Eitan Dukas is enjoying his second summer on NCSY Kollel. Originally from Teaneck, but now a member of Bergenfield (yes, a mid-summer move) Eitan attended Frisch, then Sha’alvim for 2 years, and is currently entering into his first year at YU.

Eitan’s chaburah breaks down the walls between in-town and out-of-town with some of the best guys around. Micah Adler and Benny Kleid both hail from Detroit and attend Farber, while Shmuel Fine and Zachary Rabe are both from Woodmere and attend DRS.

Together these amazing guys create a vibrant atmosphere radiating with Torah. Over the course of the summer, the chaburah has spent time learning an array of topics. One of the main focuses has been on Talmud Torah, both in lamdus and in machshava. From going through the sugya of osek b’mitzva patur min hamitzvah b’talmud Torah and learning fundamental ideas about Talmud Torah to learning about how the world is dependent on Torah. This group has also learned about simcha, the fundamentals of shabbos, as well as various sugyas in lamdus including the famous Reb Chaim on Tefillah, the mitzvah of chinuch, and more!

This chaburah has already learned and grown so much and can’t wait to continue the rest of the summer and beyond!

Eli Sudwerts, or “SUDS” is spending his first summer as a Madrich on NCSYKollell and absolutely loving it! He lives in Passaic, New Jersey, and attended YBH for elementary school. For high school, he went to an unbelievable Yeshiva, Heichal HaTorah, followed by 2 awesome years in Sha’alvim. After Kollel is over, along with a bunch of his very close friends, Eli will be starting Yeshiva University.

Suds’ chaburah is absolutely off the charts! They have an awesome group of guys and Chaburah time is definitely a highlight of the day! Straight from Heichal Hatorah, they have 3 ALL STARS: Dani Goldenberg, an absolute stud from Bergenfield, followed by Ezra Teichman and Micha Abramoff, 2 BIG TIME game changers from Passaic Ir HaKodesh!! Rounding off this incredible group, Shaya Stern from Philly is the PERFECT addition to the squad, and late acquisition Menachem Grossman, born and bred in RBS, adds just the right touch and really takes this Chaburah to the NEXT LEVEL!! Whether on the classroom or the ball court, Eli Suds’ was definitely dealt an epic squad!

This chaburah has the zechus to delve into things we do as Jews on an everyday basis and to try and learn halachos about them, infuse a deeper meaning into them, and gain a deeper appreciation for things which we do. Why do we wake up and wash our hands, why do we spend so much time on talmud torah, and why is hard work so important are just a few examples of important discussions they have during Chaburah. Spending Thursdays sharing ideas on the Parshah definitely gives the Chaburah a greater appreciation for the Parsha of the week. The ability of the guys to mix in just the right amount of humor, insight and productive conversations is something unbelievable and truly transforms this Chaburah atmosphere into an enjoyable and exciting hour of learning.

This chaburah really came together as a group of guys that are looking to grow and they became a very close group. As the end of the summer approaches, these guys are super excited to finish off the summer with special chaburah chills, chaburah ball ( they have great ballers!!), lunch, kiddush on Sha,bbos and other epic times with this awesome Chaburah!

Danny Weinberger is on his 3rd summer on NCSY Kollel, this year being his first as a madrich. He went to Yeshivat Sha’alvim for two years and Bez’H is headed to the University of Pennsylvania next year.

His chabura consists of super bright in-towners with camaraderie like none other. Joe Gamerman (DRS), the soccer star from Brazil, brings his great energy and mashalim. Eli Dyckman (MTA) representing Queens, has the wits and knowledge to give them the strength to keep going during tough sugyas. Tani Lichtman (MTA), also from Queens, really knows how ask a bomb kashya and is currently working on bee extermination tactics. Last but not least is Yitzi Lazar (DRS) from the 5 Towns. He is filled with stories of Hashkacha Pratis and uses his power to create smiles and laughter so masterfully that it always livens up the chabura. Each NCSYer in Danny’s chabura brings his unique God-given talent to the beis every day!

The subject of the Torah learning in Danny’s chabura this summer is sugyas in brachos. The order is mostly chronological from the start of hanhagos haadam baboker with Al Netilas Yadayim and Asher Yatzar, but Danny throws a change up here and there with a sugya like Pas Haba Bekisnin. With a rotation of readers and chazara in a position of prime importance, these boys stay locked in and focused.

This special group of boys is ready to maintain their increasing excitement for Torah and Hashem for the last week of Kollel and beyond!

Ezra Baron is currently enjoying his second year on NCSY Kollel, where he is serving as a Madrich for the first time. Ezra attended TABC for two years, before taking his talents to the Ayalon Valley and Yeshivat Sha’alvim for two years. He hopes to be starting YU in the upcoming fall.

Ezra’s chaburah has the perfect balance of the best in-towners and best out-of-towners. The out-of-towners consist of Ami Buck from Baltimore (TA), who always amazes with his thirst for Torah, and Gadi Amster from Los Angeles (MBY) whose consistency in the Chaburah is unmatched. On the in-towner side is Micah Cyrulnik (TABC), who always knows the answers before there is even a question, and last but not least, Eitan(Lefko) Lefkowitz from TABC, who always provides the entertainment for the Chaburah and keeps the guys going strong. Despite hailing from different backgrounds, the guys have meshed really well together and have become very good friends.

Ezra’s chaburah have been trying to understand the Mitzvos we do every day on a deeper level. In recent days, they have studied topics such as Tefillah, Talmud Torah, and Yarmulkas, discussing deep and interesting questions like “if Hashem knows what’s best for us then why are we davening”, and “what is the purpose of learning Torah which isn’t immediately practical”. The guys are always bouncing sharp ideas off each other, and trying to understand the reasons for why we do what we do. Through these topics and discussions, the chaburah hopes to help guys have more Kavanah when going through the daily motions and feel more passion for what we often do by rote.

Ezra is super excited for the rest of the summer and for the chaburah to keep reaching new heights, both this summer, and beyond.

David Cohen is returning for his second summer on NCSY Kollel and first summer as a madrich on NCSY Kollel. David is from Woodmere, NY. He went to DRS High School and for the past two years has been learning in Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh. This upcoming year David will be headed back to Netiv Aryeh for a third year of learning in Eretz Yisroel. David has an epic chaburah in which every day they start with learning about gedolim and then head into learning Pirkei Avos with mefarshim.

The guys in David’s chaburah all come from different areas in New York. All the way from Staten Island is Zvi Nagler, who attends Chofetz Chaim of Staten Island, and Yosef Hershowitz who from JEC High School. From the borough of Brooklyn is Eli Halbertam who attends MAY High School, and last but not least, all the way from the 845 (Monsey), is Levi Adler who also attends May High School. This summer the chaburah has covered ten of rabbanim in which David would give a background of the gadol, stories, and pictures. Just a few of the gedolim in which David’s chaburah has covered are Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Eliyahu Dessler, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, and many more. In the second part of chaburah in which they learn Pirkei Avos they have covered the topic of Talmud Torah, judging Jews favorably, finding good influences, and many more topics. In chaburas, they learn through a back and forth dialogue in which everyone stays involved and engaged.

This chabura has already learned and grown together so much and can’t wait for the rest of the summer!

Andy Elbaum is spending his first summer on NCSY Kollel. He is from Bergenfield, NJ. Andy went to Frisch for high school and then learned in Yeshivat Reishit for 1.5 years. Afterwards, he started YU, where he just finished his first semester.

Andy’s awesome chaburah is comprised of five fantastic chevra. Daniel Wertentheil (Heichel HaTorah), Yehudah Greenberg (Heichel HaTorah), Yaakov Erdfard (MTA), Eytan Goldstein (TABC) and Yonatan Mikhli (Modiin) make up Andy’s starting 5.

The guys have been learning intensely throughout the summer and can’t wait to keep the chaburah kesher going for many years to come. At the beginning of each chaburah, one can find the chevra debating different applicable halachik debates extracted from the teachings of HaRav Yisroel Belsky zt”l. After they get their adrenaline pumping they can be found learning עניני השכמת הבקר. They started with יתגבר כארי, where they ended up spending three days discussing the battle of the Yezter Harah and ways to beat it. They continued through the different Halacha in Inyunim of the סדר היום and plan to finish with the topics of Hilchos and Inyuni Tzizis and Bircas HaTorah.

The Chevra has learned and meshed well together over the last few weeks and they can’t wait to see what the final stretch has in store.

This summer is Effie Mincer’s first summer ever on NCSY Kollel. Effie is originally from Toronto, Canada, but made Aliyah 2 years ago and now lives in the Old City of Jerusalem. He went to Highschool in Toronto at TanenbaumCHAT, and then studied at Yeshivat Lev Hatorah for 2 years. He continued his learning at Aish HaTorah in the Old City of Jerusalem for the past 2 years and will be continuing to study there this coming year. Effie’s Chaburah is part of the Mechina program on NCSY Kollel which aims to give its students a clear understanding of the fundamentals of Judaism and how amazing it can be to live a Jewish life.

The Chaburah is composed of 6 incredible young men who mostly know each other from before. With the exception of Benny Oppenheim who lives in Teaneck and attends The Craig High School, the rest of the Chaburah hails from Las Vegas. Zach Rosenfeld and Yaakov Polonsky both attend Adelson Educational Academy. Yishai Atias this coming year will be attending a Mechina program in Israel—Keshet Yehuda, while his brother Michael Atias learned this past year at Jewish Educational Trade School in LA. Michael Jacobi (yes, we have 2 Michaels) studies at LANV and easily has the best fashion sense of the Chaburah. The guys mostly know each other from before, which gives a very natural and friendly feel to the discussion and environment of the Chaburah.

The Chaburah is focused on challenging preconceived notions about Judaism, relationships, happiness, and other facets of life. In addition, we learn about many basic aspects of living a Jewish life, like belief in God, Tefillin, Tzitzis, repentance, and many other fundamentals of Judaism. These discussions often include much laughter and joking, making it feel more like hanging out with friends than a discussion about some of the most important parts of life.

Despite (or maybe due to) how much fun they have together, the Chaburah has covered an incredible amount of Jewish wisdom. With topics ranging from money to serial killers to relationships to Tisha B’Av, the Chaburah has gained Jewish insight that will hopefully change the way we see the world for many years to come. With an already unbelievable summer so far, they are looking forward to making the most of their last stretch of NCSY Kollel!

Natey Simantov is enjoying his second summer as a madrich on NCSY Kollel. Natey hails from Woodmere and attended DRS, followed by a two-year stint abroad at Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh. He just finished his first year at YU, and decided to return for a second summer on Kollel because he felt he can inspire the guys and be a positive role model.

Natey has an amazing chabura with extremely serious guys who are looking to grow in their learning and Avodas Hashem. Each guy adds to the chabura in their own unique way. The guys in Natey’s chabura are Avi Rothberg (Teaneck, MTA), Avi Summers (Teaneck, MTA), Nissim Zhatz (Chicago, Yeshiva), Akiva Morris (Bergenfield, MTA) and Daniel Giloh (LA, YULA).

Natey’s Chabura has three main goals:

1) information – after a summer of intense learning, we should know more Torah than we did before the summer

2) developing our learning skills – Natey’a Chabura is designed to help his guys improve their learning skills, until ultimately they will be able to learn a blatt of Gemara on their own

3) love of Torah – perhaps the most heavily emphasized of the three, Natey wants to instill a passion and love for Torah into the hearts of the guys. Natey also prides himself on not just being a “summer madrich.” He wants to remain in contact with the guys in his Chabura throughout the year and continue to guide them during these transformative years. So far, the summer has been amazing. Natey’s Chabura has spent time delving into practical Halachic sugyas, such as Sof Zman Kriat Shma and the permissibility of getting paid to learn Torah. We have also dedicated some time to more mussar-oriented Chaburot, where everyone reflects on how they can continue to grow in their religious life.

On Thursdays, Natey encourages his guys to share some of their own Divrei Torah on the Parsha. Hopefully, this will give the boys the confidence and experience to become leaders and teachers of Torah in the near future.

Natey and the boys have had a life-changing summer so far, and they cannot wait to continue growing as they enter their final week at Kollel.

Asher Schreier is currently enjoying his sixth summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended DRS and Sha’alvim and is currently at Yeshiva University. This is Asher’s second year as a Madrich.

Asher’s chabura includes some of the best guys around: Yitzi Aidelson from Woodmere (MAY), Adin Goldman from Bala Cynwyd (Mesivta of Philadelphia), Aden Lyons from Boca Raton (Katz), Elisha Marcus from Boca Raton (Katz), and Nachmi Raff from Monsey (Ohr Reuven).

The guys add a lot to the chabura in a variety of different ways. Yitzi keeps us on our toes with a lot of intriguing questions, Adin always has a quip to make about something that he’s heard or seen in the past. Aden livens up the chabura with fun ideas and thought-provoking questions, Elisha keeps us on our toes and constantly keeps pushing us to keep learning, and Nachmi will often add in an idea from the outside that is relevant to the sugya.

This summer, Asher’s chabura will be focusing on Tefillah Topics and other topics from the 4th Perek in Maseches Brachos. They will be learning about a variety of topics including why we daven, if tefillah is a mitzva dioraysa or dirabannan, the ideal time for shacharis, the ideal time for mincha, what the nature of the different tefillos are, and much, much more. The goal of the chabura is to be able to analyze sugyos and see 1 machlokes in a sugya and how it plays out throughout various different situations or nafka Minos that come up. While going through these sugyos and speaking out the nafka Minos, the guys are often the ones hashing out what each side would say and why based on the different shitos in the sugya.

The learning has been incredible and the hope is the relationships developed throughout this summer can be brought beyond the summer and help each other grow in our learning throughout the coming year.

Dovid Mandel is enjoying his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended Heichal and Sha’alvim and is beginning his junior year at YU this coming year. This is Dovid’s second summer as a Madrich.

Dovid’s chabura includes some of the best guys around: Yosef Grauer from Toronto, Avi Selesny from Detroit, Elisha Serman and Ezra Wiener from Memphis, and Eliyahu Stein from Philadelphia. The guys in the chabura bond incredibly well both in and out the Beis Medrash.

This summer, Dovid’s chabura has been focused on learning through the halachos of Orach Chaim. Some of the topics include: hilchos netilas yadayim, tzitzis, and tefillin. The learning in the chabura heavily focuses on knowing the halachos of inyanim we do every day in Shulchan Aruch, and also taking a further in-depth look at the sugyas through the eyes of the gemara, rishonim, and achronim.

The summer has been great so far and it should only get better from here!