Seminary help!

Bored troll/yeshiva bochur,
If you’re a troll, go find something better to do.
If you’re a yeshiva bochur, the zman started. Have a good zman!
(Too many holes in this story)

Consider taking some time to learn your father’s minhagim… if you stop some of your chumros, he can afford to spend some time with you and fulfill the suggestion to teach kids between 17 and 22. At the same time you can get a pt job to pay for the seminary of your choice.

You are a very confused teenager. This is clearly not a criticism, since it is not your fault. In order to have a real “hashkafa”, you first must be somewhat grounded, and you clearly are not, as evidenced by the silly “chumros” you have adopted. And as made obvious by your choice of high schools (it is assumable from your description that there is a better high school available to you, since otherwise a confusing albeit sketchy explanation of why you are in the school you are in would be unnecessary).

While chalav yisrael is a valid “chumra”, it probably is wrong to adopt if you live in a place where its availability is questionable, since young people need the nourishment milk products provide (as Rav Moshe zt”l discusses in regard to his heter for chalav stam). It is assumable that your community qualifies as a place of chalav yisrael scarcity. Pas yisrael is not a chumra with any validity for the ignorant, as evident in various discussions about the issue amongst contemporary poskim. Waiting 1 or 3 or 6 hours is not a “churma” issue, it is a minhag issue. If your Father’s family from way back had a minhag to wait 3 hours, that’s what you should do. If you have no way of ascertaining your family’s true custom, ask the local Rabbi, who will probably be able to figure out where you come from, or will tell you to keep your family’s custom if he can’t figure anything out. “Zibitzig Shtrimp” is a foolishness in your case, unless you are a descendant of serious Satmar chassidim. So your “churmros” need to go away.

If your hashkafa in regard to choice of Seminary could “go either way”, that is a clear sign that your are a confused child, and you need guidance from someone with experience in dealing with such situations. Which is why I responded to your post. I happen to know such a person. She is an Israeli American who runs much of the program (particularly the night program) at Seminar, a seminary in Jerusalem. She is a wise woman, which is a rarity in this world in general, edited  If you can reach her, tell her that her close relative in Los Angeles suggested you call her. I obviously can’t give more information in this forum, but if your post is real, I am trying to help as best as I can.

Good luck!

Hatzlacha Rabba.

Just to point out, Gebrocks on Pesach is NOT a chumrah. It’s a difference in minhagim. It is well known that the Chassam Sofer holds that if your family does eat Gebrocks you cannot change to not eat Gebrocks because that would lower your Simchas Yom Tov which is d’Oraysa.

Just keep it in mind. It’s not a right or wrong. It’s different minhagim.

The really frum seminaries won’t take you in given what you describe. So you switched from 3 hours to 6 – they prefer 12. Stockings that are 70? Keep going, as they say, “biz a hundred un tvuntzig!”
Pas Yisrael is a good thing to take on. Chalav Yisrael is only good if you bad-mouth those who don’t keep it, that’s the more important part of the chumrah. After all, you’re not really holier than others if you don’t tell them so!
Not eating gebrokts? You need the extra chumrah, not to drink any water at all at meals where you eat matzah. Except, of course, on the last day, when there is a minimum shiur of 8 glasses per meal, which you must drink while chewing on the matzah. Some are extra machmir to drink all 8 glasses within the short zman of 60 seconds.
Please try keeping those chumros, and then the more serious seminaries will give you a shot.