Seminary or Bust!

My daughter is looking for a seminary to attend next year in Israel. This is a very new experience for all of us. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is a religious atmosphere where post-high schoolgirls attend for a year. It gives them a chance to spend a year learning religious studies in depth and to grow up a bit before heading off to college (or for some before they get married). It is a “gap” year. It is also a gift…. from their parents. Representatives from many of the seminaries have visited my daughter’s school and she has had the opportunity to interview with them. They all love her. What is not to love? She is cute, smart, has great Judaic skills and is outgoing. I’m thinking that maybe they should pay US for her to attend. 

Anyway, she is torn between many of the schools. Each time one comes to visit, it is her favorite. The other night she put them all up on our wipe erase board and wrote down her pros and cons. It seems that each one has a slightly different dress code (aka: leniency or stringency) and thus is more or less religious (all on a very gray scale). In listening to all her pros and cons, she consistently pointed out the “dress”. After all whether your sleeves are above the elbow or below the elbow and whether your skirts are above the knee or below the knee and what you wear in class versus after class will surely (according to her) have a lifetime affect on you. After weeks of her decision making and my husband inquiring about the classes, teachers, activities and locations, he had an epiphany. He suggested that she go to her wardrobe (if she can pick it all off the floor and that only occurs about twice a year) and decide based on her current offering, which seminary she is currently outfitted for. This seemed simple to him and made sense to me as well. But then what would the point of a shopping spree be? 

Meanwhile, we have donated to each seminary’s application process; and we wait and see. I have the feeling I’m going to have to go buy a new wardrobe, luggage, and a plethora of personal items, because it seems that she and her friends have decided that Israeli deodorant and other personal items simply cannot be purchased in Israel. She needs to buy a year’s worth of these things here and “schlep” them across the Atlantic. Maybe she will meet a nice soldier to carry her bags when she gets there, because surely no one else will be able to lift her wardrobe and personal gear. I have a feeling she is going to be schlepping a bunch of Israeli products back here as well. Looks like I’m going to be paying on both ends either way.