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My daughter was asked to be valedictorian in her seminary, and asked me to help her write a speech. I (who am currently present in EY, where her seminary is located) asked the Rosh to hire her a speechwriter. The Rosh refused, saying A) it’s out of their budget; B) someone with the education received by their seminary should be able to write her own speech.
So I told that to my daughter, who said they were never taught speechwriting. I suggested she just decline the valedictorian offer, but she doesn’t want to. I went back to the rosh, which wasn’t easy BTW, and she shrugged and repeated the above two claims. I pointed out that it’s self-contradictory. If they’re supposed to be able to write their own speech, but can’t, obviously the seminary didn’t provide my tuition’s worth, and should therefore have the extra money to hire a speechwriter. A speechwriter doesn’t have to be super-fancy. Just a regular guy who charges a nominal fee per hour. But rosh refused.
The big question is, who’s right? And what should I do?
Please reply promptly, because the graduation date is fast approaching, and my daughter has to have a speech by then.
The Rosh is right. I don’t even think the Rif argues.
For the speech, simply choose a published shiur or teaching that one finds meaningful and appropriate, and read it.
Plagarize someone’s valedictorian speech from the internet. No seminary will know the difference.
I’ve never heard of hiring a speechwriter.
Most people figure out how to write it if they can’t themselves.
Frum schools are very non-professional, were not talking about Trump here.She can’t write a 5 minute sappy thin about how seminary changed her life?
I’ll write it for her for heavens sake!Do you have any sons and if yes, did you hire someone to write their bar mitzvah pshetl? If yes, then you should hire someone to write her speech.
Joseph -We should not be advocating for sheker or g’naivas daas. I assume you were joking perhaps?
A speechwriter seems like overkill. It’s not Harvard, it’s a frum seminary. Just write about how they are amazing, she had fun and learned a lot and a small dvar torah.
If you really need one, I think I can write one up for you. I’ve made speeches for my daughters’ graduations… I’ve B”H done a play.. and I’ve written on the Coffee Room! Tell me the theme, and maybe something can B’ezras HaShem be put together for you in time.
btw, I give a special Hakaras Hatov to the Coffee Room, editors and Mods for the time here. I think I’ve somewhat honed my writing skills to some degree. Actually sometimes things come out legibly, at times others can actually understand what I wrote!
The big question is, whoâs right?
without question the Rosh.
And what should I do?
Leave it to her to decide. I assume she is capable of making this decision, as she is graduating seminary.
Her choices are pretty straight forward:
1) accept the honor and get a hold of a spmehow (as others pointed out, it isnt a big deal)
2) decline the honorYes, Syag. I appreciate your being dan lkaf zchus.
Sd: Sorry to say, but your daughter needs a reality check. And you too. So she never learned speech-writing. Does she have any writing know-how? Didnât she have any school writing assignments, creative writings, essays etc? No cookie-cutter skills are needed. Adaptation is key here and in life.
So I suggest your daughter ask them what the speech criteria is, if she doesnât have that info yet. She can call up last yearâs valedictorian for suggestions if necessary, and roll up her sleeves. Once sheâs more or less done, you can help her with the editing.
And get off your perch about making a speech thatâll be life changing for the girls. By having too high expectations, youâre probably freezing her out. Be realistic and itâll come together better than expected. Hatzlacha!
seems to me, unless you cough up, she will be speechless.
No hobblewash, wasn’t she inspired at seminary? Didn’t she make friends? Didn’t she learn and grow?
Just tell her to talk about that.
Plus, I’m sure half the class will be bawling no matter what sappy thing she said.SD
âTHeyâre not paying her, they want her to do the dirty work of preparing a speechâŠwhatâs the justification of that?â
Trust me
No one wants to sit through your daughters speech. Not the parents, and not the rabbeim who have to endure these things every year.
Itâs pretty much the same at every bar mitzvah.
Show of hands. How many here enjoy all the speeches at a bar mitzvah? Especially the pshetel?
That said itâs âwhatâs doneâ. Every graduation has a speech from the valedictorian, and it will look weird if she refuses. Iâm reasonably sure every valedictorian writes their own speech even in Harvard.
Itâs a learning experience. And a good one. Public speaking skills is something to hone and useful in many professions.screwdriver, the justification (and payment) is that she is getting a lot of kavod by being picked as the top girl in her seminary. Being valedictorian comes with giving a speech, whether in 8th grade, or 12th or college. If she finds that too difficult, or thinks of it as dirty work, or needs her parent to go complain to her principal about it, then maybe they really did choose the wrong girl. I assume however that the girl really has no problem, and the parent is just playing troll.
I was a little slow to catch on, but I think screwdriverdelight is just messing with us… And I took the bait, i mean âbitâ.
This is her chance to say what she really thinks and take down her enemies within the seminary.
This is her chance to say what she really thinks and take down her enemies within the seminary.
Actually a great idea. Let her get up there and say that she was asked to speak but the seminary didn’t adequately prepare her for that, so she has nothing to say.
RY & Meno; You guys crack me up!đ
Maybe she should say over some good jokes from Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky! Or if she can do a good southern accent she can say how “seminarah has totally changed ma laf”!wtp and mammele – I had similar thoughts. I think we all took the bait. and I have nothing to support this but I always thought he was closer to post seminary age than a post seminary parent.
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