academic than you are looking for (although it is less than MMY)

    #1192631
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    “Wow, threre are so many choices!”

    True. And if you can’t find the “perfect school”, at some point, you might want to think about priorities and which things are maybe not as important as others [why do I feel like I’m talking about shidduchim? :)]

    Obviously, that’s a personal decision, but it seems to me that for example, whether or not a school celebrates Yom HaAtzmaut may not be as important as other things. Also, I personally think that academics (too high or too low) may not be as important as other things such as warm environment, good girls, growth oriented, etc.

    Of course, that’s a personal decision and one you will have to make for yourself. And maybe you will find the perfect school, so you won’t need to drop anything from your list!

    #1192632
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    I never heard of Maayanot before. I tried looking for it online, but I couldn’t really find anything. But if it’s a more academic track of B’aer Miriam, that sounds like it could be great for you, Iy”H!

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