New seminary for girls to open in Far Rockaway

A new seminary will be opening this fall in Far Rockaway.

“People are very, very excited,” explained Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner, who will lead the seminary and whose husband, Rabbi Eytan Feiner, is the rav of the White Shul. “We are filling a big need.”

The idea for the seminary, Machon Basya Rochel, came about when local parents spoke to Feiner about creating a place where girls could continue learning Judaic studies after high school.

“Not every girl can go to Eretz Yisrael, or afford to,” said Feiner. Furthermore, Feiner added, girls who spent a year in Israel and wanted to continue learning were “shipping themselves to Brooklyn” to find learning opportunities. “We have enough of a kehilla here,” said Feiner.

The seminary will be run by Feiner who will be the menahelet and Debra Green, a Far Rockaway resident and the former Director of Israel Guidance for girls at HAFTR, will be the mechaneches. Feiner herself has taught at a number of seminaries in Israel and co-founded and taught at Chochmas Nashim, a post-seminary learning program in Jerusalem.

The classes will be held in the White Shul. Classes will cover a range of topics including halacha, Tanach and hashkafa and will be  taught by Feiner, her husband, Mrs. Elisheva Liss, Rabbi Dovid Weinberger and other lecturers.

“The classes will be at a challenging level to stimulate the [girls] intellectually and inspire them,” said Feiner.

Feiner expects a wide range of students from the New York and New Jersey area to attend the seminary’s first year. More than 10 girls have interviewed so far and 40 girls attended a gathering for the seminary last week. Feiner is planning on spending the summer interviewing potential students.

“We are not looking for a specific type of girl,” explained Feiner, but student should be “committed to Torah, and shmirat hamitzvot (observant of the commandments) looking to be inspired and grow bderech haTorah (path of the Torah) and avodat Hashem.”

Exams and papers are only required if the girls want credit for college. In the seminary’s first year it will not offer any degrees, though Feiner said, the seminary plans to eventually be able to offer a secular degree.

Feiner said that many adults approached her asking to attend.

“We hope to create programming for any age group, but at this point we can’t,” Feiner explained. The seminary does have plans to have occasional classes for the community at large.

Machon Basya Rochel will run four mornings a week, Monday through Thursday, from 9:30-12:30 p.m.. Girls who have a year of seminary behind them have the option to do a two-day a week program. For more information email  MBRseminary@gmail.com or call 718-355-8900.