A video recapping our trip to an Army Base. Aryeh Burg recaps the day.

A video recapping our trip to Shaare Zedek to bring joy to the patients there. Meir Avracen recaps the day.

A video recapping our trip to Yad Eliezer to help packing food. Yehuda Femen recaps the day.

A video recapping our trip to Sderot for Yom Chesed. Netanel Muskat recaps the day.

A video recapping our trip to Itamar for Yom Chesed. River Teles recaps the day.

To see a video recapping the day, click here.

After a great start to the first week of NCSY Kollel, Yom Chesed was upon us. Five chaburas, all consisting of post 11th graders, headed to Itamar for a day of learning and chesed. After an early morning shacharit, we were on our way up to the Shomron. We were accompanied by Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, a professional tour guide, who gave us insights into many places mentioned in Tanach that we passed on our way up north.
After about an hour and a half we were in Itamar and were greeted by our other tour guide Amir. Amir briefed us on the community of Itamar and brought us to our first stop. We went to a local vineyard to help plant grape vines. We also heard from the manager of the vineyard, who explained the growing process of these vines. We then headed down the block to a goat farm where we ate lunch and were led on a fascinating tour of an ancient water tunnel and wine cellar that dates back to the time of Yehosua Bin Nun. This was a very remarkable thing for us to see, as it gave us a physical connection to our history.

We then went to the Itamar yeshiva, Ohel Ahud, named after Rav Udi Fogel, who was a Rav in the Yeshiva. We had the pleasure of hearing from Rav Feingold, one of the rabbeim in the yeshiva, who spoke about the importance of living in the land of Israel and making a difference in the land. After davening Mincha in the Yeshiva, we watched a video about the Fogel family who were unfortunately murdered by Palestinian terrorists. The inspiration and messages left by the Fogel family was felt by everyone in the crowd.
After a quick stop at a local grocery store to get some snacks, we headed to Har Greizim, and learnt about the history of the brachot said in that spot. Rabbi Kaplan also showed us where the kever of Yosef is located in Shechem. For our last stop, we went back to Itamar and helped out in a community park by clearing paths and trimming trees. We then headed back to Beit Meir after a long, but meaningful day in Itamar.
-Akiva Hochbaum

Eliezer Feder has returned to NCSY Kollel for his second summer, this year as a Madrich. Last summer, he assisted on the tech staff and with office operations. Eliezer has just completed two successful years in Yeshivat Sha’alavim, and is headed to Lander College next year. He lives in West Hempstead, NY.
The NCSYers in Eliezer’s chabura are Ezra Alyeshmerni from Lawrence, NY, Meir Avracen from Cedahurst, NY, Yaakov Hoffman from Staten Island, NY, and Yoni Pomper from highland park, NJ.

The chabura is focusing on topics connected to the Gemara on Shabbos 31a, which discusses the six questions that one will be asked when he is brought before the ultimate court in heavens. So far they have discussed the order of the questions and its lessons as well as delving into topics connected to the first question, “did you deal honestly in your business.”
On Wednesday the chabura took a trip to Shaare Zedek hospital to bring some cheer to the patients there. Eliezer was trained by Lev Leytzan, a clowning program. Expecting just a normal trip to the hospital, the chabura had no clue what they had truly entered into. They went from floor to floor, room to room, spending time in multiple departments; from Pediatrics to the elderly. They brought joy to the patients there by singing, dancing, and simply clowning around.
Eliezer commented afterwards “I have been doing this for 6 years now and I can only imagine how many stories are being written every time we enter a room, only that we most probably will never find out the end of those stories.”

Tonight we will be having a leil iyun on the topic of: Why Cry?

See below for our schedule for the evening and the questions for our panel discussion.

Questions for Panel Discussions

1. How does the Churban and the lack of the Beis HaMikdash manifest itself in our everyday lives? We see an apparent abundance of learning, growth in the number of shuls and yeshivas, a flourishing state of Israel and even thriving Jewish communities across the diaspora. What are we missing? And how do we motivate ourselves to feel a real sense of loss?
2. What is the true definition of Sinas Chinam? What are its root causes? What is its opposite and what is its remedy? What practical steps can an NCSYer take towards improving in this area?
3. Chazal identify one of the causes of the destruction as “shelo birchu baTorah techila”. How are we supposed to understand this? In what ways are the churban and our relationship with Torah intertwined? How do we deal with frustration in learning, particularly in learning Gemara? And how is Talmud Torah connected to nechama?

As the NCSYers get more and more accustomed to the Kollel schedule, the excitement and fun continues to build.
Adding on to our regular schedule, Nachi Cooper, Communications Director and EMT, kicked off our mussar seder speaking about finding meaning in the mitzvot that we do every day. (That shmooze can be found here.)
Night seder culminated with an optional, but extremely well attended, post-maariv shiur, given by Rabbi Doni Marcus. As always, Rav Doni’s shiur was captivating and exciting. (Nobody can tell a story as well as Rav Doni.)

Despite the packed and busy schedule, we were treated to a special event. (And no, I am not referring to the Pizza Hut which was served after ma’ariv at “Yummies”.) The entire Kollel came together this afternoon for an inspiring siyum (completion of Gemarah) on Mesechet Bava Batra by Sruli Perton, a member of the NCSY Kollel Tech Staff. We know that this was only the first of many siyumim which we will be privileged to share together this summer on the NCSY Kollel.

Opening Mussar Shmooze from Nachi Cooper