I went to seminary, and frankly it wasn’t good for me, and I didn’t go to EY either. However I do see why for many girls it can be very positive. Many girls come out of the BY system without a real sense of direction in life and this gives them an extra year to develop in a kadosh environment.
On the other hand, there is a big gap where a seminary for girls in America should be and hopefully someone will step up to fill it. We need a seminary that is academically rigorous so that girls who want to learn will actually learn. We also need a seminary that is practical and has baking, sewing, home ec classes to help girls who want to be prepared better for marriage. There is room for at least two more seminaries in Brooklyn alone.Many girls do not go to sem in the US because none of the choices work for them.
List of Seminaries I Know About:
Machon sem in Brooklyn is good for girls who are going to college and want to do sem at the same time.
BY intensive is good for girls who do not plan on going to college and want the best Israel experience America can offer.
BY half day is good for girls who want to have a job and learn, some classes are better than others.
There’s a seminary in Monsey a friend of mine attended – not very academic, but very good for an all around type of girl
There’s one in Lakewood that’s supposed to be good but very yeshivish.
Belz sem in BP is very chassidish. I don’t know anyone who went there but heard it is not very academic.
Yavneh – I know a girl who went and was happy with it. However there are problems, I’m not sure what they are.
All the seminaries suffer from a certain hashkafic inflexibility. They seem to feel that they are supposed to force every girl into the same derech of serving Hashem, whatever theirs is – becoming a teacher, mother, etc. They do not take advantage of America’s rabbonim and do not teach achdus with other types of yidden, except maybe in theory.
We can do better.