Some Mistakes You Never Stop Paying For

"Well I sort of got sidetracked." Roy Hobbs

he should not say, “Be quiet and shut your mouth.”

Maharal (Baer HaGolah #6) One should not reject something which is against one’s views… especially if it is not presented as an attack on religion but is simply an honest expression of the other person’s understanding of faith. Even if it is against one’s religious faith, he should not say, “Be quiet and shut your mouth.” Because if one silences questions there will not be a clarification of that person’s religious understanding. In fact, such a person should be encouraged to speak and fully express how he feels. If sincere questions are silenced that is indicative that the religion is weak and needs to be protected from inquiry. This attitude is the opposite of what some people think. They mistakenly think that silencing questions strengthens religious faith. In fact, however, suppressing of dissent and questions indicates a weak religion. Thus, we find with our ancestors that even if they found something in books against religion they would not simply reject it. (In Daniel Eidensohn, Dass Torah)

rabbis who want to dominate their students

Maharik (12:62) There are some rabbis who want to dominate their students more than is appropriate and they assert that whoever has been a student even as a child is forever subordinate to them and can never disagree with them on any issue. They claim that this is true even if the student has become their equal or even their superior in learning because they assert that even if the rabbi has clearly erred or behaves incorrectly, that disagreeing with the rabbi is the same as contradicting G-d or other such claims. The answer to this is that even if the student is forever subordinate to his teacher as the rabbis assert, nevertheless it is quite obvious that this is only in relationship to honoring him by standing up for him. However, concerning matters of Heaven, eg. Chillul Hashem, there is no requirement to honor his teacher. This can readily be seen in the many examples in the Gemara such as the events with Rabban Gamliel (Berachos 26b)

A guy like this was in charge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWGAdzn5_KU

Not a word was spoken.

Went to a bar mitzvah tonight. The father spoke about his son's love for learning. He learns this. He learns that. Tosfos. He schtaigs. No one word about mitzvos, Not one word about yiras Shemayim; although he did thank Hashem for his many brochos. He said the thing you hear alot these days about the businessman who boasts of his yissaschar-zevulun setup and the olam haba he'll get. But what about olam hazeh? That's from learning. Learning is life.

What about the other 612 mitzvos? What about chesed? What bout middos?

Not a word was spoken.

We have a serious problem with apikorsis these days. It's everywhere. 

Machon Shlomo

A reader asked me to post this:

I have been asked about Machon Shlomo. First I'd like to address the myth. Until you get that out of the way, you can't have a normal conversation about the place. 

The Myth

The myth is that it's the "Ivy League yeshiva" for the "best and the brightest." Those words are from their website, so we see the origin of the myth. Here's the full quote: "In a little over ten years, Machon Shlomo became known as the 'Ivy League' yeshiva, a place for the best and brightest to come and rediscover the treasures of their millennia-old heritage." (https://machonshlomo.org/history/our-history/)

Here it is from the webpage:

I feel a little bad addressing this, but people are making life altering decisions based on this kind of talk. We are so conditioned from public school to revere the Ivies, that as soon as we hear the word Ivy we leap without looking. So I believe it has to be addressed. 

History

This Ivy League yeshiva stuff is fantasy for all kinds of reasons. Ivy League schools have long histories. All but one of them are more than two centuries old. The newest of them is 150 years old, the oldest 386 years old, that's nearly 4 centuries. 

Ivy League schools didn't establish their reputations (deserved or undeserved) overnight, or as Machon Shlomo claims to have done "In a little over ten years." 

Student Body

Ivy League schools also large and diverse student bodies. Brown University, for example, has undergraduate students from 100 nations and 48 states plus D.C. They speak 70 languages.

Machon Shlomo has a total student body of 15-20, depending on the year. They are mostly from middle and upper middle class Jewish homes in the USA. On rare occasion, there are students from other Anglo countries like the UK or South Africa. They are pretty much all in the early twenties. They are all unmarried. The website claims, "The student body at Machon Shlomo spans a broad spectrum of background and personality type." Sure, no two people are the same, but let's get real. We are talking about a pretty similar type here, particularly as Machon Shlomo seeks college grads from more distinguished schools.

Faculty

Ivy League schools also have sizable and distinguished academic staff. Yale has an academic staff of 4,869 including 67 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 55 members of the National Academy of Medicine, 8 members of the National Academy of Engineering, and 187 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Machon Shlomo has a small staff. I think at this point it's 3 part-time, 2 a little more than part-time. Half of them are related or related through marriage. I believe that 2 of them come in to give a single class and leave. 

Here's the staff page listing on the Machon Shlomo website as of Dec. 2023. It's been this way for at least a year and a half.

There have been all kinds of prestigious staff at the various BT schools. Many of them are or have been run by talmidei chocham of note. Ohr Somayach in Israel had Rav Dov Schwartzman, z’l, the son-in-law of Rav Aaron Kotler, z'l, Rav Schwartzman founded and led the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia together with Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky and was known as a Talmudic genius. Ohr Somayach also had Rav Aharon Feldman, who is now on the Moetzes Gedolei Torah of the Agudah and is the author of several books such as The Juggler and the King, a presentation of commentary from the Vilna Gaon on several aggadatos. Ohr Somayach also had Rav Nachman Bullman, translator of numerous books including Book of Our Heritage, Jew and His Home and Rite and Reason and rabbi of several Jewish communities. It also had Rabbi Uziel Milevsky, z’l who was the Chief Rabbi of Mexico and author of the two volume Ner Uziel of commentary on Chumash. In the summers, Rav Yisroel Reisman, the Rosh Yeshiva of Torah V’Daas and the maggid shiur of the legendary Nach shiuruim serves on the staff at Ohr Somayach. Aish HaTorah has had a whole slew of scholars including Rav Chaim Malinowitz z’l, who was the chief editor for the Artscroll Gemara and Rav Yitzchak Berkovits, who is the mara d’asra of Jerusalem’s Sanhedria Murhevet neighborhood and a Rosh Kollel. Ohr Somayach in Monsey had Rav Yisroel Simcha Schorr, the son of the gaon Rav Gedaliah Schorr z’l and a general editor of the Artscroll Gemara. D’var Yerushalayim had Rav Aryeh Carmel, z’l, the author of the five volume Strive for Truth and the classic Aiding Talmud Study. They have also Rav Boruch Horowitz who was a translator of Rav Hirsch's Horeb and a scholar in his own right and Rav Yoel Schwartz, who is the author of 200 books. Yeshiva University has world class scholars like Rav Hershel Schachter and Rav Dovid Bleich. Not only does Machon Shlomo have no advantage on the other BT schools in terms of prestige of faculty, but I would say that most  of them have more distinguished faculty than Machon Shlomo has.

Ivy League schools have visiting professors and speakers. They have scores at them. At some schools, you can attend multiple talks a week from visitors of all kinds. You can take courses with them. Machon Shlomo, in its relentless endeavor to isolate the bachurim, doesn't have guest speakers. In the early years, they didn't have any at all. Now, a former graduate or two comes by to propagandize students about how lucky they are to be at Machon Shlomo. 

Library

Ivy League schools have huge libraries. Harvard's library has 16 million volumes, Yale has 12 million, Columbia 11 million, Cornell 8 million, Princeton 7 million, and Penn 6 million. That's six of the 18 largest university libraries with the Ivy's being in 1st, 3rd, and 5th place.

Here's part of Harvard's library:

Here's Machon Shlomo:

Machon Shlomo has a small library even compared to the other BT schools. In the 1980s, there was no library at all, just a half-shelf of books. There were approximately 15 books in all, less than there were students. Harvard has 800 volumes per student. Machon Shlomo had less than 1. Thus Harvard's library was over one million times bigger and its book per student ratio was 800x bigger. Today, Machon Shlomo has a small library that exists essentially in one small room - it's about the size of a kitchen in a small Manhattan apartment. It's not organized. Much of it is used Gemaras. The room is cluttered with shtenders and other junk. It's a kind of storage room. (The shiruim room have some old Hebrew books as well.) Having a library has never been a priority there. That is not Ivy-like.

Compare to Darche Noam's library as shown from one side. The English language books are on the other side. 

Here's the Machon Shlomo beis midrash. (Pictures from their website.) There are no book shelves at all. That's unusual for a yeshiva.

Compare to Aish Hatorah:

and Ohr Somayach:

:

Shapell's/Darche Noam. This is the Beis Midrash. There's a separate library room as I showed earlier. 

Tiferes Bachurim:

Yeshuos Yisroel

Academic Programs

Ivy League schools have huge academic programs. Princeton offers 42 doctoral departments and programs. Cornell has 16 schools and colleges. The University of Michigan (an Ivy equivalent) has 275 degree programs. Columbia has three undergraduate schools, thirteen graduate and professional schools, a world-renowned medical center, four affiliated colleges and seminaries, and more than one hundred research centers and institutes.

Machon Shlomo has a limited course list. Basically, for first year guys it's Gemara b'iyun, Chumash with Rashi, a bit of musar, and a bit of halacha and tefilla. It has the most bare bones curriculum of any BT school. That's not very Ivy-like.

Here's the Machon Shlomo program as currently listed on the website. It's identical to what they did 35 years ago.

9:15 a.m. In-Depth Talmud Program

12:00 p.m. Jewish Philosophy (actually one day tefillah, one day halachos of tefilla, 2 days ‘haskofo’, one day musar

1:15 p.m. Mincha

1:30 p.m. Lunch and Free Time

3:30 p.m. Chumash

5:00 p.m. Law and Ethics (actually intro to Mesillas Yesharim but Chumash class often runs over it)

5:30 p.m. Cake Break

5:45 p.m. Prep Class

Here’s what’s left if you pluck out the slots taken by lunch and cake break:

9:15 a.m. In-Depth Talmud Program

12:00 p.m. Jewish Philosophy 

3:30 p.m. Chumash

5:00 p.m. Law and Ethics (actually intro to Mesillas Yesharim but Chumash class often runs over it)

That’s it. That’s Machon Shlomo. It has not changed in 40 years. Worse still, the Jewish Philosophy calls consists essentially of a brief class on tefillah and the laws of tefillah. And the Gemara 'program' isn't a program. You just open up to daf 2 and begin.

Hebrew

Ivy League schools have extensive foreign language course offerings and requirements for foreign studies departments. For example, the Princeton program in Near Eastern studies requires two years of Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, or Urdu. The Stanford Eastern Studies department requires students to demonstrate Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language fluency at the third-year level or above, to be met either by coursework, examination, or a degree from a university where the language of instruction is in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. 

Here are the courses in Persian at the University of Pennsylvania:

PERS 011: Elementary Persian I

PERS 012: Elementary Persian II 

PERS 013: Intermediate Persian I

PERS 014: Intermediate Persian II 

PERS 015: Advanced Persian I

PERS 016: Advanced Persian II

PERS 017: Persian for Heritage Speakers

Prerequisite: Proficiency in Persian (whether Farsi or Dari) without literacy

Persian for Heritage Speakers is conducted in Persian and designed to help you strengthen your skills by learning not only to read and write, but also to engage in more complex forms of discourse in Persian. 

Here are the Hebrew courses at Berkeley:

HEBREW 1A Elementary Hebrew 5 Units 

HEBREW 1B Elementary Hebrew 5 Units

HEBREW 10 Intensive Elementary Hebrew 10 Units 

HEBREW 11A Reading and Composition for Hebrew Speaking Students 5 Units 

HEBREW 11B Reading and Composition for Hebrew-Speaking Students 5 Units

HEBREW 20A Intermediate Hebrew 5 Units 

HEBREW 20B Intermediate Hebrew 5 Units 

HEBREW 30 Intermediate Hebrew 10 Units

HEBREW 100A Advanced Hebrew 3 Units 

HEBREW 100B Advanced Hebrew 3 Units 

HEBREW 102A Postbiblical Hebrew Texts 3 Units 

HEBREW 102B Postbiblical Hebrew Texts 3 Units

HEBREW 103A Later Rabbinic and Medieval Hebrew Texts 3 Units 

HEBREW 103B Later Rabbinic and Medieval Hebrew Texts 3 Units 

HEBREW 104A Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture 3 Units 

HEBREW 104B Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture 3 Units 

HEBREW 105A The Structure of Modern Hebrew 3 Units 

HEBREW 105B The Structure of Modern Hebrew 3 Units 

HEBREW 106A Elementary Biblical Hebrew 3 Units

HEBREW 106B Elementary Biblical Hebrew 3 Units 

HEBREW N106 Elementary Biblical Hebrew 6 Units 

HEBREW 107A Biblical Hebrew Texts 3 Units

HEBREW 107B Biblical Hebrew Texts 3 Units

HEBREW 111 Intermediate Biblical Texts 3 Units

HEBREW 148A The Art and Culture of the Talmud: Advanced Textual Analysis 3 Units

HEBREW 148B The Art and Culture of the Talmud: Advanced Textual Analysis 3 Units 

HEBREW 190B Special Topics in Hebrew 3 Units 

HEBREW H195 Senior Honors 2 - 4 Units 

HEBREW 198 Directed Group Study for Upper Division Students 1 - 4 Units 

HEBREW 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 4 Units 

HEBREW 201A Advanced Biblical Hebrew Texts 3 Units 

HEBREW 202A Advanced Late Antique Hebrew Texts 3 Units

HEBREW 202B Advanced Late Antique Hebrew Texts 3 Units

HEBREW 203A Advanced Medieval Hebrew Texts 3 Units

HEBREW 203B Advanced Medieval Hebrew Texts 3 Units 

HEBREW 204A Advanced Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture 3 Units 

HEBREW 204B Advanced Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture 3 Units

HEBREW 206 Ancient and Modern Hebrew Literary Texts 3 Units 

HEBREW 298 Seminar 1 - 4 Units 

HEBREW 301A Teaching Hebrew in College 3 Units 

HEBREW 301B Teaching Hebrew in College 3 Units 

Here are the offerings at Yeshiva University in Hebrew:

Elementary Biblical Hebrew I, II (HEB 1003, 1004)

Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I, II (HEB 1005, 1006)

Beginning Hebrew (HEB 1010)

Intermediate Hebrew I, II (HEB 1020, 1030)

Readings in Biblical Hebrew (HEB 1040)

Conversational Hebrew (HEB 1041)

Elementary Hebrew II (HEB 1104)

Intermediate Hebrew I, II (HEB 1105, 1106)

Elementary Hebrew II (HEB 1204)

Upper Intermediate Hebrew I, II (HEB 1205, 1206)

Advanced Intermediate Hebrew I, II (HEB 1207, 1208)

Biblical Hebrew I, II (HEB 1225, 1226)

Conversational Hebrew I, II (HEB 1231, 1232)

Advanced Hebrew I, II (HEB 1305, 1306)

Advanced Hebrew Morphology (HEB 1310)

Post-Biblical Hebrew (HEB 1322)

Biblical Hebrew, Honors (HEB 1322H)

Advanced Conversational Hebrew (HEB 1406)

Spoken modern Hebrew, using advanced textbooks and Israeli newspapers

Unlike Ivy League schools, Machon Shlomo offers ZERO instruction in Hebrew grammar or language as a study unto itself. It is the only school for BTs in Israel that does not have a class in Hebrew language. And it has been that way for forty years despite requests from many students to teach Hebrew. That's also not Ivy-like, to ignore requests and protests from students.

It really makes no sense to say that you are text based but don't study the grammar of the language of that text. By contrast, Aish HaTorah, Ohr Somayach, Orayta, Shapell's/Darche Noam, Toras Dovid, Tiferes Bachurim, Machon Yaakov, and Dvar Yerushalayim all teach Hebrew grammar and language. 

Shapell's college for men has 3 levels of Hebrew. Now, that is closer to the Ivy League. 

Afternoons at Shapell’s feature a carefully constructed program of Hebrew, Chumash, Halacha, and Jewish thought – in addition to Gemara. Students progress through three levels of Hebrew and four levels of other subjects to receive a well-rounded education. The afternoons also feature our monthly Holocaust Education Program.

Here's Hebrew/Ulpan at Dvar Yerushalayim:

http://dvar.org.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114&Itemid=119&lang=en

Even Machon Yaakov teaches Hebrew:

"Though all texts are studied in the original Hebrew and Aramaic languages, many of our students arrive with little or no background in Hebrew. A Hebrew language program is provided to bolster vocabulary and grammar. Most students make tremendous progress in reading skills within a matter of months, if not weeks, as the program is highly intensive and motivating."

Here's Ohr Somayach:

Language 100- Fundamentals of Hebrew Language- 3 credits Phonetic reading, basic Hebrew vocabulary and primary writing skills. 

Language 101-102- Elementary Modern Hebrew- 3 credits p/semester Speaking, reading and comprehension skills. Textbooks and newspapers designed for the novice are utilized. Prerequisite: Basic reading and vocabulary skills.

Aish Hatorah:

Mayanot:

Toras Dovid:

Machon L'Yahadus, Chabad, women's program

Crown Heights, Brooklyn

https://www.womensyeshiva.org/

3 times a week Hebrew Skills classes. It is broken into 3/4 level classes where the students work in small groups to master and improve their Hebrew skills. 

This is from a seminary Midreshet Rachel v'Chaya, which is a branch of Darche Noam:

Grammar Classes take place 3 times a week to help students develop the skills for learning Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew. Developing Hebrew language skills is a key element of our textual learning curriculum. The ability to read, translate and understand a Hebrew text enables a student to grapple with Jewish sources independently in the original Hebrew. (Midreshet Rachael v'Chaya)

https://darchenoam.org/midreshet-rachel-vchaya/mrc-student-life/

Here, Rav David Bar Hayim argues that according to the Rambam, based on the Sifri, says we should speak Hebrew with our children to give them fluency. That's closer to Ivy League.

The Vilna Gaon, even though very knowledgeable in secular subjects, discouraged many people from studying them, with the exception of grammar. He encouraged everyone to study Hebrew grammar.

Here's an excerpt from the book A Jew Returns Home that is relevant to this topic:

...I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to learn Hebrew in a professional manner. The first time I picked up a siddur to daven, I understood what I was saying. I can pick up a Hebrew sefer, read it and understand it better than many students who have spent years learning full-time. 

I think it’s absolutely crazy that baalei teshuvah should skip over acquiring this basic skill. I am convinced that by investing time in learning the language properly, the dividends will be well worth it, and everything else would become much easier. 

Q: This obviously bothers you very much. 

A: Yes, it bothers me a great deal. When I was living near Ohr Somayach, I spoke with many baalei teshuvah, and you have no idea of the feelings of inferiority and frustration engendered because of the deficiency in basic Hebrew reading skills. If a Jew can’t pick up a sefer and understand it, he will never feel truly at home in the Orthodox world. 

I think that people tend to forget that most baalei teshuvah will not remain in yeshiva for years and years. If they are not given the basic tools – such as Hebrew and a solid foundation in Chumash – they will lack the skills necessary to become committed baalei batim later in life, and will never reach their true potential. 

(Ben Ami as interviewed by Sara Soester. A Jew Returns Home, pp. 75-6.) 

Again, MS does not teach Hebrew despite requests for it from students for decades. MS needs to start teaching Hebrew grammar, particularly if it's going to call itself the Ivy League yeshiva. If you go there, ask for Hebrew instruction and then when they say no, get yourself a book, or leave and find a better place. The Adult Hebrew Primer is a good book. Go through it yourself. I don't recommend Machon Shlomo to anybody who isn't familiar with basic Hebrew grammar and vocabulary.

Exchange Programs

Ivy League students study abroad or at other colleges. They see the world. They study in Florence, London, Rome, Tokyo - you name it. Walk into any humanities department office in the Ivy League and you'll see countless postings for study abroad. 

Machon Shlomo goes on maybe one trip a year. (In the 1980s, they went on zero trips. Zero.) They don't have anything to do with other schools even Machon Yaakov which was founded by the same people and is just a few blocks away.  

Facilities

Ivy League schools also have beautiful campuses with elegant buildings that are sometimes covered in ivy leaves, hence the ivy in their very name Ivy League. Here's Harvard:

Here's Cornell:

Here's Darmouth:

Here's Princeton:

Here's Machon Shlomo:

It consists of a few apartments in a single apartment building that is shared with other residents. 

Here's the dining room of the law school at the University of Michigan (a public Ivy):

Here's the dining room at Machon Shlomo:

I'm not saying that fancy facilities are the purpose of life, but truthfulness is important. If you are going to describe yourself as the Ivy League yeshiva then the description has to be accurate. 

Finances

Ivy League schools are rich. They have huge endowments:

To put this in perspective, the University of South Dakota has an endowment of $264.1 million. 

Here's the GuideStar listing showing the yearly receipts and gross assets for Yale University. (This might be somewhat broader than endowment.)

Here's the one for Machon Shlomo:

Since MS characterizes itself as a church, it doesn't have to file a 990 with the IRS, so this likely doesn't reflects all its finances. But still, if there were any serious money flowing here, we'd see some numbers that are greater than 0.

Is it a church? It's a school. I have seen other yeshivas designate themselves as churches, yet Aish HaTorah and Ohr Somayach don't list themselves that way and are required to file. Maybe this is because they have a variety of programs, unlike Machon Shlomo. Here are listings for some of the Aish Hatorah branches:

That's at least 12 million dollars in income. Here's Ohr Somayach with 3.6 million dollars in income.

Here's Hadar Hatorah in Brooklyn:

I don't know the Machon Shlomo finances up close and personal, but I think it's safe to say that Machon Shlomo is not, relatively speaking for a BT yeshiva, rolling in the dough like an Ivy League school. Is this why they require full payment of their $10,500 tuition?

Caliber of Students

So what do they mean by Ivy League? Do they mean top students, "the best and the brightest" as they boldly and immodestly phrase it? MS pursues guys from elite schools. Does it get them? It gets a few. There's a myth that they are running some kind of Cal. Tech graduate program in physics. The reality is not like that. There's usually an Ivy League or Ivy-equivalent (Chicago, Stanford, Berkeley) guy or two, sometimes three. Other BT schools also have such students. I know of a UC Berkeley undergraduate and law graduate who went to Aish HaTorah, a U. Chicago grad. who went to Shapells, a Harvard grad. who went to Shapells, a Penn and Columbia graduate who went to Shapells, Yale, Columbia, Michigan, and Haverford guys who went to Kol Yaakov, a University of Toronto PhD graduate who went to Ohr Somayach. And I know a brilliant guy who taught himself Hebrew and Yiddish in a short time who didn't go to college at all. He went to the BT program at Shar Yashuv. Here's the Penn. Wharton, Columbia guy who went to Shapell's. 

Here's a Harvard guy who went to Shapell's: (from Arutz Sheva)

Here’s the graduate of Shapell’s who went on to get a PhD from Harvard University.

So before moving to Boston to pursue further graduate studies, he and Yael spent a year at the David Shapell College of Jewish Studies/Yeshiva Darche Noam in Jerusalem. “That year in Israel really accelerated my knowledge,” Aldrich said. “We both studied text full time. We came back to Boston fully observant.

Aldrich received a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard and his wife received an M.B.A. and an M.A. in Jewish Community Studies, both from Brandeis University. ( https://cssh.northeastern.edu/jewishstudies/faculty-profile-daniel-aldrich/)

Here's Darche Noam (the couples program) and Yale (the wife went to Yale):

Here's a Harvard and Columbia graduate who went to Ohr Somayach:

• Harry Rothenberg, Born and Raised: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Columbia University, BA: 1988, Harvard Law School, JD Magna Cum Laude: 1993
• Yeshivat Ohr Somayach Jerusalem: 3 years (https://ohr.edu/articles/harry.html)

Here's another Harvard guy who went to Ohr Somayach:

"The program provided me with an introduction to Judaism that challenged and stimulated with its willingness to address fundamental questions and to examine the limits of belief."
Nicholas Retter, BA, Harvard University (https://ohr.edu/1595)

Here's a Yale graduate who went to Ohr Somayach:

Rabbi Jeremy Kagan grew up in Hawaii and attended Yale University, where he received a B.A. in Philosophy. While traveling in Israel during college he began his Torah studies, going on to learn in Ohr Sameach, Meshech Chochma, and Heichal HaTorah B’Tzion. (https://midreshettehillah.com/great-school/meet-the-directors/)

All the schools have guys like this -- not that it's the most important thing in the world. ("I would rather be governed by the first 2000 people in the Boston telephone directory than by the 2000 people on the faculty of Harvard University." William F. Buckley) But it impresses people. People think that every Machon Shlomo guy is from one of these places, but most are not. They nearly all are college students or graduates and usually from respectable schools -- Rutgers, Wisconsin, Purdue, Union College, Cooper Union for example. Those are fine places but not Ivy League or Ivy equivalent. (Again, not that it's so important, but that's what MS is advertising.) Smart hard-working people go to such schools. But most American Jewish youth go to places like that. Machon Shlomo is not distinguished in that way.

I theorize that some people imagine Machon Shlomo to be "the Ivy League yeshiva" (a Barnum statement if ever there were one - meaning vague and having a different meaning to each person) because they think it's stocked with Ivy League guys and is the only yeshiva like this. But that's not true. As I explained, most of their guys are not from schools like that and all the other schools have guys like that. By thinking that they only admit Ivy League guys, you think of them as the Ivy League yeshiva. It's not based on anything they do. It's image based on who people imagine to go there. 

On the alumni page of the MS website, they list 12 graduates, 5 of them are physicians. (As of May 2023). You get the impression that it's some kind of medical school. But 3 of the 5 went to Machon Shlomo in the 1980s. That's four decades ago. Only 1 of the 12 are in the last decade. You see they are really digging. Medicine is the ultimate prestige profession. So the writer of the Machon Shlomo web page dug into its forty-year history to find five doctors in order to create a mystique. Is this what they mean by Ivy League yeshiva, that they can list a few doctors among their graduates? That's just image. If it's their reputation, it's based on marketing.

There is one trait of Machon Shlomo that is like Ivy League schools and that is the competitiveness which is sometimes ruthless. Watch this video on the environment at Harvard. While most guys at MS are not from Ivy League schools, the few that are tend to set the tone, which is not warm and cozy. 

Personal Freedom

Ivy League schools are famously liberal and free. Students construct their own majors, design their own courses, and engage in any number of clubs and projects.

At Machon Shomo, there were no electives. Rooms, roommates, seats, and chavrusos were assigned. We were not allowed to lead davening or to date. Machon Shlomo did not engage in any projects, no chesed projects, no publication projects. Nothing. It was dominated by a singular perspective such that many students jokingly referred to it as McClone Shlomo.

Exposure to other schools

Ivy League schools have exchange students and visiting professors and students. At every college I attended, I met students from other schools as they visited friends or took classes at the college.

MS had nothing to do with any other yeshiva and not only that but certain persons at MS regularly engaged in disparaging all the other schools such that students jokingly referred to those schools as "the enemies." The result of that was a discouragement of visiting other schools on one's own.

Introductory Classes

Ivy League schools and all colleges have introductory classes. That's the old 101. For example, at Stanford University (an Ivy equivalent) in the political science department you'll find the following:

POLISCI 101 Introduction to International Relations
POLISCI 102 Introduction to American Politics and Policy: Democracy Under Siege?
POLISCI 136R Introduction to Global Justice
POLISCI 153Z Strategy: Introduction to Game Theory
POLISCI 213E Introduction to European Studies

https://politicalscience.stanford.edu/graduate-program/current-courses

The Brown University political science concentration requires (not just offers) two introductory classes.

2  Two introductory courses from the following:

POLS 0010                          Introduction to the American Political Process
POLS 0110                          Introduction to Political Thought
POLS 0200                          Introduction to Comparative Politics
POLS 0400                          Introduction to International Politics

https://polisci.brown.edu/undergraduate/concentration-requirements

Duke University, an Ivy equivalent, offers an array of introductory courses:

100-199 Introductory-level undergraduate courses; basic skills/activity courses; foundation courses; Focus program courses
POLSCI 101 Introduction to Political Science
POLSCI 108 Introduction to African Studies (DS3 or DS4)
POLSCI 145 Introduction to Political Economy
POLSCI 160D Introduction to Security, Peace and Conflict
POLSCI 175 Introduction to Political Philosophy
POLSCI 189FS Introduction to Machine Learning and Computational Models in the Social Sciences

And those are just the ones with the word "introduction" in the title. There are many other introductory courses in 100-199 range. For example:

POLSCI 170FS Liberty and Equality: Ancient and Modern Perspectives CCI, EI, CZ, SS
POLSCI 171FS Political Polarization in the US: Causes and Consequences SS
POLSCI 172FS Racial Attitudes and Racial Politics in the United States
POLSCI 176FS Human Rights and World Politics EI, SS
POLSCI 180FS Hierarchy and Spontaneous Order: The Nature of Freedom in Political and Economic Organizations (C-N) EI, W, SS
POLSCI 185FS The Politics of Language SS
POLSCI 186 Women and Gender in the Middle East

And these are just the intros to political science. Every department in the university has introductory classes. So there will be an introduction to macro economics, intro to micro economics, intro to econometrics, intro to sociology, intro to social psychology, intro to geology. A typical college will have scores of introductory courses. Doesn't all that sound interesting? 

And wouldn't it be helpful too? The Maharetz Chajes said, “The importance for a beginner in secular fields to have clear introduction is obvious, but it is even more important when studying Torah.” He cites the Yerushalmi (Shabbos 87a): “any Torah without a foundation is not Torah.” Says Maharetz Chajes, “That means Torah without an understanding of basic rules and concepts....” (Introduction to Toras Nev’im in Daas Torah) 

So when you come to the so-called Ivy League yeshiva, when you come to a school for newcomers to Orthodox Judaism, you reasonably expect to attend introductory courses. Machon Shlomo didn't have any of those. There was no introduction to Judaism, to hashkafa, to Gemara, to Hebrew, or to halacha. There was no introduction to anything! As I said, there were essentially two classes: Gemara iyun and Chumash with Rashi. The method for the former, was to open up Baba Matzia to daf beis and start reading. "Snayim ochazim b'tallis." The method for the latter was the same: "Bereishis bara Elokim." Rashi says....

Most other BT schools do have introductory courses. Ohr Somayach has a course called "Introduction to Judaism." 

Philosophy 100-101- Introduction to Judaism- 3 credits p/semester Exploration of the philosophical underpinnings of Judaism, deism, monotheism, free will, integration of the Written and Oral Law, immutability of Torah Law, Divine revelation and ethics.

The followup course - Philosophy 102-103, Issues in Jewish Thought, is a part II of the introduction. Now that's more like an Ivy League school.

Ohr Somayach also offers an introduction to the halacha:

Jewish Law 104-105- Basic Laws of Sabbath and/or Kashruth (Dietary Laws)- 3 credits p/semester Introduction to, and practical application of, the major literature dealing with Sabbath and/or kashruth observance. Focus on roots of the law of Sabbath and/or kashruth observance, definition of the 39 categories of activities forbidden on the Sabbath, and practical application, how kashruth laws are derived from the Pentateuch, and the difference between Divine and rabbinic injunctions. Emphasis on practical application of the laws.

Many BT schools offer a class in the taryag mitzvos. This also qualifies as an introductory class. Aish Hatorah:

Yeshiva College:

Introduction to the Bible (BIB 1000)

Biblical Midrashim (BIB 1220) Introduction to the Aggadah

Orayta introduces students to halacha via five different classes

and to Jewish philosophy through a slew of classes including Introduction to Chazal:

Machon Shlomo had none of this. Do you want to say that introductory classes are goyish? (Maharetz Chajes didn't think so.) Calling yourself the Ivy League yeshiva is goyish.

Internships

Ivy League schools (and other colleges) are not wonderful with real world experience, but they do offer some measure of internships. For a school for BTs, this would mean engagement with the frum community. But at MS, they don't take you out to see the Jewish world or bring guest speakers into the building. Typical frum from birth kids spend an entire childhood being involved in the Jewish world, going to chasunahs and brisim, enjoying Chumash parties, meeting rabbis, interacting with their uncles and aunts and grandparents, hearing different speakers in cheder, mesifta, and shul. This provides important feeling for the religion as well as a broader perspective. BT schools have to replicate this to some extent. MS doesn't do it. And maybe that's OK for the students that had a taste of it and want to focus on their Brisker lomdus, but it's not good for most beginners. 

The Real Machon Shlomo

So let's dispense with the image and the illusion. With that aside, what really is Machon Shlomo? I think it's this: One to two years of study of Gemara lomdus on a few pages of a yeshivishe mesechta that the school chooses (with minimal introduction and no language instruction), Chumash with Rashi, and a drop of halacha and tefilla -- all in a competitive environment. Then back to one's home country to pursue a parnassah. 

For first year students, there is no study of Mishnah, history, grammar, Nach, Gemara bekiyus, Chassidus, or Kabbalah. Study of halacha is minimal as is study of tefilla. Actually the two are combined. They learn a bit about the halachos of tefilla. Machshava consists of occasional readings of the introduction to Mesillas Yesharim. By occasional I mean 5x in the whole year. And this is the same program that they have had for 40 years! It hasn't changed!

What about the simple program of Machon Shlomo? Many schools try to make themselves bigger, by offering as much as possible, hoping that something ignites a spark in the person. Machon Shlomo's approach is to make their small program even smaller. They'll tell you that you don't need all that other stuff. You just need Gemara and Chumash, by which they mean a few pages of Gemara and Chumash as presented by one person. 

As for the Chumash with Rashi, for decades that consisted mostly of the magid shiur -- who today runs the place -- reading the Chumash to you and offering occasional musings on what he was reading. 

As for musar, that's an important part of Jewish life.  If the musar is done well, it will impart principles of emunah as well as self-development. Machon Shlomo claims to be musar oriented, but they don't look at musar sefarim. They also don't talk about God, and historically were more concerned with criticizing the students.  From what I hear, the focus now is on self-development. That makes me a bit nervous. The focus isn't on Hashem but on you. But it could be helpful if done right. I hear it involves meeting with a rabbi and telling him about your inner world -- that makes me nervous. Seems invasive. 

So that's Machon Shlomo's approach. Some of the guys say it works for them, not that they have anything to compare it to, any other yeshiva experiences. BTs have a natural excitement that comes from studying Torah and keeping mitzvos for the first time and they may confuse their feelings with whoever they are dealing with. And then there are the scores of guys that report a bad experience. 

It seems to me that this can work only as a second-stage program. It is not for brand new beginners to Torah observance for a variety of reasons including the following:

1) Again, they don't study the Hebrew language and grammar. If you don't know grammar, you won't be able to even look up words in the dictionary in many cases. 

2) They don't have a class in mitzvos and have only an hour a week in halacha. You are taking on a life of mitzvos. You need to learn all about them. Some schools like Toras Dovid in Monsey, NY approach this via classes not only in halacha but in Mishnah. Machon Shlomo has neither a class in mitzvos nor a class in Mishnah. 

3) They don't take you out to see the Jewish world or bring guest speakers into the building. As mentioned, typical frum from birth kids spend an entire childhood being involved in the Jewish world, going to chasunahs and brisim, enjoying Chumash parties, meeting rabbis, interacting with their uncles and aunts and grandparents, hearing different speakers in cheder, mesifta, and shul. This provides important feeling for the religion as well as a broader perspective. BT schools have to replicate this to some extent. MS doesn't do it. And maybe that's OK for the students that had a taste of it and want to focus on their Brisker lomdus, but it's not good for most beginners. Again, MS is a second stage program (at best). 

Machon Shlomo is not appropriate also for second-stage guys who seek breadth in their learning. They want to see different kinds of material. They want to hear different perspectives. MS doesn't offer this.  

At Machon Shlomo, students typically spend 70-80% of their day working on a piece of Gemara with commentary. Is that what you want to do? Could be you do but be sure before you go. It seems that the Vilna Gaon advises against this for beginners. The Gaon said “One must first fill himself with knowledge of Tanach, Mishna, Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, Tosefta, Mechilta, Sifrem and all other baraisos. Then he should discuss and debate his learning with his colleagues. By studying in this sequence, one attains the splendor of Torah. One who changes this arrangement, however, and studies how to debate before knowing one Mishnah openly, will forfeit even the little Torah he heard in his youth.” It can be very taxing, exhausting, and frustrating studying Gemara, particularly when one isn't used to it. The Vilna Gaon said, “Just as in craftsmanship one should learn an honest and easy trade, so in Torah one should seek an easy area of study that will not tax his capabilities and lead him to stop studying.” (Even Shelaimah, chapter 8).

So it's a few pages of Gemara b'iyn, Chumash with Rashi, and musar. As I said, they pursue a Cheshbon HaNefesh approach to musar, even though they don't look at that particular sefer. You also could call it a Delphic know thyself driven mission. They identify parts of the self to work on. I hope also that they identify strengths.  You can't just count up your flaws. 

I think the yeshiva would be better off if they advertised what they really do and dropped all the Ivy League pretensions. It's not in the spirit of musar to describe yourself in grandiose terms. So rather than try to sell themselves as the place for the elite to attain "individual greatness," as they put it, they should say what they really do, which is to have a handful of capable guys focus on some basic textual Gemara skills and prepare for a return to earning a parnsassah back in their home country. Maybe for some people this is all that is needed; although I doubt it. For others, it's insufficient.

I have spoken to students who say they are happy with the program -- again, not that they have anything to compare it to. I also know many students who didn't like it, many of who were so turned off that they left the religion. This happens at every place, but it seems to me that MS has a large number for such a small place.

I think it's very important that any BT school suggest other schools for students who are not happy. Historically, MS doesn't do that. Rather one hears comments like "Everybody who leaves here fails in life." 

Too many of them bank on "the power of Torah" to make everything good. That is magical thinking. Others bank on the genius of their program. That's arrogant thinking. Some people belong in big places, some in Chassidish places. Depends on the person. If it isn't working out, school choice may be the answer. No one school is for everyone. No one school is the best. There is no Ivy League BT yeshiva. 

Appendix: More problems with Machon Shlomo

1. Dating is not allowed until second year after Chanukah. The administrators will proffer their reasons (you are not ready, dating will disturb your studies or the program), but I think the rule is ill-advised. In Israel, there are women to date. In many parts of the USA there are not. Also, dating in Israel is more equitable. You meet at a hotel lobby. In America, the man is a beast of burden, calling, driving, paying, thinking of things to do. Also, dating is different for BTs who are going through many changes and tend to need more time to make good decisions in this matter. Presumably rabbis at a BT institution will understand that and advise accordingly. I say presumably but in actually most don't advise well. When you go back to America, you might not be able to find people with the right experience to advise you. So the time in Israel is the time to go out and find a wife. You don't have to do this in your first month, but there shouldn't be a rule about this. My advice, date anyway. Just ignore them and do what you need to do. This is true at any place. Don't be so obedient. Do what you feel you need to do to help yourself. You don't have to announce it. Do it on the sly. Yeshiva administrators are not gods. They don't have all the answers, even though some think they do. Many don't understand BTs very well, and will give you prescriptions and mandates that aren't good for you. You can trust your instincts. Do what you feel you need to do.

2. Reliance on a few instructors. The first year program is built largely around one guy and a different guy during the second year. If you don't care for each of these people, you are stuck. There are no options. If you really like them, which some people do, then you might be happy. So in your first year, you get a sampling of the second year guy. But how do you learn about the first year guy? He has a few short videos on youtube, but it isn't much to go by. And here. You can learn about the second year guy here. 

3. They don't take you to see Israel, maybe one trip a year. When I was there, we went on 0 (that's zero) trips, not even to Jerusalem. My suggestion, go yourself during the summer months. Go to see Meah She'arim, the Old City, Bene Brak, Tiberias, Sefat, the Negev, the Dead Sea, Hebron, and one of the Chareidi cities like Elad, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Sefer or Beitar.

4. The website exaggerates to a ridiculous degree. (Many of the BT school websites are inaccurate as I will explain.) The photos page lists around 50 pictures showing warm get-togethers and trips, when the reality is they do little of that. The site references a close alumni network where jobs are to be had. I have lived in towns known to have Machon Shlomo guys and as far as I could tell most had little to do with each other. The website talks about graduates having career success in the "highest levels" of the professions. This is ridiculous. Highest level of finance is CEO of Goldman Sachs, Chairman of the Fed, President of the New York Stock Exchange. Highest level of journalism is being a Pulitzer prize winner, being Seymour Hirsch, that sort of thing. Highest level of music is conductor for the New York Philharmonic, rock star, violinist for the Berlin Symphony. Highest level of fiction writing is Nobel Prize for Literature. Highest level of law is US Supreme Court Judge or Dean of Yale Law school. You get the point. There's nobody like this who comes out of Machon Shlomo or any BT yeshiva. Becoming Torah observant is enough of an accomplishment. Very few people of any kind - Jew or Gentile - are at the top of their professions. For frum people it's even harder. If Machon Shlomo produced graduates at the highest levels of finance the kitchen wouldn't look like this:

The MS website also claims that "Our soon-to-be state-of-the-art facility is slated to be complete in the near future." Yet, there are no photos of it, which is strange, since institutions always show you buildings in the works for fundraising purposes. From what I hear, there is no such facility in the works, only a room extension that is on hold. 

They claim also that "From outdoor porches and from most windows, one can take in expansive views of the forest, valley, and outlying hills toward the North of Israel." Yet, the primary scenery is that of the Har Menuchos cemetery. 

(Photo from the website. Cemetery is to the right. Behind that are the expansive views of the mountains.)

(View of Cemetery from the building)

(Closeup of cemetery from outside Machon Shlomo)

Many BT school websites exaggerate, making their programs seem richer and better staffed than they really are. They list classes that don't take place. (Maybe the classes once took place, but the website hasn't been updated to reflect any changes.) They list programs that are now defunct. They show photos of instructors that are no longer associated with the school or were never more than minimally associated with it. The people are all smiles in the photos but not in actual life. You get a false impression of cheery bliss that is not the reality. One place calls itself "the premier institution in Jerusalem dedicated to helping college graduates and young professionals grow in their Jewish life and learning." That's quite a statement since Jerusalem has many programs for such people as that description goes beyond just baalei teshuvah. Most schools claim to have warm environments and to encourage independent thinking when that isn't an accurate description for all of them. It might not even be accurate for most of them. They invite you to sign up for newsletters that are long defunct. 

Yeshiva websites are notoriously out of date, which is more understandable with traditional institutions whose students don't necessarily use the Internet. But prospective baalei teshuvah live on the Internet and rely on the websites as oftentimes their only source of information about the schools in which they are entrusting their souls. There are websites that need updating to show that the school has changed its name or moved. There are websites for schools that appear to have shut down. Meanwhile, secular colleges are generally accurate, listing exact degree requirements, course descriptions, and course availability every semester. The Jews should learn from the Goyim in this regard. As the Gemara tells us, we are held accountable for imitating their bad ways and not imitating their good ways. See introduction to Duties of the Heart. Where secular colleges are inaccurate is in their promises of student aid when most of that aid is loans that need to be repaid and in their claims to help with job placement. 

So it isn't only Machon Shlomo who exaggerates. But what appears on its site is too much. MS really needs to be more accurate in its marketing. There are limits to acceptable exaggeration for recruiting purposes. The lack of accuracy and the attempt to brag to a ridiculous degree is concerning, particularly for a school that is built around musar classes. But while most schools exaggerate, Machon Shlomo is deceptive. And you should not put your life in the hands of deceptive people.

You only want to learn musar from baalei musar. It is dangerous to get lectures on humility from a person who is not humble. A student in any institution may encounter a teacher who struggles with his ego and gives passionate talks about humility in effort to tame himself. So he goes over the top, giving out medicine in doses that are too strong for the average ego. In even more unhealthy situations, what happens is the student humbles himself to the point of self-annihilation while the person with the oversized ego overtakes his life and gives a model that is really arrogance in disguise. Sounds like quite a mess. You want your initial experience of Orthodox Judaism to be as clean as possible. You see problems as well with the matter of bitul Torah (wasting time). Many teachers talk endlessly about bitul Torah as a way of getting themselves to study more. But the talk can be destructive to BTs who are brand new to Torah study and are doing all that they can right now.

Many schools don't tell you exactly what classes are actually available and what the schedule looks like. You might even write to them and not get a response. They leave you with vague promises. Machon Shlomo gives an actual schedule but it's not so accurate. Among the inaccuracies, from what I hear, the 12 PM Jewish philosophy class is actually hashkafa on two days, hilchos Tefilla on one day, ideas on Tefilla one day, and a Musar Vaad on the fifth day. Also inaccurate is the 5 PM Mesillas Yesharim class as many days the Chumash class runs over it and even when the class is held, they never go past the introduction. One student told me they had that class 5x in the entire year. 

To the extent that the schedule is accurate, that's because it is very simple and it has not changed in forty years. Even long before the Internet was invented, this was the schedule, so there was no updating necessary once the website was first published. 

5. While MS didn't pressure students to become Kollel avreichem or gadolim or to make aliyah, it did have an atmosphere of elitism and the pressure to become a leader of some kind. It's hard enough just becoming Torah observant, taking on the mitzvos, and changing over your entire life. You have to become a leader too? And a leader at what? It's very difficult for BTs to become leaders within the frum world. We just don't have the connections or the learning. Rabbis run everything. Aside from them, there are the school principals and the wealthy donors. Not too many BTs land in those circles. Telling a BT that he has to become a leader is as unreasonable as telling him that he has to be a Kollel man or make aliyah. All that pressure, gets in the way of the primary task which is to develop an awareness of Hashem and a comfort with the mitzvos. Aside from that, BTs aren't supposed to become leaders. As Rav Avigdor Miller said, "“Now when a convert or a ba’al teshuva comes to the Jewish people, he has to know that he has to be a follower – he has to listen.  But sometimes a ba’al teshuva comes in and he takes over.  Right away he wants to teach all the old-time Jews how to be real Jews!  He knows better!  So what does he do?  He follows the models that he formed in the gentile world or in the non-religious world.” (Rav Avigdor Miller, Tape # 30, August 1973.) So here let's note that the guys who run Machon Shlomo are baalei teshuva.