What the heck is the deal with yeshiva dinner ad journals, is it just me or can we all agree that they are one of the stupidest/suckiest things ever!!!
For all of you who don’t know what an ad journal is, I will explain. At yeshiva, shul or really any annual Jewish function they bug you for 6 months before the event to take out an ad saying “Mazel tov on your endeavors” in different sizes, the text and the size of page alow everyone who reads the journal to make judgments about you because everyone knows what they cost. You basically have an entire well made spiral notebook of ads, with several well posed shots of what the organization does in the front of the book.
Every journal calls the expensive pages something different, but for an extra $5,000 donation you get public recognition in full page form with a colored trim, I think I’ll just take the plain full page instead of the Gold, Silver, Platinum (can anyone tell the difference between silver and platinum?) emerald or sapphire. These ads are always wishing some Rabbi mazel tov or the honorees that have nothing to do with the yeshiva.
Then your status in the community goes down each time your ad gets smaller, forget about it if you have one of those business card-sized ads, you are royally screwed especially when they are signed Doctor or Esq.
So you must be asking, why all the bitterness? It sounds great, the yeshiva gets money, you get honored, what could be worse? Well the reason yeshiva ad journals bothered me so much was because they could have spent a drop more in the bucket and actually made something useful, like a YEARBOOK maybe, but yeshivas are vehemently anti-yearbooks, especially reject yeshivas like Rochester.
Yeshivas are anti-yearbook mainly because, the stock of kids changes on such a regular basis that yearbooks are next to impossible – even for just a senior class. I think the main reason is because they are too modern, and yeshivas want to do as little for the kids as possible. What does a yeshiva do besides for provide an empty space with old used sforim donated by shuls from ghetto areas that have been closed.
I also bet you that some folks deem yearbooks as ASSUR, for no other reason than the aspect of “if its too entertaining it must be assur”.
They always make too many ad journals, and they lie around in boxes after the dinner, only to be read by yeshiva guys on the toilet. Its kind of a waste if you ask me. Ad Journals seem like a perpetuater of Gaiva (haughtiness) and they are a waste, hopefully we can see some yeshivas make yearbooks in the future.