Toras Dovid is a BT yeshiva in Monsey. It's the new incarnation of Ohr Somayach which closed down. It seems like a decent place as BT Litivish yeshivas go. It offers more than just Gemara. There are classes in Mishnah, hashgafa, and Hebrew. That already makes it light years better than Machon Shlomo.
So any issues I'm about to identify in them don't make them worse than any other place. What I'm about to address is a typical problem. Here's the video.
Once upon a time, the Satmar Rebbe criticized the Lub. Rebbe's tefillin campaign. But he warmed up to it in the end. He said, the Rebbe is a kluger yid (smart yid). It's not about the tefillin. It's about getting people to say that they are Jewish.
Being Jewish doesn't mean pride in the Israel air force. The Jewish nation came to be at Har Sinai. God, Torah, and mitzvos is what happened there. Jewish pride means God, Torah, and mitzvos. Some of thes Litvish places miss two out of three and if you miss the first one you miss everything.
Mitzvos don't mean things you will be punished for doing or not doing. Mitzvos mean connection to Hashem.
Many mosdos seem to build the lives on Gemara, Gelt, and Guilt. What you do is Gemara. You need gelt for that. Guilt goes on those who don't study enough Gemara or give enough gelt for it. As mitzvos, they don't think about those so much. As one Litvish rabbi told a shiur, mitzvos are easy. Really? Easy? That tells me he doesn't take them very seriously.
Again, I am not picking on this place. All the places are like this -- BT places, FFB places. The entire planet has become atheist. The frum world isn't much better. Could be we influence them as much as they influence us.
It's not just them. Look at this Ohr Somayach video. It's all about learning Gemara, not much else.
Now, it could be the video is like this, that the filmmaker is just very secular, but the yeshiva does stress other things. However, I doubt it, as I have been involved with these yeshivos for 35 years. There's not much spirituality in most of them, not much Hashem, not much in the way of mitzvos. Chumros yes, mitzvos no. There is a difference.
Here's their About page:
About
Yeshiva Toras Dovid
Since its inception, Yeshivas Toras Dovid has aspired to create the warm, collegial and growth-oriented environment where ba'alei teshuvah can solidify and sustain their growth in Torah learning and Torah living. Named in memory of Dovid Winiarz zt'l, Toras Dovid's mission is to provide the support and skills that will enable our students to become b'nei Torah that are equipped to build Torah homes and contribute to the Torah community at-large. With this in mind, Toras Dovid offers a wide array of text-based classes ranging from a basic introduction to Gemara through advanced learning and rabbinic s'micha. Classes in halacha, hashkafa, Chumash and mussar provide a well-rounded curriculum to give our students both the knowledge and the skills to carry them through a lifetime of learning. Our staff of rabbeim have extensive experience dealing with ba'alei teshuvah and are uniquely equipped to help our students navigate the challenges and pitfalls - be it shidduchim, parnassah, family, shalom bayis or the like - that unfortunately can loom "larger than life" for the ba'al teshuvah who finds himself without a proper community or environment to reckon with those challenges. Our mission at Toras Dovid is to meet each of our students where they are at and to provide a healthy growth-oriented framework to prepare them for a successful and fulfilling life of the ben Torah.
You see the word God there? Has Torah replaced God? Ben Torah, Torah life. They can't seem to say the word God. Can't seem to say the word mitzvah. I don't know if you could pay them to say it.
Log b'omer just passed. I know some kids in litvish schools. What did they hear about log b'omer? They heard that they shouldn't go to Meron. It's bitul Torah. They heard that they are not allowed to go to log b'omer activities without school permission. All rules and threats.
Chabad had a parade and activities in the park. The Rebbe had all kinds of sichos about the meaning of log b'omer.
The Treasuries of Ashkenaz blog, a yekke blog, gave its yearly post complaining about Meron and how lighting fires is a new custom. Hirsch was one thing, but Yekkes do an awful log of moaning and groaning about changing customs as if their customs go back to Bayis Rishon. Meanwhile, saying Baruch Hu u'varuch Shemo is a German custom. The Gra didn't keep it. Tashlich is a German custom. Tell a yekke you aren't doing Tashlich because it's a new custom. Hodu is a few hundred years old. Tell a yekke you aren't saying it because it's new. Can we focus on the meaning of Log B'omer please. Can we give people something believe in rather than rules about what not to do?
The Litvacks groaned about the dip in Gemara study. Chabad had a parade.
I heard a story that a certain Rosh Yeshiva in Brooklyn used to dance on Simchas Torah with a mesechta Avodah Zara. He'd say gleefully I'm dancing with my avodah zara.
One can take that as humor. One can take it literally.