|
Dear NCSY Kollel Parents,
An Analogy, and a True Account:
Some 20+ years ago, when the fledgling NCSY Summer Kollel was beginning to develop, each time the program grew a new reality was created, and with it the need to evolve. One of the issues that needed to be addressed and readdressed was laundry.
We had neither the facilities nor the NCSYer buy-in necessary to rely on the participants to take care of themselves. We had different vendors providing laundry services. We quickly learned that companies that successfully laundered clothes for 35 boys were less adept at handling groups of 200 or more. We changed from door side pick up to plastic bags to individual laundry bags to bigger individual laundry bags to bags that were color coordinated for each different section of the dorm. The system was not always flawless and was a consistent challenge for our tech staff, but in recent years we were proud of an efficient system that met our needs well.
On Tuesday morning this past week, we were able to arrange a makeshift laundry pick up in Chispin. There were piles of plastic bags valiantly attempting to keep us from descending into laundry chaos. For those of us familiar with the way laundry on the Kollel has developed over the years, it was a frustrating sight. Yet, with some exceptions, clothing was returned fresh and clean. Yes, some socks were misplaced and some shirts were assigned to the wrong bag. Many of us wished we had a few more t-shirts and more variety in our wardrobes. But mostly, it worked, and we will have clean clothes for another day. And tonight, in a packed Beis Medrash in the beauty of the Golan, we will sing and dance and accept Shabbos in Israel together, clean clothes and all.
It is an apt metaphor for our entire summer experience.
We did not choose this situation, and we are all still dealing with some of the adjustments inherent with our relocation. We hoped that the stay would be more temporary and that the adjustments would have been made easy by now. But, we remain fully appreciative of how fortunate we are, and how much worse many of the alternatives would be.
The program is full of high moments, that will remain indelibly etched in our minds for years to come. The day spent with morning Rabbeim, an amazing run of mini tiyulim, the soccer tournament and start of basketball leagues, and the time spent on tiyul on Thursday are great examples of this. The tzizis making for chayalim was poignant and special, almost beyond words. And perhaps above all, there are little moments throughout the day- meaningful interactions between madrichim and NCSYers, the slow but steady building of NCSY Kollel camaraderie, quiet moments of growth in learning or tefila- that are continuing to define our summer in the most inspiring of ways. We are more than managing, and fully attentive to the value of each and every moment we spend together.
Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Moshe Benovitz
|
