I saw in the news that at the Agudah convention Rav Shmuel Fuerst from Chicago decried the fact that it costs 25-30k for girls to go to seminary in Israel, and he suggested that they open a seminary in Chicago run as a non-profit that would charge 15k to offer an alternative solution.
Two points:
1) Can someone please explain to me how you can pay teachers for a full day of teaching and provide room and board (seminaries offer usually at least 1 meal a day even if not all the meals) for only 15k a year? There are elementary schools that charge more than that these days.
2) I realize that my perspective here is probably different than that of the RW/Agudah world, but I think the point of seminary in Eretz Yisrael is not just to spend another year studying Torah. Let me quote myself from a few years ago, when one of my daughters was in seminary:
People ask whether a year in seminary in Eretz Yisrael is really worth the thousands of dollars it costs. Does it really make that much difference if a girl knows one more Ramban, a piece from Michtav, or another perek or sefer of Nach? If you ask the question that way, you are missing the whole point of going for the year. It’s not about learning another Ramban, or if you are a boy, another Tosfos, another R’ Chaim. The point of going is to learn one thing: to love Eretz Yisrael.
If yeshiva or seminary in Eretz Yisrael is just another place to study Torah, then Chicago or NY or wherever might be a cheaper substitute. By it's not. There is an entire experience of being in Eretz Yisrael, of seeing life in Eretz Yisrael, that cannot be replicated anywhere else because no where else is our homeland. Does it cost a lot of money? Sure it does. Is it beyond the reach of some people's budget? Absolutely. And therefore there should be alternatives, just like there should be alternatives to the expensive weddings that are the norm in our communities, the expensive pesach and midwinter vacations that are now the norm, the expensive camps that kids "must" attend during the summer.
For those for whom Israel isn't special, so yes a North American alternative would be suitable. It's the "indoctrination year" for them. There is something special about the year in Israel. If Birthright can influence so many young 'uns who have no background in Judaism, imagine how many frum kids are positively influenced by the holy air of Israel.
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