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I miss seminary a lot. It’s not just the friendships. It’s not just the tiyulim around our beautiful country. It’s not just the tzadikkim/ot that taught us.  And it’s not just the enlightening shiurim I had. All these contributed to my growth and enjoyment.

But what I miss most is the environment. We were all going through the same process; living with strangers, trying to survive on sem food, adapting to the intense schedule and culture. We all celebrated Shabbat and chagim together, we all experienced the more solemn events together from Yom HaShoah to Yom HaZikaron, and we all experienced the magnitude of Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael on occasions like Yom Yerushalyim, Yom Haatzmaut and visits to Hevron and the like. But most of all, we all had one mission. We all wanted to grow in our Torah. All we did and went through was for the purpose of Torah. Every song we sung was to get close to Hashem, every pasuk we learnt was to learn His wisdom. 

Some of the girls I never even spoke to during my time there. Yet we all, together, created unity in a growth-orientated environment. Each day brought new challenges and each event carried new heights. At the summation of the year, we were all in new places. The people who walked in weren’t the same as the people who walked out.

Before sem, I wasn’t really one for teamwork or group tasks. I always preferred working alone. After all, how can other people contribute to my personal growth? And “if you want a job doing properly, do it yourself.” And that’s what I’d been doing my whole life. Then I got to sem and realised how powerful growth can be in a group all striving for one and the same thing.

It’s much harder to create an atmosphere on your own. That’s probably why a minyan requires 10 men. Prayer is much more powerful among others. I can sing here, I can learn here, I can hear shiurim here but where are the other people growing with me? Who can strive with me? Maybe it affects me more because sem was the first experience I had in a religious environment for such a lengthy period; I wasn’t brought up religious, and thus every growth I did was alone. It got me so far, until I needed to work and conquer more potential.

The environment we choose and the group of people we associate ourselves with is so powerful. It can make or break us. And sometimes we don’t even realise it; it only affects us subconsciously. We can survive in an environment that isn’t totally suited to our religious needs, but we can’t flourish. We should aim to make our permanent environment our ideal environment suited for our needs. I always compare myself to a plant; I’m in Chutz La’aretz now, and I didn’t think I would be able to but I can, I can survive and still manage to grow slowly. But my personal ideal place, my greenhouse, is in Israel. That’s where I will flourish the most. Some will argue that religious Jews should be spread out so they can spread their light to others. But this should never be done at the expense of your own growth. Some people can create for themselves their own ghetto in their own home and go out to countries and cities with no Yiddiskeit whatsoever, like Chabadniks. Yet the majority of us can’t reach our potential like this. My Rabbi once compared his yishuv to his base where he goes at the end of each day to get strength and renewal and then he, along with all the others, each morning go to their respective places and spread out their light.

Once we help ourselves through a strong base conducive to spiritual growth, only then can we pass it on to others.

How does your environment affect you?