Not Your Typical Vacation: A Look Inside the Lakewood Yarchei Kallah

All the while the glances that the lurking writer and cameraman get from the crowd convey their unease with publicity. For four decades this scene has replayed itself year after year without much public awareness. Yet as we approach various participants after the shiur their enthusiasm for the program trumps their suspicion of the media and they candidly share the perspectives on the Yarchei Kallah.

Reb Yehudah Schwartz a middle-aged clinical psychologist and thirty-year Yarchei Kallah veteran says “For so many years this diamond has been kept secret. I feel bad that others who’d be able to partake in it don’t even know that it exists. Even many of the people who do know about the Yarchei Kallah are afraid that it’s too difficult for them. But people must know how great an experience we all have.”

Reb Yehudah’s enthusiasm seems to be shared by everyone here — even those with very disparate ages backgrounds and occupations. Some participants are rabbanim kollel yungeleit and mechanchim. Others are businessmen attorneys doctors and other professionals who have graduated from universities like Columbia and have employers as prestigious as Exxon Mobil. While a handful of participants live in Lakewood the vast majority traveled from communities across the United States and Canada to enjoy the Lakewood experience.

One particularly enthusiastic smiling participant Reb Dov Schechter formerly an attorney at the prominent Smith-Barney financial services corporation surmises “At the Yarchei Kallah you get to learn with a focus and depth that you generally can’t do with your year-round sedarim and daf yomi shiur. We learn very seriously here. Someone who doesn’t commit to learn all the sedarim every day of the program cannot join as an official participant.”