Those Who Chose to Stay

By now most Mishpacha readers have probably read the dramatic story of seminaries for American girls in Israel chartering planes on short notice to return their students to their worried parents before a total lockdown went into effect. But there is another story — even more dramatic, in my opinion — of two seminaries that remained opened throughout the crisis: Meorot Yerushalayim and Darchei Binah.

Meorot is a seminary for young women who attended public high schools and/or come from not fully observant families. Rabbi Yaakov Lynn, the head of the seminary, was sitting in his office on March 17 receiving reports of one seminary after another closing down, when one of his teachers entered and told him, “The girls are hysterical hearing about the other seminaries — they’re afraid you’re going to close too.”

He consulted with Rav Noach Orlowek, who told him he was not running a typical seminary, and what the other seminaries were doing had no bearing on his decision. He next spoke to Rav Naftali Kaplan, the head of one of Israel’s major yeshivos. Rav Kaplan told him he did not even hear a second side in favor of closing.

Thus reinforced, Rabbi Lynn convened a meeting of the entire student body to lay out for them what might be involved if they really wanted to remain open — including being confined to their dormitory for a prolonged period of time and perhaps being unable to return home for months. They were all in, as was the staff when Rabbi Lynn outlined what remaining open would entail for them.