This summer is Effie Mincer’s first summer ever on NCSY Kollel. Effie is originally from Toronto, Canada, but made Aliyah 2 years ago and now lives in the Old City of Jerusalem. He went to Highschool in Toronto at TanenbaumCHAT, and then studied at Yeshivat Lev Hatorah for 2 years. He continued his learning at Aish HaTorah in the Old City of Jerusalem for the past 2 years and will be continuing to study there this coming year. Effie’s Chaburah is part of the Mechina program on NCSY Kollel which aims to give its students a clear understanding of the fundamentals of Judaism and how amazing it can be to live a Jewish life.

The Chaburah is composed of 6 incredible young men who mostly know each other from before. With the exception of Benny Oppenheim who lives in Teaneck and attends The Craig High School, the rest of the Chaburah hails from Las Vegas. Zach Rosenfeld and Yaakov Polonsky both attend Adelson Educational Academy. Yishai Atias this coming year will be attending a Mechina program in Israel—Keshet Yehuda, while his brother Michael Atias learned this past year at Jewish Educational Trade School in LA. Michael Jacobi (yes, we have 2 Michaels) studies at LANV and easily has the best fashion sense of the Chaburah. The guys mostly know each other from before, which gives a very natural and friendly feel to the discussion and environment of the Chaburah.

The Chaburah is focused on challenging preconceived notions about Judaism, relationships, happiness, and other facets of life. In addition, we learn about many basic aspects of living a Jewish life, like belief in God, Tefillin, Tzitzis, repentance, and many other fundamentals of Judaism. These discussions often include much laughter and joking, making it feel more like hanging out with friends than a discussion about some of the most important parts of life.

Despite (or maybe due to) how much fun they have together, the Chaburah has covered an incredible amount of Jewish wisdom. With topics ranging from money to serial killers to relationships to Tisha B’Av, the Chaburah has gained Jewish insight that will hopefully change the way we see the world for many years to come. With an already unbelievable summer so far, they are looking forward to making the most of their last stretch of NCSY Kollel!

Natey Simantov is enjoying his second summer as a madrich on NCSY Kollel. Natey hails from Woodmere and attended DRS, followed by a two-year stint abroad at Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh. He just finished his first year at YU, and decided to return for a second summer on Kollel because he felt he can inspire the guys and be a positive role model.

Natey has an amazing chabura with extremely serious guys who are looking to grow in their learning and Avodas Hashem. Each guy adds to the chabura in their own unique way. The guys in Natey’s chabura are Avi Rothberg (Teaneck, MTA), Avi Summers (Teaneck, MTA), Nissim Zhatz (Chicago, Yeshiva), Akiva Morris (Bergenfield, MTA) and Daniel Giloh (LA, YULA).

Natey’s Chabura has three main goals:

1) information – after a summer of intense learning, we should know more Torah than we did before the summer

2) developing our learning skills – Natey’a Chabura is designed to help his guys improve their learning skills, until ultimately they will be able to learn a blatt of Gemara on their own

3) love of Torah – perhaps the most heavily emphasized of the three, Natey wants to instill a passion and love for Torah into the hearts of the guys. Natey also prides himself on not just being a “summer madrich.” He wants to remain in contact with the guys in his Chabura throughout the year and continue to guide them during these transformative years. So far, the summer has been amazing. Natey’s Chabura has spent time delving into practical Halachic sugyas, such as Sof Zman Kriat Shma and the permissibility of getting paid to learn Torah. We have also dedicated some time to more mussar-oriented Chaburot, where everyone reflects on how they can continue to grow in their religious life.

On Thursdays, Natey encourages his guys to share some of their own Divrei Torah on the Parsha. Hopefully, this will give the boys the confidence and experience to become leaders and teachers of Torah in the near future.

Natey and the boys have had a life-changing summer so far, and they cannot wait to continue growing as they enter their final week at Kollel.

Asher Schreier is currently enjoying his sixth summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended DRS and Sha’alvim and is currently at Yeshiva University. This is Asher’s second year as a Madrich.

Asher’s chabura includes some of the best guys around: Yitzi Aidelson from Woodmere (MAY), Adin Goldman from Bala Cynwyd (Mesivta of Philadelphia), Aden Lyons from Boca Raton (Katz), Elisha Marcus from Boca Raton (Katz), and Nachmi Raff from Monsey (Ohr Reuven).

The guys add a lot to the chabura in a variety of different ways. Yitzi keeps us on our toes with a lot of intriguing questions, Adin always has a quip to make about something that he’s heard or seen in the past. Aden livens up the chabura with fun ideas and thought-provoking questions, Elisha keeps us on our toes and constantly keeps pushing us to keep learning, and Nachmi will often add in an idea from the outside that is relevant to the sugya.

This summer, Asher’s chabura will be focusing on Tefillah Topics and other topics from the 4th Perek in Maseches Brachos. They will be learning about a variety of topics including why we daven, if tefillah is a mitzva dioraysa or dirabannan, the ideal time for shacharis, the ideal time for mincha, what the nature of the different tefillos are, and much, much more. The goal of the chabura is to be able to analyze sugyos and see 1 machlokes in a sugya and how it plays out throughout various different situations or nafka Minos that come up. While going through these sugyos and speaking out the nafka Minos, the guys are often the ones hashing out what each side would say and why based on the different shitos in the sugya.

The learning has been incredible and the hope is the relationships developed throughout this summer can be brought beyond the summer and help each other grow in our learning throughout the coming year.

Dovid Mandel is enjoying his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended Heichal and Sha’alvim and is beginning his junior year at YU this coming year. This is Dovid’s second summer as a Madrich.

Dovid’s chabura includes some of the best guys around: Yosef Grauer from Toronto, Avi Selesny from Detroit, Elisha Serman and Ezra Wiener from Memphis, and Eliyahu Stein from Philadelphia. The guys in the chabura bond incredibly well both in and out the Beis Medrash.

This summer, Dovid’s chabura has been focused on learning through the halachos of Orach Chaim. Some of the topics include: hilchos netilas yadayim, tzitzis, and tefillin. The learning in the chabura heavily focuses on knowing the halachos of inyanim we do every day in Shulchan Aruch, and also taking a further in-depth look at the sugyas through the eyes of the gemara, rishonim, and achronim.

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

Yitzy Lanner is currently enjoying his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended KYHS and Sha’alvim and just finished his first year in YU. This is Yitzy’s second summer as a Madrich.

Yitzy’s Chabura is made up of 6 of the most unreal and dynamic guys on Kollel: Yechiel Weisstuch from Boca Raton, Florida (KYHS); Ari Kahn from Woodmere, New York (DRS); Ephraim Shmidman from Lower Merion, Philadelphia (Mesivta of Philadelphia); Jack Radinsky from Woodmere, New York (DRS); Jonathan Davidson from Boca Raton, Florida (KYHS); and Shaya Singer from Woodmere, New York (DRS).

This summer, Yitzy’s chabura will be focusing on Shas Sugyas. They will be learning about a variety of topics including אונאת דברים, אדם מועד לעולם, זריזים מקדימין למצות, מציל עצמו בממון חבירו and much, much more. The goal of the learning is for everyone to enjoy the learning and develop a deeper connection to Torah and walk out with the realization that we can all truly love and enjoy learning Torah.

The summer has been amazing so far, and an unbelievably fun time developing a sense of chevra in our chabura, and it should IyH only get even better from here!

Yisroel Lebowitz is returning for his third summer on NCSY Kollel and second as a madrich. Growing up in North Woodmere, he has previously attended the fine institutions of DRS High school and Yeshivat Sha’alvim and is almost ready to begin his second year at Yeshiva University.

Yisroel is privileged to have some of the best guys on the Kollel in his Chabura. All hailing from the Tri-State Area, the chabura is really one of a kind. Leading off is Sruli Feiner (Lawrence, YFR) who has added significantly to the chabura dynamic with his incredible skills answering questions during chaburas and dominating Chabura ball on the court. Next up is Akiva Mehlman (Woodmere, DRS) who with his meticulous note-taking and clarity in the sugyas has become a crucial part of the chabura. Akiva is privileged to be classmates with Raymond Tawil (Queens, DRS), another essential member of the chevra who, with his unparalleled yearning for Torah and desire to soak in every word, has truly been the anchor of the group. Moving across the bridge we have Sariel Rotblat (Teaneck, TABC) who with his sharp insights and knowledge of just about any sefer or rabbi has helped create the lively environment of the Chabura. And last but certainly not least we have Shimon Ross (Bergenfield, TABC) who has truly shaped the Chabura as being both serious and extremely exciting with his intelligent questions and ha’aros as well as his vast knowledge of all trivia. The guys all mesh together in a way that creates the perfect environment to learn and grow.

This year, the Chabura was focused on many different sugyos throughout Shas. The sugyas of תפילת ערבית רשות, חטא כדי שתזכה חבירך and חבלה בעצמו were just some of the electrifying sugyas that they got to learn this year. Through learning the sugyos from the Gemara all the way to the acharonim the boys have been able to speak over all of the intriguing questions that emerge from these topics and have discussed through real cases how to apply some of these sugyas as well as the machshava behind them to their everyday lives.

The chevra has also had the opportunity to discuss at length what it means to live a broad life and the significance of living like a Ben Torah in every aspect of their lives. Yisroel and the guys have had an amazing summer so far and are looking forward to continuing that momentum into the rest of the summer!

Upon finishing DRS, two years at Gush, and three years at YU, Adam Zahler decided to take his talents to NCSY Kollel for a fourth summer.

Adam Zahler’s Bura is made up of some of the top Bois in da league. They have dominant question-asker Nathan Ginsburg at the 5, hailing all the way from Potomac Maryland; Aviel Parente from Vegas at the 4, with thinking deeper than a black hole; Edan Malka from Vegas at the 3, with flowing locks for days and a propensity to attempt to steal the moon; Asher Bejar from Florida at the 2, serving as the glue that keeps the Bura together; Ezra Greenberg from Pennsylvania bringing the ball up and playing tenacious defense, not letting Adam score any easy points; And last but not least, 6th man of the year Nate Rabizadeh from Great Neck NY.

Adam’s chabura focuses 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, 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. Along the way they were graced by special guest chaburas, given by Nathan on Tzitzit (or, as he says, tzitzis), Ezra on Lashon Hara, and Asher Bejar on Kissing the Mezuzah.

As a great summer comes to a close, the seeds of relationships have been planted and fertilized in a way that carries with them an everlasting potential for growth.

Moshe Fogelman is returning for his third summer in NCSY Kollel, and his second as a Madrich. After attending Heichal for high school, Moshe spent two years in Sha’alvim and a Zman in the Mir. Moshe is now entering his junior year in YU.

The quality guys in Moshe’s Bura are Ezra Alter (Bergenfield, TABC), Shlomo Price (Passaic, Yesodai), Akiva Sheinbein (Bergenfield, Heichal), Shmully Stern (Passaic, Yesodai), and Yoni Wilk (Passaic, Heichal). Akiva’s fantastic questions, Shlomo’s thoughtful insights, Shmully’s impressive timeliness, Yoni’s positive attitude, and Ezra’s hilarious one-liners come together to make the Chaburas fly by.

Together, the chevra has a mission to grow as Gishmak B’nei Torah. Moshe’s Chabura can be found learning some of the most complex sugyas deep in Meseches Chullin. With an interactive style, the guys are encouraged to ask their own questions and offer their own answers. Besides the Iyun, the guys learn about important hashkafic issues, like “What’s the Point of Halacha?” and “How to Get Close with Hashem?”

This next-level Chabura has had such a great summer, and the guys can’t wait to continue growing together for years to come.

Doni Miretzky is currently enjoying his third summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended Fasman Yeshiva and Sha’alvim and is currently heading into his second year in YU. This is Doni’s fourth summer on the program and his second summer as a Madrich.

Doni’s chaburah has a few of the most impressive guys around. This includes Yosef Mazurek from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Mesivta of Greater Philadelphia), Ari Herman from Teaneck (TABC), Ari Schwartz from Bet Shemesh (Chorev), and Shua gross from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Mesivta of Greater Philadelphia).

This summer, Doni’s chabura is diving deep into the world of halacha covering different topics that include chukas akum, osek bmitzvah patur min hamitzvah, Eretz Yisrael, and more, with the goal of the chaburah being to see how halacha is what guides us.

The guys are the real vehicle driving the chabura as they are always on top of their game and are ready to learn. The summer has been great so far and as the summer is coming to a close, they hope to finish it off strong!

Sam Sicklick is currently enjoying his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel. He attended Rambam and Sha’alvim and is currently in YU. This is Sam’s second year as a Madrich.

Sam’s chabura includes some of the best guys around: Shay Fields from Teaneck (TABC), Gilad Jutkowitz from Teaneck (TABC), Eytan Kirschenbaum from Bergenfield (TABC), Judah Lowy from Teaneck (Heichal), and Lazer Stechler from Teaneck (Heichal).

This summer, Sam’s chabura will be focusing on a variety of topics in three main categories: התורה וחכמיה, אכילת בשר, and אבלות/חורבן. The topics parallel and frame things that are going on in Kollel throughout the summer, such as interactions with the Gedolim who are in the program’s בית מדרש, the food tiyul, and ט׳ באב, while at the same time introducing the guys to a variety of learning styles in lomdus and content.

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