Tuesday, October 10, 2006


Chochmas Lev

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Supposed to be a BY type of Darchei Bina- but a lot of weird girls go there.

Anonymous said...

ok Chochmas lev is its 2nd yr this year...So I am not sure what it is like this year..but i know from last yr..since it was its 1ts yr..for a 1st yr school it was OK... It is supposed to be like the BY of Darchei Bina...It is hard to say because i dont even think it is the same princepal this year...so i am not sure what and who went..But in a nut shell i think the girls didnt hate it..and itwas a pretty decent sschool..wait around till they speak at your schools because that is the only way to know..you can never judge a school by its 1st yr...and in every new seminary...it takes a few yrs to get it "just right"..but i know it was like 30 smthing girls last yr. which is relativly small -esp. cuz its new

chedvah gal said...

how is it academic-wise?

Aaron said...

academic wise i think they are more or less the same as darchei bina.. ithink they share the same teachers..so its omre or less on the smae acadaemic leval just they are buying out the whole bais yaakov idea

Anonymous said...

is darchie bina academic? i dunno?

Aaron said...

yes darchei bina is definatly an academic school! you learn a lot from there its a big mixture of hashkafa and textual you make your own scheduale types with amazing teachers

Anonymous said...

thanx.. just asking.
so CL is academic but more by'y.

Aaron said...

well the girls who go there come from BY high schools etc...

Anonymous said...

so ur saying that technically they could be 'by girls' who are not really by girls and theyre looking just for the name of a by sem. or s/t like that???

Anonymous said...

No, not at all. They aren't looking for the "name" of a BY sem. Rather they long for the inspiring clasess that non BY sems such as Michala and Darchei Bina provide but since they are BY schools they dont want to go to a non BY sem and be influenced by there peers who may have diff hashkafos then them.

Anonymous said...

sorry if i made it sound like the AM was responding- that is just my own personal view on it.

Anonymous said...

whoever went to chachmas lev loved it! it all depends on who goes there- if there are nice normal girls going then it can be an awesome sem cuz the staff is amazing. about being the by of db- its not true its just that its owned by the same guy and is next door and shares teachers- other than that they r two totally seperate sems. its relatively new so no one knows really about it or wat type it is. like i said it all depends on who appl;ies your year. the girls make the seminary

Aaron said...

yea what that anonymous person said would be my response too

Anonymous said...

its not like darchei bina girls wise..like they really only want girls who went to a bais yaakov school..(like any school /w the name bais yaakov)..its not soo much into grade..and has a fair amount of work..not such busy work...the rabbi is very nice, and funny.....new campuses...good location....3 meals a day....fun trips....has a gym in the seminary...and baiscally overall its a good seminary..and it most porb. will be a shmashing succsses..
their motto is "experience ths simcha of yiddishkeit..its supposed to be a program combining academics and warmth,but on a high academic level. its in Bayit Vegan, they're having a class - "shidduchim and zivugim-what to do once you've found the guy" they want it to be a BY version of darchei binah, BY kinda grls, button down shirts only...
very challenging classes...ammmmmaaaazing teachers(from darchi bina),not a heavy homework load,bias yaakov ,very warm atmosphere...byat vayon... blah blah.. so whats the problem? its new-who knows if itll really turn out by, who knows what type of girls therell be, who knows if its really be all that great...
yea, the application is actually exactly like darche binahs... .
. Acc. to R' Margolin, CL is connected w/ DB on the administration level, and he is drawing on their teachers, but otherwise, they are separate. (by the way, R' Orlofsky is not teaching there)
. It's a BY school with BY dress code, etc. There are night classes. The way it goes is that there are a bunch of required classes, and then there are eight electives, and you have to take four of them. You can take more if you want. The dorm is open every Shabbos, but you have to find meals. We If you're looking for a BY, it's a really great school, if u dont want a bais yaakov school , dont come here. bat at the same time its very open minded and they want u to ask all your questions. if ur weak academically, its probably not the place for you and event though they dont stress out of the classroom work so much, u definitely work in class. all in all, its such a great school and they're really working hard to make it work.
The girls here are very frum but at the same time very chilled out and very open minded. The rules-especially ones regarding tzniut and places you can go are pretty strict(button down shirts, knee socks in and out fo sem.no ben yehuda no mall...to list a few) so if this concerns you you should reconsider. The seminary is AMAZING(pardon the cliche)its small which is conducive to a personal and homey atmosphere. the classes are challenging and accommodating to everyone's questions, very open discussions. Not so much for the weaker students but not over intense. It really has nothing to do with darchei binah besides for a few shared teachers(and owner duh). the girls are FUN! there isn't a lot of work at all- we have the normal seminary chumash and navi preperation sheets and a parsha quiz every friday but basically that's it. But, it's not a dumb school- they have good intellectual classes and there are 2 tracks only for certain classes.
darchei binah, afekai torah and cl share a gym- it has a few treadmills and some other machines(elliptical-maybe?) Rabbi Margolin doesn't want a girl who just goes through the motions of mitzvos because that's what she was taught, and she really isn't interested in learning why we do what we do. She just does what she does, and that's that. That's precisely what he DOESN'T want. He wants girls that aren't satisfied with just doing what we do. He wants them to delve into both themselves and into our many sources to learn WHY we do what we do, and how we should go about doing it so that we can experience that simcha that we are supposed to have when we do the mitzvos...... they want girls who are "already there" tznius wise, hashkafah wise etc.they are girls who don't ask questions to challenge, but rather because they want to know the answer to strengthen their emunah....R' MArgolin said he is NOT trying to 'cookie cut us'. I want to be guided, but not pushed into a mold, if that makes sense... it sound really good, intellectual yet a lot of hashkafa, amazing teachers but not the pressures or cookie-cutter mold of let's say bnos chava cl. is a really cool school that really is give us an amazing seminary year where we can have inspirational experiences but doesn't demand change or for you to have to fake something. every girl in the school changes cuz they believe it or they just stick to their old ideals but thats not the point. and as far as rabbi margolin is concerned he is a very choshev man and you have to give him the respect he deserves he does have a very good relationship with some of the girls and in fact tries to make sure that we are happy and having a good time in seminary. most girls in the school would never want to switch out and you should all take that into consideration. i hope you all have a great seminary year and dont base all your decsions on rumers The rebbeim at Chochmas Lev conduct themselves like princes, and devote themselves wholeheartedly to the girls, with all their koach-- in class, out of class The classes in Hassidus and in history, in gentle and in fierce mussar, in Chumash and in Navi and in tefilla and in halacha and in Medrash, complemented each other gracefully and were marvelously uplifting.
In the end, I think the main thing is to be sameach b'chelko.
I would recommend it highly to a girl who wants to grow, who will open herself up to the Torah her teachers teach her, who is willing to inherit the legacy of Bais Yaakov, who is willing to exercise both her mind and her heart, and who wants not only to be inspired but also to inspire those around her.

Anonymous said...

thanks for agreeing AM- that was me.

Anonymous said...

THE RABBI OF CL CAME TO MY SKOOL TODAY: all i can say is that it sounds very nice and all but when he said that cl is a blend of bc and meohr w/ a sprinkling of frumkeit....( watev. i dont think thats how he meant it! or at least hope not!) basically he stressed that its not a by darchei bina and they are looking for girls who are already motivated to grow. also, they have a really full schedule not that much hw but tonz of classes the entire day. very into application and hashkafa OF halacha, and he wants ea. girl to gain perception and direction in life after their sem. year...basically 'few yrs kollel' idea but not so brainwashy. hope u enjoyed the info..any questions, just ask.

Anonymous said...

i just reread dementors comment and the rabbi said today that they only serve lunch and supper not 3 meals...just informing u!