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.
