Residing in Beit Shemesh, Moshe Loew has returned to NCSY Kollel for his fifth summer (two as an NCSYer, and three as a madrich). After attending MTA for high school, Moshe went to KBY, where he has just finished his fourth year. Next year, he will be teaching at Yeshivat Ohr Moshe, learning at Lev, and attending Azrieli online.

Moshe’s chabura is already famous for the dynamic personalities of all five guys who are learning the first perek of Makkos together. Dovid Feldhamer and Shlomo Berkowitz (DRS) deepen the chabura’s understanding of the sugyas with insightful comments and questions. Ami Forman and Shabsi Stein (Heichal) join the DRS duo, adding a seriousness to the learning and a sense of humor to the chill, which really makes this chabura stand out. Last, but certainly not least, is Etiel Knoll (TABC), who, with his trademark smile and energy, brings out the passion of the entire chabura in everything they do.

This unique chabura focuses on developing analytical skills when reading Gemara and deepening their conceptual understanding of the different shitahs of Rishonim. They are already surpassing all expectations as they continue diving deeper into the sugyas of “Keitzad Haeidim,” which discuss Eidim Zomemim. Additionally, this chabura pays special attention to “opening their eyes” to the wonders of Hashem, His Torah, and Eretz Yisroel, learning life lessons from Makkos, the tiyulim, spikeball, and more.

As the summer continues to fly by, these five guys, with the help of their madrich, hope to open their eyes a little wider and pay closer attention to the unbelievable world and the sweet and wondrous Torah contained inside each and every one of them.

Yehuda Wiener, from Teaneck (and technically now Israel), is in his second summer on NCSY Kollel and his first as a Madrich. He attended TABC for high school and went to learn at Sha’alvim for yeshiva, where he looks forward to continuing for a third year. Yehuda’s Chaburas focus on different topics in Avodas Hashem, aiming to generate discussions of everyday situations and hearing everyone’s thoughts on the ideas presented within the Sugyas. Yehuda is very fortunate to have a Chabura that is “stacked” with awesome guys who know how to learn, ball, chill, and have a great time.

Yoni Bodoff (Teaneck, TABC) carries the chabura with his outstanding answers on all topics, though he’ll only speak if he’s really, really needed to give others a chance. Gavriel Saks (Bergenfield, TABC) is always ready to throw in a one-liner or back up Yoni in a machlokes with the Boca guys, helping to keep the chabura on track. Moshe Moskowitz (Boca, TTB [Tiferes Torah of Boca]) is a consistent presence, always engaged in the chabura, and can be counted on to answer questions, give opinions, or share perspectives. Aharon Hochman (Boca, TTB) is a strong force day in and day out in the chabura, with his ability to settle down others, provide strong takes on different topics, and remember the ideas discussed in the chabura. Eytan Greenfield (Boca, TTB) is a leader in engaging each person in the chabura, sharing different insights, and always keeping things interesting. Finally, Akiva Ravin (YGW, Silverspring) is a huge piece to round out the chabura, bringing everyone together in the dynamic and adding extra spirit in and out of chaburas.

All this incredible camaraderie has already created an amazing dynamic for an amazing summer, with even more great things to come!

Trying to keep the diversity of Madrichim from different yeshivas, Uri Ostrin is back for his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel (we have already asked and, B”H, there is no mid-life crisis… Uri just loves the Holy Yidden on NCSY Kollel). Uri grew up in a tiny town in central New Jersey called Highland Park. If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s near TopGolf. Uri attended Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva (RPRY) for his early schooling years. After RPRY, Uri took out his passport and left for the Holy Land—Teaneck, New Jersey—and attended Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC) for four wonderful years. From there, Uri took his talents to Yeshivat Shaarei Mevaseret Tzion (Mevaseret) for two transformative years. Uri has since been learning in Specters (aka Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan Theological Seminary, aka RIETS, aka Yeshiva University, aka YU), and will IYH be there for the next bunch of years (we spoke to Uri’s parents and they told us that’s his plan… Uri chose to plead the 5th). Uri plans on completing and receiving his degree. After fully completing his parents’ wishes for a degree, Uri would like to explore s’micha and pursue a meaningful life in chinuch, inspiring the next generation of Klal Yisroel.

Uri’s chaburah, inspired by Uri’s WhatsApp group chat, “Ignite YOUR Flame” (feel free to join), is always a fun and interactive experience for the chevra. The “Starting 5,” starring the inseparable three musketeers: Binyamin (the Center) Dombeck (JEC), Elie (Rav XBOX) Krause (JEC), and Josh (aka Paul’s friend) Singfer, as well as a huge pickup from Boca Raton, Florida: David (The Shluffer) Lunski (Katz HS), and the true rebbe in the group, with arguably an incredible Sefirah beard, Ari Eisen (Heichal HaTorah). The chaburah is no short of heavy hitters to crush expectations. The growth over the course of the first few very, very short weeks of the summer has been mind-blowing. The “Starting 5” have allowed all the lessons of Hashem’s sweet Torah to penetrate their funky hairdos and into their pure and holy neshamos.

Uri’s chaburah has been laser-focused on what we are doing in Judaism. Through meditations and intense conversations, the chevra have been able to start unlocking their true inner selves and latent potential within. Uri’s main goal is focused on what a normal day looks like. As it says in Pirkei Avos 1:1, ״והעמידו תלמידים הרבה״, “You should ‘stand up’ your talmidim.” This is a very strange language to use… The Tosfos Yom Tov explains that this means that the students need to know how to stand on their own when they come across a situation in life. Uri’s belief is that it all starts with the basics! What are we saying when we make a bracha? What is the in-depth meaning behind each of the words? What should we be thinking about? With Siyata Dishmaya, Uri hopes to be able to instill within each member of the “Starting 5” a true sense of meaning and purpose in our everyday lives! With this sense of meaning, Uri hopes to highlight the undeniable truth that greatness lies within. Each and every single Yid is created with this greatness! Uri hopes that the boys realize this and allow it to come flowing out of their neshamos.

Coming from Bergenfield, NJ, for his second year on NCSY Kollel, Yehuda Emerson is now a first-time madrich. After graduating from MTA and spending two years at Shaalvim, Yehuda will be returning next year for a third year in Nof Ayalon. Yehuda is leading an epic chaburah of the “older guys” who really set the tone for what NCSY Kollel is supposed to be.

Noah (Noey) Troy, from Silver Spring, Maryland, attends Berman Academy. He is returning for a second year on NCSY Kollel and is firing on all cylinders on and off the court. Another returning member for his second year on NCSY Kollel is Nadav Aron from San Diego, California, who attends SCY High and never stops hocking with anyone he sees. Moshe Razi, from Los Angeles, California, attends YULA and is also a returning member of Kollel. He can already only be found in the beis. Zev Ostriecher, from Lawrence, New York, attends YFR and is an excellent addition to the chaburah, especially with his hat and jacket. Aryeh Barenbaum, from MAY, is already showing off his skills and destroying everyone in rock-paper-scissors. Lastly, we have Menachem Grossman from RBS, who attends Mesivta during the year and ensures the chaburah gets rid of those smartphones.

This summer, Yehuda’s chaburah is focusing on Shabbos as a whole, from the machshava aspect to finding a love for Shabbos, while also going through sugyas of everyday cases we face each week. The chaburah emphasizes taking home the main ideas and summarizing at the end to ensure they understand the essence of what Shabbos is. Hopefully, this will change how they see Shabbos and how they experience the once-a-week gift Hashem gives us.

Even though it is early, the guys are gelling together and making the chaburah an environment that is conducive to growth in Torah, middos, and ahavas Hashem. Hopefully, we will continue what has already been an incredible summer!

Nathan Ginsburg is enthusiastic to be back for his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel and his first summer as a Madrich. Nathan, from Potomac, Maryland, attended Winston Churchill High School before heading to HaKotel for two transformative years. This upcoming fall, Nathan will be starting his first year at YU.

Nathan’s chabura includes some of the most motivated guys from across America. Starting on the East Coast, we have Yonah Stiber from Baltimore (Pikesville for the locals). Stiber attends The Jemicy School. Next up, 960 miles west, is Yonah Snellen from California, Missouri. Snellen goes to California High School. For the third stop on the road trip, 780 miles south, is Daniel Kirshner from Houston, Texas. Kirshner attends Bellaire High School. Our final stop, a whopping 1500 miles away, is Stav Malka from Las Vegas. Malka attends The Advanced Technologies Academy.

This summer, Nathan’s chabura will be focusing on understanding the deeper meaning of the major aspects of Judaism. They will be learning about a variety of topics, including ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, Modeh Ani, davening, tzitzis, tefillin, tzedakah, and much, much more. The goal of the learning is to add meaning to their Judaism and become closer to Hashem by doing so.

All of this has combined for what continues to be an incredible summer!

Jared Mark is loving his first summer as a Madrich here on NCSY Kollel. Jared comes all the way from Woodmere, NY, and is an alumnus of DRS Yeshiva High School. After graduating, he took his talents to Yeshivat Sha’alvim for two more years of learning. Jared has just finished his debut year at Yeshiva University and is poised to continue his studies there in the upcoming zman.

The chaburah consists of five of the best guys on the Kollel: Gavriel Aharon (Woodmere, DRS), Avraham Albala (Brooklyn, Chofetz Chaim), Daniel Malek (Cedarhurst, MAY), Yehuda Cohen (North Woodmere, DRS), and Moshe Hirsch (Cedarhurst, MAY). These outstanding NCSYers shine within their respective circles throughout the school year, and this summer, they’ve come together to form a truly extraordinary chevra. Not only within the chaburah setting but throughout the Kollel at large (as seen by our esteemed “mopball” commissioner Gavriel Aharon, @kollel_mopball_2024 on Instagram). The boys have really come together to show their skills and love for learning through the sugyas prepared by Jared.

This summer, they learned many of the classic sugyas on tefillah. Starting with just the Gemaras and allowing the guys’ incredible analytical skills to shine by asking the questions of the Rishonim and Acharonim. From the outset, the guys showed extraordinary interest in these sugyas and the machshava that flows from them. Jared spends a good amount of time not just learning the Gemara and Rishonim but also working to build their respective connections to Hashem through tefillah. The chaburah as a whole benefited most from Rebbe Nachman’s idea of learning to talk with Hashem outside the confines of a beis keneses, truly building a lifelong bond with our Creator.

As the summer progresses, their love for learning and davening only continues to intensify. They should continue to see growth throughout the summer and beyond!

Judah Schanzer returns to NCSY Kollel, for his third time, after having participated in the Kollel in the summer of 2018 as a camper and last summer as a madrich. Judah lives in New Rochelle, NY, and attended SAR for both Elementary and High School. After graduating in 2020 he went to Yeshivat Torat Shraga for two years through May 2022 and then spent June 2022 at Birchas Hatorah. This past year he was learning in Yeshiva University while studying Business. 

Judah’s Chabura could be the greatest group of guys ever assembled in Beit Meir. Each member of this holy Chabura bring something special to the table while all having one thing in common, great middos. 

The Chabura includes Noah Rancman, Yehuda Leib Lowenbraun and Betzalel Pleeter. Noah Rancman (Cleveland, Fuchs Mizrachi) is a young leader searching for opportunities to grow and has found what he is looking for on NCSY Kollel. He is a great contributor, who stands for what he believes is right, but can also have everyone in tears laughing with one of his jokes. Yehuda Leib Lowenbraun, (Baltimore, TA) is a man who is constantly growing and striving to improve which earns the respect of all he encounters (especially his madrich), which is due in part to his understanding that growth is a challenge which requires discipline and hard work. Betzalel Pleeter (Baltimore, TA), despite being physically intimidating, could be one of least intimidating people once you speak to him as he has a gentle soul and is a high-character individual. With his positivity, he is constantly searching for growth opportunities and trying to make others happy. Similar to his Chabura last year, the guys who the Kollel have assigned to the Judah Schanzer Chabura have outshined him, leading to them being the front-runners for “Chabura of the Year”. 

This year, the Chabura’s main focus is learning the beautiful pieces of the Nesivos Shalom on Shabbos. Through learning his magnificent words and understanding the deeper meaning of Shabbos, the Chabura has appreciating Shabbos more, strived to maximize the opportunity the holy day of Shabbos provides. We even call ourselves Chasidim of the Slonimer Rav zt’’l. As the chabura comes towards the end of the summer, similar to last Summer, the Chaburah recognizes that collectively we have grown to extraordinary heights, which come with its pros and cons. On the one hand, we have gained an appreciation that if we focus on our growth, we can achieve great things, especially when working together. On the other hand, we have come to appreciate how much more we have to work and grow to fulfill the incredible potential within each of us.

Hey. I hear its bulk season, so get working on those lats and pull up to Adam Zahler’s bura with da bois. Last name ever first name greatest, like a sprained ankle this bura ain’t nothing to play with. Adam Zahler, the faithful madrich (who has way too much power being able to write whatever he wants here) has been on kollel for five summers (3rd as a madrich). He had stops at Drs, Gush, and YU undergrad on his journey, and he is currently in YU Semicha. 

Now, let him introduce you to our seriously stunning scholars. Dishing out great takes like Steph Curry puts up threes, we got Avi Rabhan from Miami Beach, Florida. Taking Drake’s advice and deciding to bless us with his presence at Yeshiva we got Justin Schloss from Brooklyn, NY. With insights so bright he makes the sun want to get some Ray Bans, we got Ariel Schwartz from Newton, Massachusetts. With a thirst so great for the waters of Torah he’s got the fish looking on in jealousy, we’ve got Aviel Shabbat-Koplin from Florida. Equipped with quips and jokes for days, with a unique ability to brighten the darkest of rooms we got Shlomo Shyrokov from Great Neck, NY. Always ready for a good time, while being equally ready to learn something new we got Yoni Zaslavsky from Potomac, Maryland. They say real g’s move in silence like lasagna, and Brandon Hachey despite only coming from TJJ Canada for the last two weeks of the summer, was able to make a huge impact on the chabura with his quiet, friendly and inquisitive demeanor. 

Torah is a song that we are all each called on to sing throughout our lives. Adam’s chabura has spent time analyzing many songs, with a special focus on the lyrical masterpieces of one of the up-and-coming artists of our times, L’chaim OG. They spend their time analyzing his hit singles Kiss the Mezuzah and Shabbos Juice, with scintillating lyrics such as “Mesh tzitzis, yeah I like to feel the breeze. Summer time, pop out to Ashdod and hit the beach,” and “if I’m in Raanana then I hit the early minyan. Man, that Yemenite davening is something different.” They began by delving into music’s endless potential to help us: express ourselves, heal, connect to G-d, and even travel through time. From Bnei Yisroel at the Yam Suf, to Dovid Hamelech, to The Script, AJR, 21 Pilots, NF, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar they really explored the full gamut of musical experience to arrive at their spiritually uplifting conclusions. Along the way, they made sure to spend time focusing on and developing their connections with the Mesorah: past, present, and future through Rav Soloveitchik’s famous pidyon haben speech, his discussion of his relationship with the Rambam in “And From There You Shall Seek,” Rav Sack’s “Letter in the Scroll,” as well as some key gemaras (i.e. Menachot 29b with Rebbe Akiva and Moshe, as well as Yevamot 97a discussing how the Torah of Tzaddikim helps them live on beyond themselves). They discussed the importance of creating our own legacy, writing our own song, while ensuring that we are sampling the songs of our ancestors (see Tupac’s quote- “my murderous lyrics equipped with the spirit of thugs before me”), as well as ensuring that the song of our life is worthy enough and geared towards ensuring the continuity of the Jewish future through us (see Kendrick’s quote- “When the lights shut off and it’s my turn to settle down, my main concern, promise that you will sing about me”). They also learned about important Mitzvot that we do every day (i.e shema, davening…) 

Just a really great group of guys learning together, chilling together, growing together, and having the best time ever, while diving headfirst into the waters of eternity, which serves to create a bond between them that is rooted in the eternal and therefore not easily broken.

Henry Mann went to SAR High School, attended Aish Gesher for 2 years and begins Ner Yisrael after Kollel ends. This is his first year as a madrich and in fact, on kollel as a whole.

Eli Moshe Goel is from the Valley in LA and goes to YULA for high school. Moshe Razi is also from LA and goes to YULA High School. Yair Zelle goes to Frisch and lives in Teaneck Akiva Rotenberg also goes to Frisch and lives in Teaneck. Jeremy Shindel is from Baltimore and attends Beth Tfiloh High School. 

In Chabura they are taking a journey through our incredible Mesorah and rich Jewish history. Starting with the last of the Zugos, Hillel and Shamai and the tannic age, taking stops at the Rambam and Arizal and all sorts of other important links in the chain up until today. The chabura is framing our rich history using exciting aggadic (story style) Gemara, historical anecdotes and Torah produced by the ‘Gadol’ (Tanna, Rishon or Acharon) of interest in order to best frame the life of each unique and essential individual. 

The summer has been a growth filled yet a blast of a summer and it should continue to be experiential proof of learning, ball, and fun going hand and hand. 

Ari Kaminetzky is having an amazing time in his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel, and second as a Madrich. Ari, from Teaneck NJ, went to TABC for high school before heading to Sha’alvim for two transformative years. Ari will be going into his second year of YU this upcoming fall.

To the outside eye, Ari’s Chabura might look pretty standard but if one got to know each guy it is obvious that they’re each extremely unique. Starting with the Chef, on the court and in the kitchen as well, from Efrat, we got Ariel Bender (Orot Yehuda). No matter what the topic at hand is, Ariel’s drive to find the Emes is an inspiration to the rest of the Chabura. Next, from the Yeshivishe city of Toronto, we got Jack/Zusha/Sydney Rosenblum (Darchei). Jack’s ability to know how to “bit” around while still being a serious Masmid is something that the rest of the Chevra truly looks up to. Rounding out the squad we got the three Tabc Buchrim. Starting with Ezra Noam Becker (Teaneck) whose passion and humor always has the Bura in store for a treat. Next, we got the MVP and more importantly the NIT Champ Aiden Rauzman (Teaneck). Aiden’s ability to know how to chill but also when to lock has been a huge tone setter for the Bura. Finally the Baal Minagen himself (check out his song Ana Hashem), we got Yosef Shell (Bergenfield) who is always looking for different ways to connect to HKBH. 

This summer the Bura’s Limud has been focused on Teffilah. Starting from day one with the first Mishna in the 5th Perek of Brachos which set the tone for what Tefilah is really about. Other topics that have been discussed is Birchas HaTorah, Birchas Hashachar, and of course Shema and Shemoneh Esrei. 

The Bura has had an amazing Summer thus far and is looking forward to building off this energy and keeping in touch for years to come!!