Israel Fewer girls headed to Israel

By Sylvia Saad Sophomore Editor

As the end of the year approaches, seniors have begun deciding how they plan to spend their first year out of high school. Currently, around 20 senior girls have decided to attend seminary next year in Israel, in contrast to the 30+ of the graduating class of 2022. This subtle decline seems to be related in part to the several girls who came back from Midreshet Eshel, a seminary in Israel, half a year early.

At the beginning of the year in Israel, over 30 students walked into Eshel with very high expectations based on the positive reviews of the girls from the 2021-22 year. But a number of the girls were disappointed with their dorm apartments after finding the rooms small and lacking closet space. Many girls were so dissatisfied with their living conditions that they decided to return home to Brooklyn at the end of the first semester, or even earlier. “The dorms did not meet our standards, and it was affecting my year,” an anonymous Eshel student remarked.

Some current senior girls are passionate about the prospects of the year in Israel, and were not fazed by some bad experiences at one school. Senior Tunie Hanon says that she did not apply to Eshel because of its negative reviews, but that it was not a deal breaker for going to Israel as a whole.

Ms. Wielgus, head of Israel guidance for girls, commented that this year’s positive experiences of so many outweigh the negatives. “Since it was the thing to do last year, many girls didn’t think their decision through and went for the wrong reasons. Minor setbacks, such as rooming situations, sent them over the edge. Many other girls who were really enthusiastic about going to Israel and stuck it through learned to live in more spartan conditions than they are used to at home and came to appreciate all of what the seminary experience has to offer. These girls are currently having an amazing time, and that is filtering through to next year’s group of Flatbush girls who are committed to going to seminary in Israel.”

Rachelle Beyda and Louise Sitt, graduates of ’22 and current Eshel students, are two examples of the other end of the spectrum. While some students did not have one good thing to say about Eshel, Beyda and Sitt had many. “Midreshet Eshel has been the tool for me to develop into a better version of myself! Eshel is a small sephardic girls seminary, so they understand where we come from. They teach us based on our environment back home so that we are well prepared and ready for life post year in Israel.”