With college seniors facing one of the worst job markets in recent memory and downsized professionals scrambling to plan their futures, graduate schools across the United States have seen applications soar. But such institutions of higher learning – whose schools of government and public policy have seen some of the most drastic growth in applications, according to The New York Times – are not alone in expanding their rosters; joining them are Jewish yeshivas and seminaries, whose spiritual atmospheres are appealing to a generation finding its place in a world in crisis.
Jerusalem Institute Reports Higher Attendance in Wake of Economic Downturn
With college seniors facing one of the worst job markets in recent memory and downsized professionals scrambling to plan their futures, graduate schools across the United States have seen applications soar. But such institutions of higher learning – whose schools of government and public policy have seen some of the most drastic growth in applications, according to The New York Times – are not alone in expanding their rosters; joining them are Jewish yeshivas and seminaries, whose spiritual atmospheres are appealing to a generation finding its place in a world in crisis.
At Jerusalem’s Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, a Chabad-Lubavitch educational center designed for people who did not necessarily grow up with formal Jewish instruction, officials have been pouring over a substantially larger pool of applicants, among those an increased number of students deferring enrollment to graduate school.
Jared Goldfarb, who completed his finance undergraduate degree at Ohio State University in January and plans on attending Mayanot in the fall, noticed a change among his classmates’ plans for next year.
“People are asking more questions [because of the economy] but the shock has not been severe enough to alter things completely,” reported Goldfarb. “There is a bit of a trend, though, away from materialism and towards other things, including Judaism.”
Goldfarb, who is currently wrapping up a spring semester spent studying at a Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva in Cinncinati, said that even high school students are seeking spiritual answers for problems in the world today.
“A local private high school asked me to give a class on ‘Kabbalah of the Market Crash’ at their Jewish Club,” he related. “Their chemistry teacher mentioned to me the following week that the students had been talking about the class afterwards and were really into it.”
