Rise

We end from the point at which we began.

Ours was a summer that was truly like no other. Ours was a summer that was this close to not being at all. Ours was a summer that was asked to prove itself, to justify the effort, to make the case for its own existence.

It’s easy to associate those challenges and questions solely with Iran and our enemies in the Mideast.  But there were other voices and obstacles too. Many of the standout events this week (and over the course of the entire summer) provide examples of the skepticism and doubt that we overcame.

The week began on the floor, marking Tisha B’Av. There is a large siddur in the front of our Beis Medrash, for the use of the ones leading prayers. In addition to the text, there are instructions for the Tefilla practices. After the first paragraph of Tachanun, when we customarily lower ourselves and cover our faces, the siddur instructs:

“כאן מרימים הראש-

Here, we raise our heads”

More than once this summer we’ve considered those instructions in a far broader context.  Here, in this country, here, on this campus.  Now, at this time, now, at this age. Here, we raise our heads. This was literally the case on Tisha B’av.  At a certain moment we got up off the floor.  Soon after we ascended to Yerushalayim. And then, at the Kotel plaza and as part of the Kumsitz of the world, we uplifted and were uplifted, higher and higher.

But…

For all the thousands who join at the Kotel on Tisha B’Av, including hundreds from other NCSY programs and our dear friends from other summer tours, there are thousands and hundreds of thousands who are not there. It is appropriate on a day that hovers between exile and redemption to be awed by the multitudes while lamenting the loneliness and lack.

For far too many who were not there, it was those cynical voices that kept them home. High School youth?  This generation?  Will they care?  Can they lead?  Can they put their phones away long enough to reflect?  Will the masses choose to follow their example?

Our social media pages were filled with all the typical end of summer camp fare, and then some.  Basketball and hockey playoffs and tournaments did not disappoint. We crowned new champions and provided enough thrills in 4 days to last a lifetime.  Chabura trips, last Tiyulim, and Ijump provided more energy than the program has seen in some time.  But on those same social pages, you’ll see some images that are a bit more unique. #s of OnlyOnKollel and NCSYKollelIsMore were everywhere.  We welcomed Rav Aaron Lopiansky to our Beis Medrash and were awed by his words along with his presence.  Who is “we”, many would ask. 16-year-olds from across North America?  Kings of Candy Crush will put aside their games and stand for a Rosh Yeshiva?  Really?  These will be in the honored spots in a camera roll or Instagram story?  Rav Lopiansky’s visit was not far from a typical experience here.  We have resident Roshei Yeshiva who interact with NCSYers every day, practically every hour.  There’s a picture that circulated around the staff this week, not as dramatic as a Har Shlomo sunrise or as eye-catching as a drone shot of 7 basketball courts teeming with activity.  A young man, who decided on NCSY Kollel only towards the end of the year and who is entirely representative of his peer group and generation had a question about Tisha B’Av laws, the letter and the spirit. So, he approached Rav Twersky and engaged him intently in 5 minutes of conversation.  That’s all, and that’s everything.

We don’t have a traditional banquet on NCSY Kollel.  Instead, we run the end of summer authentic Tisch.  White shirts, heimishe food, long tables and an impossibly large challah.  Heartfelt niggunim and unmatched unity.  It was amazing.  And yet, even here, the voices persist.  Will it sell?  Do we need more?  Are the poppers tasty enough (they were)?  Will anyone actually get excited from this kind of ruach?  Wouldn’t they prefer a fantasy football draft or binge watching?

No, they would not. 

Here, we raise our heads.

This generation of youth have lived their entire adult lives on the defensive.  Adolescence was spent with masks covering their faces, fending off microparticles of diseases. Their entry into teenagehood has been marred by antisemitism and war.  We are all under attack.  But they, in Israel and abroad, contend with another form of “Anti”, another threat.  They are maligned, not because of their belief, but because of the lack of belief.  They are told that they are lazy, that they don’t have dreams.  They are told that they are selfish, that they don’t know how to sacrifice.  That they don’t know how to give, only how to give up. And it is here, and now, that we raise our heads.

NCSY Kollel proudly measures success on all the regular scales. There is customer satisfaction, engagement, and of course enjoyment.  How was the food, were you exhilarated by the trips?  Did you love the ball, did you play enough?  And we, this summer perhaps more than ever before, grade out exceptionally well in all of these areas.  But the program was designed to provide those experiences as a base in the hierarchy of needs and wants. The top of the pyramid is change.  The top of the pyramid affords a perspective and vantage point that is better and bigger. Here, we raise our heads. To the very top.

If a teenager attends a family get together and sees an aunt after many months or even years, the aunt might well remark, “my how you’ve grown!”  After 6 weeks of #onlyonKollel, 6 weeks of rising, 6 weeks of defiance in the face of attacks of all kinds, 6 weeks of looking up to madrichim and learning with/from them, 6 weeks of confronting horror of war and inspiration of heroes, 6 weeks of connection to friends, Mesorah, Torah, and a magical land, 6 weeks of exultation and exhilaration on courts, fields and mountaintops, 6 weeks of sunset and sunrise and finding ourselves in the panoramic views of Jewish history and Jewish determination, 6 weeks of Rabbeim and Torah giants, 6 weeks of prayer like never before, 6 weeks of cholent bars and moments that we hope never end, 6 weeks of Shabbos, 6 weeks of Holy Cities old and new, 6 weeks of laughter and tears, 6 weeks of insight and learning, 6 weeks of community cup and Spikeball and “how’d he do that to a wiffle ball”, six weeks of “Here, we raise our head,”  we are sure that your reaction in airports and living rooms will be the same this Monday.  “My, how you’ve grown.”

We do things differently here.  We need to.  The status quo for this generation isn’t much of a status at all.  The default does not correspond to the potential. We do our best to bridge that gap.  To silent those who say there isn’t more, or that these young men aren’t capable. We strive to remove the masks, to introduce them to worlds of pro and philo to fill the malevolent gaps of anti.  We are here to rise.

The Jewish nation has answered this call. We’ve endeavored to introduce the NCSYers to true lions and leaders, to the earliest and highest risers we know. We’ve designed a program to introduce them to a version of themselves that is under attack and dismissed as unreal.

Here, we raise our heads, and we are in no rush to lower them again.

The support of parents throughout this process has been indescribably helpful and motivating.  We thank you for your words and actions through times of uncertainty and as we charted a path towards good.  Thank you.

We have one more Shabbos to go, where we appreciate our perch on these holy mountains and when we celebrate Shabbos and it’s allowing us to rise to greet her.

We wish you a Shabbos of anticipation and comfort, of very big dreams and even higher realities.

Gratefully,  

Moshe Benovitz 

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