Today we welcomed Rabbi Gershon Turetsky! Rabbi Turetsky addressed the Mechina group on the importance of Shabbos and added to the Yom Iyun on Shabbos Kodesh.

Kollel is approaching many climaxes. Wednesday marked the halfway point of the week as we approach our first Shabbos in Beit Meir since week 1. Additionally, the Nine Days continue to progress as Kollel continues to prepare for what is to come. Finally, it is becoming painfully clear that we are approaching the end of our time together and the summer is beginning to wrap up.

This could be seen throughout the day. The morning was as jam-packed as ever, featuring Davening workshops, shiur trips to Uri Pilichowski, shiur, and sedarim, all with the added fervor of the imminent events. The afternoon break saw an appropriate mini-tiyul to Machon Hamikdash, where the NCSYers learned about our Holy Temple and what we have lost. 

In sports, the regular season wrapped up today giving some NCSYers a different taste of churban. The playoff bracket is now set and we are ready for some pulse-pounding playoff action tomorrow!

Night Seder was highlighted by a guest shiur given by Rav Yonassn Sacks who gave night shiur for the second night this week in addition to his continued involvement with the chaburot. Post-Night Seder saw a return of Rabbi Horn’s 20-minute Workshop as well as a guest shiur from Rabbi Drazin, complimenting all of the usual late-night learning. French Fries were sold by Yummies to ensure that the Kollel went to bed spiritually and physically satiated.

Today we welcomed R. David Goldfischer, Assistant Principal of Frisch and a former madrich on NCSY Kollel. Rabbi Goldfischer spent the afternoon watching basketball and catching up with his students.

Running a 9-days tiyul can sometimes be pretty difficult, especially while trying to balance the seriousness of the time period together with having a great experience. The Kollel rose to the challenge and came up with four different ideas which gave all the NCSYers, not only an enjoyable experience, but a meaningful one as well. A trip to Judaism’s great rabbinic leaders was one option which the boys took advantage of. One bus headed to Yerushalayim with the Kollel’s own Rabbi Gordon which was headlined with a shiur given by Rav Asher Weiss. The other Gadol trip headed to Bnai Brak with Akiva Ackerman. This one stopped by R Chaim Kanievsky and the NCSYers were able to witness some of the holiness the Rav possesses.

The next trip went to the Shomron with Rav Mo Kaplan. They made some stops across the Shomron witnessing it’s naturally beauty as well as understanding the danger which the citizens put themselves in daily. Stopping at Beit El and the sight of Mishkan in Shiloh we were taken to our past, before looking to the  future in Kfat Tapuchim to witness some dog training. Later on the NCSYers were taken to a lookout on Har Grizim where you could see Shechem and the Kever of Yosef from above. 

The trip to the old city went a little less far back into the past. As they visited Ir David and learned how Dovid constructed the sight of his palace right next to the Old City. Following that the NCSYers exploredt how Chizikayahu built underground water tunnels in order to take away the water from Sancheirev and his army. The boys were excited to hear about the miracle of how the Assyrians fell but were even more excited to walk through the actual tunnels which Chizikiyahu built. Following the tunnels, the groups moved to the virtual reality tour of Har Habayit and the Beit Hamikdash in its full glory. It was really cool to see the grandeur of the building and the details which were depicted on each and every aspect of its structure. The boys were saddened to realize what we no longer had but began to appreciate what will eventually come in the future. For these trips, the last activity was a much more relaxed scavenger hunt around the Old City which have everyone running around the Rova taking selfie’s with mosaics, finding obscure door handles, and spitting raps

The final option was made to educate the NCSYers about some of the modern-day tragedies that have affected our people. Starting in Har Herzl we learnt about the great sacrifices which many have made for our country. Then in Kfar Etzion the boys learnt about the sacrifices many had to make during the wars in order for Israel to continue to exist. Unfortunately we learnt that those sacrifices didn’t stop even in recent times as they visited the memorial for the three kidnapped boys from the Gush as well.

The trips all ended together in Chevron where we all enjoyed some hot pizza, crunchy chips and way-too-sweet ices. After nourishing ourselves the Kollel made their way up to the Keverim of Maarat Hamachpela. There we heard some inspiring words from R’ Netanel Lebowitz, who challenged everyone to step up just a little more during tefilah to make it into one of the most meaningful of the summer. He reminded everyone that Chevron is the place where we can connect to G-D even when Jerusalem is destroyed, implored the crowd to take advantage of this opportunity. Together the Kollel davened one of the strongest, loudest and most meaningful marivs of the summer.

Heading back to Beit Meir, the day still wasn’t done. Moshe Horn made a siyum and Yummies opened up, allowing the boys to enjoy the simcha of Torah and, by extension, the simcha of meat as well.

David Kirsch is 21 years old and is currently enjoying his first summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended Frisch and Hakotel and will begin his second year at YU this year.

David’s chaburah is made up of 5 of the best guys around: Azi Goldberg from Teaneck (MTA); Gabe Pudell from Teaneck (MTA); Solomon Dobin from Houston (Skokie); Dovid Criqui from Cincinnati (Yeshiva of Cleveland); and Adam Fleeter from Cleveland (Fuchs Mizrachi).

This summer, David’s chaburah will be focusing on “The top ten machshava questions I wish I had explored in high school”. They will be learning about a variety of topics including “Why did God put me here?”, “Does tfilah really work?”, “Identifying our tafkid in life”, and much, much more. The goal of the learning is to inspire a positive environment around torah; one in which the guys feel at home when they’re in the Beis Medrash and with their chevra.

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

Jack Levkowitz is 20 years old and is currently enjoying his first summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended YULA Boys High School and HaKotel  and will be attending University of Pennsylvania this upcoming year.

Jack’s chaburah is made up of 5 of the best guys around: Adam Dennis from Miami, Florida (Katz Yeshiva High School); Yisrael Einhorn from Los Angeles  (YULA); Aryeh Hirt  from Los Angeles (YULA); Benny Frank from Hollywood, Florida (Katz Yeshiva High school ); and Avi Lowe from Highland Park, NJ (MTA).

This summer, Jack’s chaburah will be focusing on Mitzvot. They will be learning about a variety of topics including Talmud Torah, Tzitzit, Lifnei Iver, and much, much, more. The goal of the learning is to Learn Torah and connect with HaShem through that growth in learning. Also, to have fun with it.

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

Ben Weinstein is 20 years old and is currently enjoying his 4th summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended DRS and Shaalvim and is planning on begining YU this upcoming year. This is Ben’s first year as a Madrich.

Ben’s chaburah is made up of 5 of the best guys around: Benny Gofman from Los Angeles (YULA); Yehuda Lisbon from San Diego (YULA); Ethan Penstein from Woodmere (DRS); Jojo Reich from Woodmere (DRS); and Ami Weiss from Cedarhurst  (DRS).

This summer, Ben’s chaburah will be focusing on some famous topics and some very random topics . They will be learning about a variety of sugyot including עוסק המצוה פטור מן המצוה, לא בשמים היא, שדים, and much, much more. The goal of the learning is to  learn with excitement for every sugyah and to deepen their connection to God and His Torah.

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

Elie Shapiro is 20 years old and is currently enjoying his first summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended Yeshivat Frisch and Hakotel and will be in YU this upcoming year.

Elie’s chaburah is made up of 6 of the best guys around: Sol Feder from Boston (Maimonides); Daniel Dresdner from Teaneck (TABC); Elisha Spierer from Teaneck (TABC); Jacob Feit from Hillside (JEC); Shmuel Dershowitz from Hillside (JEC); and Moshe Horn from Neve Daniel.

This summer, Elie’s chaburah will be focusing on Mitzvot from Parshat Hashavua. They will be learning about a variety of topics including the importance of consistency and the korban Tamid, the concept of אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים, an understanding of לפני עור and application to our lives, and much, much more. The goal of the learning is to show how you can have fun in the Beis Medrash, and to build a sense of chevra around a common goal of trying to connect with Hashem through learning His love letter to us, His torah.

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

Today was an unbelievable day on the Kollel. Certain shiurim davened an early shachris before having the opportunity to take a visit to Aish Hatorah for the morning which included a tour of the building and the chance to hear a few awesome shiurim. The rest of the Kollel has a regular Shachris time and followed that up with an electric morning seder. In addition, there was a special Yom Iyun for the Mechina program, consisting of several shiurim and discussions surrounding the fundamental mitzvot of Judaism.

During lunch, there were 2 siyumim made. Jacob Boim completed Makkot and Yosef Benovitz, Rabbi Benovitz’s youngest child, completed mishnayot Seder Moed.
After chaburahs, in addition to the regular leagues there was a  mini-tiyul to the Gush Katif museum.

After an exciting afternoon, the Kollel had our 2nd Leil Iyun of the summer. The topic was Limud Torah and the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. During the first slot, NCSYers had the option of attending Rav Burg and Rav Bronfeld combo or the Rabbi Targin and Rabbi Reich duo. The Leil Iyun ended with the Kollel hearing powerful words from Rabbi Dani Marcus.

As we proceed through the Nine Days, the learning and growing is certainly amping up. The Kollel seems singularly determined to cancel Tisha Baav for everyone this year.

Ben Winter is 21 years old and is currently enjoying his first summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended SAR and Mevaseret and will be in Shor Yoshuv this upcoming year.

Ben’s chaburah is made up of 4 of the best guys around: Tzvi Haas from Cedarhurst, NY (DRS); Aryeh Aboff from Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel (Arzei Halevanon); Azriel Koschitzki from Woodmere, NY (Mesivta Ateres Yaakov); and Eliezer Wintner from Woodmere, NY (DRS).

This summer, Ben’s chaburah will be focusing on what it means to be a true yid andlLiving a life of דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה. . They will be learning about a variety of topics including the value of constantly becoming better people, delving into the middos of anger, jealousy, arrogance, chessed and simcha, and much, much more. The goal of the learning is to be able to take one’s learning and put it into action, and truly live by the Torah; not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk.

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