Midwinter vacation in the yeshiva world community has always been referred to as, you guessed it midwinter break, Yeshiva Week was not in the vernacular of the Torah community. Yeshiva bochurim had an off shabbos and the girls had midwinter vacation. Recently, the Yeshiva week term has been adopted in describing the 2 week vacation period from mid - end of January. Advertisements and news articles have been referencing yeshiva week for the midwinter getaways to South Florida, skiing trips or other destinations.
The term Yeshiva Week is actually not new at all, it has been around for 30 -40 years among the Jewish day school and Modern Orthodox communities. Not too long ago, when it came to winter vacation, Jewish day schools were on the same schedule as other public and private schools across the country. Vacation time was determined by the xmas and New Year calendar at the end of December and continued until some time after New Year. As the Jewish day school education system grew, schools have changed the calendars to have vacation towards the middle-to-end of January. As a way to differentiate it from xmas week it was called yeshiva week.
Call it what you want but the mid winter vacation has taken on a life of its own with must do getaways. Perhaps the "yeshiva week" vacation has influenced the yeshivish mid winter vacation to go over the top leaving parents with no choice but to plan a trip and go away. Staying home is not an option and parents have to take off from work. Instead of a relaxing weekend at home it has become a chol hamoed in the winter. There's been some push back from schools but the trend is pulling the other way.
Whats wrong with chol hamoad in the winter?
ReplyDeleteIt's not like the Yeshivish calendar is any better. Why criticize the Modern Orthodox for a week off in the winter when we grant ourselves three weeks off after Tisha Ba'av? What's the mekor for that? At least Bein Hazmanim for Succos and Pesach are centered around the chagim, this is just copying the secular summer vacation.
ReplyDeleteDid/do you spend those three weeks learning that you are now complaining or do you feel you have the right to criticize even without doing so?
DeleteCouldn't agree more. And of course, most of the from yeshiva's outside of lakewood, half off at least a full eight or nine weeks in the summer. And for that everybody's got to spend money for camps. If that's fine, what's wrong with some time in the winter? Times have changed. Talmidim have changed. Attention spans have changed. The need for time off has changed. They need what they need. Lots of things have changed since a hundred years ago in Europe. That is the way things go. What may have worked in Europe one hundred years ago, simply does not work in America a hundred years later. That is an absolute metzius. As long as halacha kept, there is nothing wrong with keeping up with the times and what psychologists and true tealistic and knowledgeable mechanchim think is best for our children .
DeleteOr so you say.
ReplyDeleteIt's called Yeshivish Week.
ReplyDeleteSince public school teachers have off, yeshivot have to give these same teachers off too. Otherwise, they won't come in.
ReplyDeleteזאת התורה לא תהא מוחלפת
ReplyDeleteכשם שמצות תלמוד תורה שקולה כנגד כל המצות ושכרה שקול כנגד שכר כולן, כך ענשה חמור ושקול כנגד כולן,
Which times changed? what changed? Who is taking אחריות?
The slogan for reform judaisum is. "what was ruled for previous generations acording to those generations doesnt apply for our generations" . The jump from yeshivish to reform is very narrow, be carefull what you think, say, post, and act.
The idea that reform was about changing social mores comes from the pits of Galicia.
DeleteNone of our Gedolim had a problem with modernity when it wasn't connected to mitzvos. The Chasam Sofer had no problems with these things, neither did the Chafetz Chaim. It is a Galician illness, that morphed and is overtaking the world, behind the anti-sheitel campaigns and other society-busting stupidities.
Go learn your history… has nothing to do with Galicia. The term “chadash asur min hatorah” was used by the chasam sofer, who lived in Germany and later in Austria. Btw, his method, like it or not, has been proven successful. Go look at the majority of litvaks, you’re lucky if they are modox.
DeleteDefine please for us what you mean with the term "modernity" .Whoa.
DeleteCan be reality we need to navigate and sail through, or could be another euphemism whitewash for every sort of evil people wish us to surrender
Please. If you are commenting, on blog sites, don't tell me that everything is the same and nothing can change. Were your fellow jews blogging on websites in the midbar? How about this one- were they wearing black and white ?
DeleteCS grew up in Frankfurt, had a shteller in Eisenstat today Austria (Zibenbergen) and main shteller in Pressburg then capital of Hungary (Pozony in Hungarian, Bratislava in Slovakian).
DeleteHe had little opposition to modernity (his talmidim approved of machine matzahs, for example).
חס ושלום לתלות בוקי סריקי בגדולי הדורות
ReplyDeleteYou are saying the Chofetz Chaim had no problem with cutting down hours of Torah Learning? You call closing schools as “social mores" isn't talmud Torah a mitzva? What school are you from?
You have the Chutzpa to call it a "Galician illness" when most of klal yisroel survived because of the Baal Shem Tov's revolution and the Galician Jewish culture. The Chofetz Chaim is rolling in his grave from you associating him in your comment.
The Chassam sofer who was from the biggest fighter against the reform did so in two ways, #1. the Uptailung to separate Hungarian Jews from anything associated with Goyish culture, #2 The Chassam Sofer was a rosh yeshiva and his talmidim ae the ones credited with teaching torah all over Hungary and Austria Germany and Galicia. The Chassam Sofer said shiur every single day of the year literally.
You are using the Chassam Sofer to promote midwinter ביטול תינוקות של בית רבן
The CC told his grandchildren to wear rekels but also to grow a little bit of hair on the front of their heads just the people should know they assuredly aren't chassidim
DeleteThe Chasam Sofer did not make an upteilung, that was not done until after his petirah.
DeleteAnd the upteilung had nothing to do with goyishe culture. Only from people who stopped keeping shulchan aruch.
The Baal Shem Tov didn't live in Galicia, and the Galician 'kupp in vant' mahalach was and is a churban.
"that morphed and is overtaking the world, behind the anti-sheitel campaigns and other society-busting stupidities." HUH?
ReplyDeleteDefiantly sounds conservative or conservodox.
The chutzpah and azus of the anti-sheitel campaign is a slippery slope to reform.
DeleteUndermining settled Halacha, where all of our Gedolim were matir, such as the Rema, Magen Avraham, Peri Megadim, Mishna Berura, and others, and virtually all frumme Yidden follow it, is a way to undermine the halachic process.
Using newspaper ads to promote a halachic opinion is precisely the modern way of sheker, where talmidei chachamim are sidelined for PR campaigns.
A woman in Lakewood who removes her sheitel and dons a mitpachas should not be trusted in Yiddishkeit. Who knows which other halachos she has decided on her own against דרכי החכמים שבדור.
(Yerushalmi women are not the same, this is their minhag.)
202 pm, correct but they also were many on the other side
DeleteAnon 2:06 am why are you making fun of Galicia! You barely know a tzuras haois and consider yourself a gantzer deiah zuger! Go wash your mouth and your Mind with soup or bleach! Maybe that will cleanse your stupidity!
ReplyDelete