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Was it in fact the “Best. Summer. Ever.”?
Aside from the questions of prophecy (“Best Summer Yet”?) and relativism (“Great Summer”?), how do we determine the quality of an experience? What metrics do we analyze? Which intuitions do we trust? What are we looking for?
Do we look at the quality of the offerings or the acumen of the staff? Do we wait to see long range impact or do we celebrate more instant achievements?
Here’s a start. On NCSY Kollel we will always measure the quality of a summer, One. Soul. At. A. Time.
Earlier this week an Israeli educator visited our campuses and was impressed by what he saw. He admired the awesome scope and size of the program and asked incredulously how many people we were servicing. I told him that there were about 330 people in the two batei medrash. He immediately corrected me- “No, there are not!” I gently corrected the correction and told him that there surely were. In truth, I explained, with our staff there were closer to 500! He explained, “You don’t have 330 people. You have 330 worlds.”
This week featured programs that were actually indescribable. We’ll try, but they needed to be seen and experienced to be believed and fully appreciated. Going back to last Thursday night, we put together six consecutive nights that have already qualified as pinnacle highlights of the summer. First it was the unique “retzifus seder” (30 minutes of uninterrupted learning with 400 participants in one room), then we had our Shabbos eve energy and Rabbi Kaminetsky-led oneg. Sunday night’s “Kumsitz of the World” (enough said) was preceded by Saturday night’s more internal Beit Meir Tisha B’Av kumstiz (a preferred favorite by more than a few NCSY Kollel insiders). Monday was the Israel National Team basketball game and the viral sensation of Coach Bruce Pearl and his Jewish pride. Tuesday saw a first ever authentic Chassidish Tisch, which was declared by many veterans to be not merely the highlight of the summer but one of the greatest NCSY moments in the past decade. It’s not like it went downhill from there. On Wednesday we hosted Rav Ahron Lopiansky and ran our final Yom Iyun. Thursday the North Campus had an unforgettable and wholly unique visit to Sderot, while the South Campus took over the streets of Yerushalayim. All returned Thursday night for a final mishmar that went well into the morning hours.
Was it a great week? Only if these arrows hit their mark. Only if these experiences ignited a soul. One at a time.
It’s true that NCSY Kollel has remarkable group dynamics and energy, and aspirations to influence entire communities and the Jewish people. But while there is value in communal values and we can self-identify with a communal identity, these can only be accomplished via individual growth and development.
In some years we film the formation of the Kotel Tisha B’Av Kumsitz with a time-lapse feature. It’s always moving to see how a tiny circle expands and expands until thousands are joined. But this vantage point also accentuates how great things happen. There is no moment when 50 or more people appear at once or drop from the sky. The thousands start with one, then another. Perhaps we should rename the event “The Kumsitz of the Worlds.”
Our Rabbis explain that this was the divine intent behind the creation of Adam and the creation of human activity. “Lifichach Adam Nivra Yichidi- for this purpose man was created alone…”. Each person is a world and each contributes to the mission. Souls are not swallowed up by the collective wave. Each is an integral building block to all we become.
Like the six weeks on NCSY Kollel, most of our prayer liturgy speaks of the grand “we” and the highest ambitions for Jewish peoplehood. But occasionally we remember that these shared offerings must be formulated in the singular. “Elokai..” He is my God. Also ours, and sometimes more easily discerned arm and arm with a friend or madrich. But mine.
As parents, we intuitively understand this. All these glowing reports and amazing events are only as great and only as important as their impact on one boy. Yours. This is the way it should be and this is the way it must be. Before there is a we there is an I. One at a time.
Our entire educational philosophy is predicated on these assumptions. We are often asked if the program has gotten too big. The best answer is that “too big” is so big that we lose sight of an individual NCSYer. So we generally eschew major frontal addresses and prefer the model of chaburas and chavrusas. These learning models are designed to draw out each young man. We liken it to doubles tennis or a help defense in basketball. In those constructs there is an opportunity to hide or disappear. But in singles tennis or any one-on-one match up there is nowhere to go. So too in chabura learning or any other small group. It will be eye to eye and there will be singular ownership of the growth process. Our goal is not that no one “falls through the cracks.” We try (at least) to get rid of the cracks before we start.
Our days are filled with the most grandiose of spectacles. But some of the most meaningful moments are a bit more subtle. Amid all the pomp described above, we took a moment to thank our staff of Rabbeim. They assembled in the front of the beis medrash and it was an incredible display of firepower and leadership. It was an inspiring image and a snapshot of why this is the best summer. But even in the subtle, there can be levels of hidden. Sometimes we need to look a bit further to identify the real secret of NCSY Kollel's success. If we rotated that spectacular view and looked out to the crowd we would see something that rivals the greatness of our staff- the appreciation and respect etched on the faces of the NCSYers. The very expression of rabbinic prowess is in its reception in the hearts and minds of the audience. It is impressive that we assemble world-class scholars. But it is far more impressive that their scholarship touches a single boy’s soul.
This is how we define success, these are our highlights. Earlier this summer we described an early morning when Rav Schachter sat alone getting a start on his davening. One, before the many. Except he was not quite alone. On the other end of the room was an NCSYer from our Mechina program who sat equally isolated and tried to get a head start on his day of learning. Later, they both would join the masses and participate in the group called NCSY Kollel. But first they made sure that the self was ready for that opportunity.
The real highlights of the summer are the quieter ones. A small group gathers around a Rebbe late Wednesday night and they work on strategies for sustained growth. An NCSYer confides in his madrich that there is a character trait that he would like to improve. A single boy looks out over Sderot and tries to calculate where he fits into the Jewish narrative. The sun sets over Beit Meir and a solitary figure raises his eyes to the heavens, seeking some personal salvation.
It may well have been our best summer ever. We hope it was also yours and his.
With appreciation for all of the support and partnership throughout a magical ride this summer, we wish you the most sublime that Shabbos can offer, from the hills of Jerusalem
Moshe Benovitz
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