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ready planning to at-
tend Wayne State Uni-
versity in the fall of
1998, he's looking for-
ward to the change of
pace he will experience
this year at Ohr
Yerushalayim, a yeshi-
va 10 miles outside of
Jerusalem. "Before col-
lege, it's good to take a
year off from life, to go
somewhere with all
Jewish studies and no
grades. It's less pres-
sure and you can learn
at your own level," he
said.
Ms.
Wolkinson
agreed. "I'm looking for-
ward to having a time
when I can study with-
out grades being the
center," she said.
With so many choic-
es available, selecting a
yeshiva or seminary
can be overwhelming.
Many Detroit day
schools provide coun-
seling to help their stu-
dents make decisions.
"In the beginning of
each school year, we meet Misha Feldman: Learn at your own level.
with seniors and their
parents and go through a process Nathaniel Lauer, educational di-
with them to explain what is in rector at Beth Jacob, who added
store for them," said Rabbi that the process was "similar to

PHOTO BY KRISTA HUSA

recently returned from a year
of study at Bnos Chava, a
seminary in Jerusalem where
the curriculum included Bible,
Jewish ethics and Hebrew. "I
loved it," she said. "We always
learned in school about the hol-
idays, rabba'im (sages) and all
those things. When you go to Is-
rael, all those things come to
life."
Ms. Weisberg said the year of
study increased her commitment
to Judaism, and that it also in-
creased her self-confidence. "I
grew in independence ... I was
afraid I would be homesick, but
now I've changed and think
everyone should go."
But Ms. Eisenberg warns fu-
ture students that the transition
cat be challenging. "It's the
same as for a freshman in col-
lege, but you're halfway across
the world," she said.
In addition to seeing Israel
and having the opportunity to
focus on Jewish studies, many
yeshiva and seminary students
comment that the year in Israel
enables them to take a break
from secular studies and to learn
for the sake of learning, rather
than grades.
A co-valedictorian at Akiva,
Misha Feldman is familiar with
the stress of achieving good
grades. And, although he's al-

any post-high school
course of education."
Like college admis-
sions, yeshivas and
seminaries require
transcripts and recom-
mendations and vary
in degree of selectivity.
Beth Jacob invites
representatives of nu-
merous seminaries to
meet with students
and parents, and Rab-
bi Lauer recently re-
turned from a trip to
Israel during which he
visited 14 seminaries.
Nearly 100 percent of
Beth Jacob graduates
attend seminary, al-
though not all in Is-
rael.
Rabbi Gross said his
staff at Akiva "spends
a lot of time counsel-
ing" students, to en-
sure that they make
the right choice. Rabbi
Gross also relies on
personal knowledge. "I
lived 12 years in Israel
before I came here and
have a good knowledge
of the seminaries and
yeshivot," he said.
Rabbi Gross and Rabbi Lauer
also advise their students on fi-
nancial aid. Many students opt

to enroll under the auspices of
Yeshiva University or Touro Col-
lege, increasing the. availabili-
ty of financial aid and the ease
of transferring credits toward fu-
ture university degrees.
But with costs averaging
$10,000 a year and only limited
financial aid options available,
the trend of study in Israel may
have reached its peak. Beth Ja-
cob's Rabbi Lauer said that prin-
cipals within the Beth Jacob
network of Orthodox girls'
schools —while still supportive
of study in Israel — are begin-
ning to encourage their students
to consider North American
seminaries as a less costly al-
ternative. "There are wonderful
seminaries in North America
too," he said.

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