Why do so many people still support the Mir?

[sguitarist18]

OK, that's exactly my point.

I'll go with R' Elefant, since I know that situation best. As one friend of mine said, "he has a shiur of 80 guys, but he treats every one like a ben yachid."

Any talmid who wants a connection and puts in the effort, gets one. The ones that don't want, or feel it isn't worth waiting in line by night seder to talk to him, or make an appointment to go to his house to talk to him...don't really want a connection.

[myi]

OK, that's exactly my point.

I'll go with R' Elefant, since I know that situation best. As one friend of mine said, "he has a shiur of 80 guys, but he treats every one like a ben yachid."

Any talmid who wants a connection and puts in the effort, gets one. The ones that don't want, or feel it isn't worth waiting in line by night seder to talk to him, or make an appointment to go to his house to talk to him...don't really want a connection.

Well said, he supposedly has a laptop with every bachur who came into his shuir and wants to know the whereabouts with that bachur, but then again, you can only bring the horse to the water but can't make it drink, so that much rabbi elefant is there, he's reachable and caring for those bachrim who put an effort to be part of the structure in his shuir and speak to him and want to talk to him, but if you run and avoid him,then yes there's no reason rabbi elefant will run after the bachur.
 I know there's an email and lots of other stuff set up for each time rabbi elefant comes to america and has meetings and time slots for each bachur and yungerlight who want to speak in person with him.
 He has an american number aside for the Israeli number so whomever wants to reach him he should be able to be reached. And not to forget the thursday night chill he has with the buchrim with cholent and drinks, and allows the talmidim to ask away with any question their heart desires. As well every Thursday night,really late he has a live conference with his old talmidim in america and gives and shuir to them and makes sure to stay in touch.
 Again this is just one of the few rabbaim that there's in the mir.

[davidrotts63]

Lots of misleading and plain false info here which I will not go into for multiple reasons. But keep in mind the OPs point, this is not a Mir bashing thread, and promoting the Mir doesn't address OPs concern

[stooges44]

OK, I usually don't feed the trolls, but I feel without someone giving at least a bit of an answer, it will look like the OP is right.

Disclaimer - OP clearly has a lot of bitterness and anger, and nothing I write can answer or change any of that. I'm sorry for whatever made you feel that way.

First of all, and most of all - hakaras hatov. It may have changed, but the Mir is still the same yeshiva, and those of us who gained from it, owe the yeshiva a tremendous debt of gratitude that no money can ever repay. We also donate because we want to give back, we want to allow other talmidim to have the opportunity of yeshivas Mir - in whatever iteration it currently is.

So - I was in Mir back in R' Nosson Tzvi's days, and while he was alive, changes were made - some I was happy about, others I had more trouble understanding. I spoke to my rebbe at the time, and was able to better understand.

If I was at the point I was 20 years ago, applying to the Mir today, I would probably not get in.

However, the fact remains that the Mir has always been a yeshiva where things are more open, and people can grow at their own pace, from where they are, in their own way. Those of us who were around 15-20 years ago saw the changes when too many people took advantage of that, and the Mir started becoming a place where good bochurim didn't want to go. And so some changes HAD to be made, or the Mir and its legacy would be lost forever - because while they could care less about "top" bochurim, if the good bochurim aren't going there, no one else wants to go either, and the Mire would have lost its ability to give over what it does.

So they adapted, and brought a bit more oversight, but also more warmth. They made changes as needed, and with it more connection with rabbeim. If you're someone who wants to build a real connection with a rebbe, the Mir is unparalleled. The rabbeim will stay in touch with you, and will guide you through life years and years later, regardless of the size of your donations.

If you're looking for a rebbe who will treat you like a child and pretend there's a deep connection when you haven't invested a drop of effort into it, the Mir probably isn't for you.

Finally, despite the fact that the Mir is no longer as opened-doored as it was 20 years ago, it is still, without a doubt, the most diverse of all the mainstream yeshivish yeshivas.

Makes me want to have gone to the mir 

[shwarmabob]

Well said, he supposedly has a laptop with every bachur who came into his shuir and wants to know the whereabouts with that bachur, but then again, you can only bring the horse to the water but can't make it drink, so that much rabbi elefant is there, he's reachable and caring for those bachrim who put an effort to be part of the structure in his shuir and speak to him and want to talk to him, but if you run and avoid him,then yes there's no reason rabbi elefant will run after the bachur.
 I know there's an email and lots of other stuff set up for each time rabbi elefant comes to america and has meetings and time slots for each bachur and yungerlight who want to speak in person with him.
 He has an american number aside for the Israeli number so whomever wants to reach him he should be able to be reached. And not to forget the thursday night chill he has with the buchrim with cholent and drinks, and allows the talmidim to ask away with any question their heart desires. As well every Thursday night,really late he has a live conference with his old talmidim in america and gives and shuir to them and makes sure to stay in touch.
 Again this is just one of the few rabbaim that there's in the mir.

That sounds pretty amazing to me, someone who did not go to mir

[yuneeq]

Lots of misleading and plain false info here which I will not go into for multiple reasons. But keep in mind the OPs point, this is not a Mir bashing thread, and promoting the Mir doesn't address OPs concern

I’m an uninformed outsider in this convo but it’s very clear that the title and OP is bashing the Mir. If there was another point to this thread then it hasn’t been communicated well.

Regarding a yeshiva “changing”, nearly all the Yeshivos I’ve been too have changed a lot from when I was there. Some have changed multiple times and I’m not that old. That’s life, times change and people change, both those in charge, and the bochurim that go there. 

[yitzgar]

I’m an uninformed outsider in this convo but it’s very clear that the title and OP is bashing the Mir. If there was another point to this thread then it hasn’t been communicated well.

Regarding a yeshiva “changing”, nearly all the Yeshivos I’ve been too have changed a lot from when I was there. Some have changed multiple times and I’m not that old. That’s life, times change and people change, both those in charge, and the bochurim that go there.

+ in addition, the thread title makes it more obvious if it wasn't already. There's a clear negative connotation, not a simple question.