Etan Soclof is a former Kollel camper and staffer who is returning for his first year as a Madrich. Eitan attended Mizrachi for High School followed by 2 years at Gush. Eitan is respected amongst the staff for his hasmadah and dedication to the program. In addition to his job as a Madrich, Eitan helps out with Rav Gotlieb’s Night shiur.
Etan is joined by four amazing campers. Yoni Benezra (Farber Hebrew Day School) from West Bloomfield MI; Meir Rehany (Hebrew Academy of Montreal) from Malone, NY; Zach Kaufman (Yeshiva of Far Rockaway) from Woodmere, NY; and last but not least, Avi Paley from (Yeshivat Shaalvim) from Nof Ayalon in Eretz Yisrael.
Etan and his guys will spend this summer learning sugyas in tzitzit and tefillin. Through group discussion and an intense analysis of various biblical Talmudic and halachick sources the chabbura will compare and contrast different topics in the sugyot through fundamental questions with the goal of walking away from every day of Chabburas with a new exciting and more in depth understanding of these mitzvot.

Today marked a strong end to a strong week 5 on NCSY Kollel. The day started with a special late shachris after all the fun and excitement of the previous night in Yerushalayim. This was followed by a normal schedule until the sports break which included two unique additions.

First, was the 3-on-3 championship which entertained a large audience all the way to its thrilling overtime conclusion when Josh Kaufman hit a layup at the buzzer to give his team a narrow but hard-fought victory. The day also say NCSY Kollel play against NCSY Bilt in a basketball All-Star game which Kollel won. All of this took place amongst a nearly full slate of league games which were filled with intensity as the regular season winds down.

Before night seder, the Kollel staff had the privilege of hearing from Rav Aryeh Lebowitz, who spoke about how to teach halacha. Rav Lebowitz also gave one of the night shiurim which was attended by about 100 campers and staff.

After Maariv, Rav Burg gave his Thursday night shiur and the beis stayed packed until 11:30 with campers who elected to stay later for Mishmar. Chulent was served at 11:30 to the entire camp and everyone went to sleep in anticipation of the upcoming free weekend.

Avi Weschler is a former Kollel camper and staffer who is returning as a Madrich for the second straight year. Avi grew up in West Hempstead and attended MTA for high school. After a year of learning in Israel he returned to the Heights to learn in YU and is currently the Shiur Assistant to Rav Aharon Kahn.

Avi is joined this summer by four amazing campers. Yitzchak Lowy (DRS) is from Lawrence, NY; Mordechai Shekhter (Katz Yeshiva High School) lives in Hollywood, Fl; Gavriel Toplan (Rambam) lives in West Hempstead, NY; and Yaakov Wilner (YULA) hails from Los Angeles, CA. The campers all add their personal hometown touch to the chabura. The cross-globe membership really pushes the chabura over the top.

This summer, the ‘Bura will be learning about davening. The sessions pull from a variety of sources which aim to demonstrate how and why we daven. The campers have already learnt a lot and are eager to continue to grow as the summer continues.

We wish the chabura much hatzlacha going forward. It should be the Best Summer Ever.

Eitan Rolnick is returning to NCSY Kollel for his second summer as a madrich on NCSY Kollel. Eitan spent his high school years in Yeshivat Frisch and then spent 2 years at Yeshivat Torat Shraga. He is currently learning and studying in YU. Eitan’s friendly demeanor makes him a popular staff member and aids him in forging strong relationships with his campers.

Eitan’s chabura consists of 6 kids from three different parts of North America. Eitan Levy and Binyamin Freundlich are from Montreal and attend Hebrew Academy. Aaron Kraut and Benji Marcus live in Pittsburgh and go to Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. Jonathan Rogoff and Hilly Schreiber are from the Five Towns and learn in MAY.

Eitan and the crew will spend the summer learning about how to be mekadesh shem shamayim on a daily basis. The sessions are designed to introduce the campers the idea of Judaism being an all-encompassing way of life that has something to say about every aspect of our lives.

The guys have been having an amazing summer learning and chilling together and the good times should hopefully continue for the remaining weeks.

Avrumi Schoenbrun is a Kollel alumnus who is returning to the program for his first summer as a madrich. Avrumi grew up in Cedarhurst, NY and attended DRS, followed by Shaalvim for 2 years. He has spent the last three years learning in Rav Rosensweig’s shiur in YU. Despite this being his first year, Avrumi has established himself as an excellent madrich and a valuable source of wisdom on the staff. In addition to his responsibilities as a madrich Avrumi also serves as the camp’s dorm counsler and is responsible for many of the indicatives in dorm life on kollel.

Avrumi’s chabura contains five incredible kids. Gavriel Aharon is from Woodmere and Ryan Broder is from West Hempstead. Both go to DRS. The remaining contingent consists of Gedalia Aeder from Kew Garden Hills and Moshe Loew from Highland Park, who go to MTA, and Ezra Seplowitz from Teaneck.

Avrumi and the boys will be learning the 4th perek of brachot this summer. Specifically, the group will be learning inyanei tefilla b’iyun. Through group discussion and an intense analysis of various Talmudic and sources the chabura will compare and contrast different topics in tefilla through fundamental questions with the goal of walking away from every day of Chaburas with a new exciting and more in depth understanding of many major concepts in tefilla.

A summer of learning and growth awaits. It should be the Best Summer Ever!

Matthew Mark is a former camper on NCSY Kollel who has returned this summer as a Madrich. Mattew went to DRS for high school and learnt in Israel in Yeshivat Torat Shraga. He is currently attending YU and is in rav Koenigsberg’s shiur.

Matthew’s Chabura is loaded from front to back with great kids. Chanan Weinstein is from Cedarhurst and goes to DRS. Also from DRS is Ari Salomon who lives in Brooklyn. Aaron Borgen and Yoni Ambinder live in Monsey and go to MTA. Akiva Feit attends Frisch and lives in New Milford, and Jake Rothenberg goes to TABC and lives in Teaneck.

Matthew has planed an extensive curriculum for the chabura this summer. Through group discussion and an intense analysis of various biblical Talmudic and halachick sources the chabbura will compare and contrast different topics in halachah through fundamental questions with the goal of walking away from every day of Chabburas with a new exciting and more in depth understanding of many major concepts in Halachah.

A summer of fun and meaning awaits this Chabura. It should be the Best Summer Ever.

A thrilling two-day period made up the middle of the 5th week of NCSY Kollel. Tuesday saw chaburas moved to 11:45 instead of after mincha.

In its place was a 5-hour sports break which was taken up by the 3-on-3 tournament and festival sponsored by Yeshiva University. Kollel invented its own fast-paced take on the playground classic which has turned into an annual tradition and summer highlight. Two brackets were created, a normal bracket with 33 teams and an advanced bracket with a whopping 82 teams. In total, around 95% of the campers participated in the tournament. Tables were set up with YU Swag and unlimited slushies and cotton candy which added greatly to the festive atmosphere. A lot of ball was played, laughs had, and food eaten in an incredible afternoon. The energy continued into a strong night seder which has been getting stronger as the campers try to maximize the few remaining.

Wednesday started normal until the sports break which saw the continuation of the 3-on-3 tournament and camper vs staff All-Star games in both hockey and basketball, both of which were hard-fought victories for the staff. At 5:45 the Kollel left for Yerushalayim for chabura trips. Chaburas decided together what activity they would engage in together. The chaburas spent 2 hours bonding and chilling until the kollel reconvened at Aish Hatorah for a speech given by the incomparable and hilarious Rabbi Gav Friedman who had the audience laughing and thinking in equal measure. After maariv, the chaburas met for a short session in the kotel plaza before busses took the campers back to Moshav Bet Meir, arriving shortly after midnight to wrap up an incredible day at NCSY Kollel.

Ari Gutenmacher is returning for his second summer on NCSY Kollel as a madrich. Ari grew up in Queens, NY and went to DRS for high school. After, that he spent a year in Yeshivat Hakotel and currently learns in YU in Rav Elchonon Adler’s shiur. Ari is respected amongst the staff for his intelligence and dedication.
Ari leads a stacked chabura full of amazing kids. From DRS there is Ephraim Schreck and Shuie Steinberg from Woodmere and Cedarhurst, respectively. MAY is represented by Gabi Waldman from West Hempstead and Eli Lightman from Lawrece. Finally, Zvi Wolff comes from Bet Shemesh and attends Yeshivat Chorev.
Ari’s chabura will be learning sugyas in the third פרק of שבת that relate primarily to Hilchos Bishul. Ari will also be occasionally teaching fundamental sugyot in hashkafa and machshava in order to broden the scope of the learning and NCSYers knowledge base.
Ari is looking forward to leading his crew to enormous heights this summer, and it looks like they’re already on their way.

Shmuel Rosenthal joined Kollel this summer for the first time as a Madrich. A resident of West Hempstead and former Rambam Raven, Shmuel spent two years learning in Torat Shraga and now attends YU, where he learns under Rav Aharon Kahn. Shmuel is respected amongst the staff for his intelligence and dedication.

Shmuel is joined this summer by six of the best and brightest Kollel has to offer. Eitan Dukas and Ethan Schechter represent Yeshivat Frisch and hail from Englewood and Teaneck respectively. Also from Teaneck are Yoel Jacobsen and Ari Kaminetzky of TABC. Tzvi Block attends HAFTR and lives in Woodmere, and David Rozehzadeh from West Orange goes to JEC.

The chabura will spend the summer learning a variety of topics which are fundamental to Judaism and Avodat Hashem. From tefilla to Shabbos, each day will bring something different, but will be the same awesome content with the same awesome crew.

Shmuel is looking forward to leading his crew to enormous heights this summer, and it looks like they’re already on their way.

Noah Schechter joined Kollel this summer for the first time as a Madrich. Noah spent his high school years in Yeshivat Frisch and then spent a year and a half learning in Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim. He is currently attending Touro College. Noah’s friendly demeanor makes him a popular staff member and aids him in forging strong relationships with his campers.

Noah’s Chabura consists of 6 amazing campers: David Bittton (DRS) lives in Woodmere, NY; Kobi Ciment (DRS) resides in West Hempstead, NY; Micah Eizen (Farber Hebrew Day School), hails from Southfield, MI; Billy Krause (Frisch) comes from Teaneck, NJ; Josh Wohlberg (SAR) lives in Stamford, CT, and Jason Zucker (SAR) calls Great Neck, NY home.

Noah and the guys will be spending the summer learning selected pieces from Olam Haavodah. The sessions will focus on why the mitzvot we do are important, how they can enrich our lives, and how we can improve our current level of Avodat Hashem.

While not pounding it out in the Beis, the ‘Burah enjoys ball, slushies, chilling, and going on the amazing tiyulim that the Summer Kollel has to offer.

The ‘Burah is currently enjoying the Best Summer Ever.