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Syag- kol hakovod to you for making those changes to raise your children yourself. Perhaps I was not clear in which age bracket I was referring. First of all, I am refering to boys yeshiva vacations. I find it strange that the older the boys get the more off time they have. A boy in eighth grade may get off a few days before pesach and perhaps the day after. As they get older and even into Kollel years they get off two full weeks before and more than a week after. If the rationale for this extended amount of time is so parents can spend quality time with their parents, that would mean that both parents are taking off that month from work and using it spend time bonding with their son who is anywhere from 15-30 years old or older. I do not know many families where this is true. Rather this must be a different rationale as to why yeshivos give off for an entire month of nissan. The irony is especially apparent when during that month a kollel husband is home while his wife goes to work.
In response to NOYB
So long? guys are spending 14 hours a day learning, and you think a two week break every once in a while to let off a little steam is long?
Halvai that guys would spend 14 hours a day learning. My guess is that less than 1% of the bachurim are doing that. That minority probably does not need a month to “let off steam”. (ask them). It also does not justify the other 99% explaining what they do with their time during vacation. I am not saying boys/men do not work hard in Yeshiva. What I am saying is show me another vocation in which they take a month to “let off steam”. You can not compare to American college kids. Most people would agree that the atmosphere on a college campus is a party with a few classes in between. The fact that they have such long vacations is not a justification to our boys who have a serious goal of reaching their maximum levels in avodas Hashem
The fact that the American education system gives off 2.5 months in the summer is a relic of the 19th century when they off so that the kids could work on the farm. I don’t want to fix every system but let’s first start with our own