Tuesday morning, 6:00 A.M., the alarm rings rousing me from my short night of sleep. I drag myself out of bed and slowly make my way through the dark campus to shacharis. We eat a quick breakfast and then it’s on to the buses: our trip has begun. After three hours of drifting in and out of sleep on the bus, we finally arrive at our first stop: kayaking. I get together with my friend and we retrieve our life-jackets, oars, and our boat. We hit the water with a tremendous splash, and the Israeli heat melts away. We try valiantly to learn how to paddle but for the most part we float down the river spinning in circles. The ride down the river is rarely peaceful, and most often we find ourselves splashing the other boats as they do the same to us. Unfortunately, the ride passes by incredibly quickly and we find ourselves being hauled out of the water. Then we take a short, wet, bus ride back to the beginning of the run for lunch.
After lunch, we boarded the buses for Har Chermon. We ascended the mountain on a chair and were able to witness the immense size of the mountain. We reached the top and made our way to one of the most iconic places on the mountain: a cliff near the Chermon army base. The cliff is the site of a major battle in the Yom Kippur War. We are told the amazing stories of the courageous soldiers who gave their lives to retake the mountain. Simply standing where they stood was an awe inspiring experience for all of us. We then descended the mountain and drove to our final stop: Tzfat.
We arrived in Tzfat and checked into our hotel. Following that, each person was given money to go out and enjoy dinner in Tzfat. After dinner, we played a game involving the different areas the city. Each Chaburah was given a list of clues to find and tasks to complete all around the city. It was an intense night of fun all around the area. Finally after a long and enjoyable day we went to sleep to get ready for the next day.
We wake up the next day and jump right into activity. First, we go to the world famous Chocolate Factory. It was an incredibly fun and delicious time full of mess and chocolate. We were given our tour of the chocolate-making facilities and we were taught the history of the De Karina family. We then reached the tasting room, the most exciting part of the tour. After cleaning up, we re-boarded the buses to go to the Golan Winery. Like the chocolate factory this tour taught us a great deal about the factory and their product, without the tasting. We then left for Nachal Kibuttzim, to walk through the river. We discovered that the only thing that trumps air conditioning on a hot day, is walking through the Golan river.
On the bus ride back to Yerushalayim we were told the terrible news that Rav Elyashiv z”tl, had passed away. We returned to Beit Meir deflated and prepared to attend his funeral. We left for Yerushalayim and were able to join the procession and to acsort this great man to his final resting place. Witnessing the gathering of so many Jews to honor the Gadol Hador, was a wake up call for all of us. It was both humbling and inspiring at the same time. It was a sad, but appropriate, end to our tiyul.

Aaron Pultman

Teaneck, New Jersey

http://www.ncsysummer.com/gallery/trip/kollel

 

Thursday will go down in the annals as one of the most remarkable days in the history of NCSY Kollel.  There were many “ordinary” high points:  The continuation of our three day hosting of the boys from TJJ Ambassadors, two intercamp sports contests against TJJ- a blowout win in basketball and a narrow 2-1 victory in soccer, and a huge turnout at our Thursday late night Mishmar learning program.

But the only star of the show was our first ever Siyum HaShas on the NCSY Kollel.  The siyum was jointly celebrated by Rav Sobolofsky and madrich/long time NCSY Kollel participant Asher Becker.  They were joined on the podium by Adam Freilich, a young man from TJJ Ambassadors marking his first ever siyum, on Pirkei Avos.  The combination of all three milestones was inspiring.  It would be hard to imagine anyone who attended ever forgetting the scene of the siyum be made.  Mazal Tov to Rav Sobolofsky, Asher and Adam, and thanks for the inspiration!

http://www.ncsysummer.com/gallery/trip/kollel

The great fun in the North continued, with two outstanding tour options.  For the more adventurous, there was an unforgettable hike in the Black Canyon.  The canyon is an extension of the Nachal Yehudiya streams, and is not generally open to the public.  The hike offers incredible scenery, major climbs and descents, and massive water pools.  For those looking for something a bit more calm, there was an ever-popular visit to the chocolate factory and a waterwalk through the “Lazy River” (not its real name, but its NCSY Kollel sobriquet.)

The evening took an unexpected turn when we heard of the news of the passing of Rav Yosef shalom Elyashiv zt”l.  Although the NCSYers were thoroughly exhausted after the two days up North, we still felt that the opportunity and responsibility to demonstrate honor to the Torah was too great to forfeit.  We had near perfect attendance, even after making clear that those who were tired had the choice to stay behind.

http://www.ncsysummer.com/gallery/trip/kollel

All tiyulim are special opportunities to get out and enjoy all the beauty and exhilaration offered by the great  Land of Israel.  The 2 day trip to the North is all that and more.  Day 1 options were all over the map, as busses headed out south, north, and even more north.  Our 4 Holy Cities trip, a whirlwind tour of Chevron, Yerushalayim, Tiberias and Tzfat, was inspirational (aided by the accompaniment of Rav Schachter and Rav Sobolofsky).  Our kayaking run down the Jordan run was enhanced by the participation of a group of Israeli teens under the auspices of OU Israel.   Their day continued with some rugged leadership training sessions and a visit to an army base atop Har Hermon.   Our final group hiked Har Gilboa, ending in the refreshing waters of Nachal Kibbutzim.  They then enjoyed some water sports in Tiberias and the beautiful waters of the Kinneret.

The day could have ended with that, but the highlight was yet to come.  We called it “Tzefat Like You’ve Never Seen it Before,” and it more than lived up to that billing.    It was a scavenger hunt for chaburas, combining great fun and no small dose of educational value.  NCSY Kollel is quite familiar with spirited battles on the court and playing fields, but this event may have set the standard for all future competition.    Congratulations are well deserved by the Chaburas of Mayer Stromer, Yosef Weinberger, and Steven Ritholtz, who finished in first, second, and third place respectively.

http://www.ncsysummer.com/gallery/trip/kollel

This past Tuesday, about 80 NCSY Kollel 2012 participants went on an exciting tiyul, which was located in Wadi Qelt. After leaving Beit Meir at around 7:00 AM on two tour buses and traveling for about 45 minutes, everyone got out for an intense 4-hour hike through the Judean desert, before which everyone checked and double-checked that they had sunscreen on and enough water to last the whole hike. Every single person had an opportunity to experience the beautiful and serene scenery and geography of the area. Rolling hills, extremely high mountains, winding paths, rich plant life, and the occasional stream gave everyone a truly amazing way to experience a real desert tiyul in Israel. In addition, about 4 times during the hike, the Kollel guys could go swimming in a natural pool of water that was just cold and refreshing enough to recharge for the coming parts of the hike. After they reached the end of the hike, everyone broke for lunch and chilled by the biggest pool everyone saw on the hike so far, and so the tiyul concluded.

Following all of the exciting and exhausting hiking at Wadi Qelt, all the Kollel guys traveled to a park in Tel Aviv to daven minchah and hang around at, and then ate a delicious dinner of shawarma and french fries, followed by some ripe and juicy watermelon for dessert. Next, they went to a water park in Tel Aviv, called Meymadion, to cool off and chill at. There were around 4 slides that everyone could go on, and every person could ride the slide that they wanted to. Also, there was an awesome wave pool all the boys enjoyed with rolling waves that entertained everyone.

These 3 hours of time at the water park were taken great advantage of and every single guy had an amazing time. Pulling off this truly outstanding tiyul was done by the madrichim and Kollel guys co-operating and working together to make it as pleasurable an experience as possible. After the time at the water park was done, the boys davened ma’ariv and headed back to Bet Meir.

Ilan Hirschfeld

Rochester, New York

On Thursday July 12th NCSY Kollel ran a Mini Tiyul with Geerz, an innovative educational biking program in Ramat Bet Shemesh.  NCSYer Ami Nadiv was moved to pen the following short essay:

Ami Nadiv

Detroit, Michigan