“If parents are investing so much in seminary tuition, why can’t they use the year to really prepare girls for marriage?”
I’d like to throw my two pence into the ring in response to the “Mancunian” who wrote the piece called “Time to Rethink Learning Abroad.” I sympathize with the writer struggling to meet the exorbitant costs of sending children to Eretz Yisrael to learn. I’m also doing the same balancing act, making a chasunah very soon, with another child about to start shidduchim, and a third child going to yeshivah, yes, also in Eretz Yisrael.
I think it’s important to differentiate between really strong bochurim and those who can’t sit all day, or don’t come from black-hat backgrounds. Yes, there are yeshivos emerging in the UK that cater to bochurim up until marriageable age, and sending them there would save parents a lot of money in fees and all the associated costs that go with yeshivah overseas.
But they cater to the black-hat, white-shirt clientele who want to continue learning as long as they can. None of them offer any extracurricular activities, and they discourage going to the gym, for example.
But boys who need a less intense yeshivah, like the ones that are equipped with gyms, feature a weekly oneg Shabbos, and offer monthly tiyulim, etc., will not find them in the UK. Should we give up on their learning altogether? The influence yeshivah has on these boys (yes, even these “less than” yeshivos!) is profound.
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