Our wonderful staff is comprised of many layers and roles.  We have Rabbeim and Roshei Yeshiva, Madrichim and a Sports Staff.  There’s a tech staff and EMTs.  Camp Moms and Day Camp and Drivers and Mental Health Coordinators and more.  We appreciate them all and recognize each contribution to the greatness of NCSY Summer.  When our busses roll from Beit Meir, there is often a seat reserved in the front for a new contributor, common to all kinds of groups visiting Israel- the tour guide.

Heading to the supermarket for milk or driving to Shul for Mincha doesn’t call for GPS assistance.  We have a clear sense of where to go, and even if we err slightly and choose a more circuitous path, there is little damage done.   But when we venture a bit more afar, when we are on unsteady footing, when the crossroads and questions increase, it is a comfort to know where to turn.

This was a week of Tour Guides.  As usual, the Hebrew is even more instructive- moreh derech.   Those and that which show us the way.  Perhaps more importantly, the moreh derech can open our eyes to the truth that there is a way.

So what guides us?  There were countless images and photos over this week that offered direction.  But let’s start and end with the simple.  And let’s begin with an almost imperceptible movement away from false Gods and guides in our lives.  Our director team is more than a bit envious of other camps that prohibit smartphones.   Our dear friends at Camp Morasha and Director Jeremy Joszef have virtually eliminated this distraction; we wish we could do the same.  Security and distance make it difficult.  Communication with parents is paramount, and we do not want to compromise it in any way.  And yet…following every sound and image and notification on our devices or thru social media is the same as following not much at all.  So our learning journey begins with a beautiful and practical gesture of forfeiting those phones and trying to heed a different call.

This picture is of a chabura, one of many.  But before discovery can begin, the phones must be piled in the middle.  Ask any professional tour guide his opinions about phones.  It’s not much different for our other guides as well.

Undoubtedly, the clearest example of the positive guiding forces in our lives was the special symposium we ran Wednesday night.  The discussions centered around 10/7 wake up calls and lessons.  Over 200 people were in attendance, a majority not high schoolers on NCSY Kollel this summer.  There were 3 drivers for this unique evening. First, the darkness of this year has created an urgent need for direction and insight. While the speakers were certainly impressive, it was the audience that was most remarkable.    The urgency and concern expressed on their faces created a focus and commitment that is rare.  Second, we have long believed that NCSY Kollel is especially well positioned to provide thought leadership to the entire community.    It is a place of curiosity and scholarship, and over the years we’ve introduced and reinforced ideas that have transformed modern Judaism.  Finally, this week we had the unprecedented privilege of hosting all four of our Senior Roshei Yeshiva.  That privilege also entails a responsibility.  Clearly, there is an audience for their wisdom.   These are our guides. This is our direction.

A word about the venue and target population.  This was an event run by NCSY Kollel, at NCSY Kollel, but not for NCSY Kollel per se.  We view the dissemination of our teachers’ Torah as a sacred task.  We also pride ourselves on our ability to introduce important personalities and ideas to our NCSYers, even if they are not yet fully capable of connecting to them.  Therefore, we made sure that there was a platform for our leadership to message and teach.  But for most of our group it was sufficient that they knew these discussions were taking place and that they could aspire to join when ready.

We had actual tour guides too.  Tuesday kicked off our full tiyul season, and as always it started on an incredible high.  Tiyulim are an integral part of our summer and a prime illustration of this summer’s “Now More than Ever” motto.  What better time to appreciate the beauty and majesty of this cherished land?  The Tuesday hikes were challenging and many paths were “expert only.”  We brought with us top guides to describe and to navigate before us.  But something else was developing as well.   When Avraham Avinu was first exhorted to travel to the promised land, God cryptically referred to his destination as “towards the land that I will show you.”  Most interpretations suggest that this was a lesson in patience, process, or faith (or some combination of all three).  We could not see the end, could not fathom the goals.  Yet in certain more elaborate approaches there is a hint in the play on words.  This is the land of “I will show you.”  A land that never ceases to amaze, a land that is full of surprise. Yes, it took a guide to climb Har Shlomo, but more than that Har Shlomo was every bit a guide.  Yes, the 360 degree views from the top were exhilarating, but more than that the 360 degree perspective that can be achieved with a certain group after an arduous climb was enlightening.  Prayer, madrich conversations, deep thoughts- all were guided by the glorious land itself.  We design our trip days to show the NCSYers the land, but all along we wait for the land to show the NCSYers so much more.

How does the land guide us?  Let’s ask the heroes in Sderot.  As most are already aware, Thursday was another “first” in the celebrated history of NCSY Kollel.   We’ve visited Sderot before, but this was more of a mini-residency.  For 7 hours we transported all that is NCSY Kollel in support of this special city.  We went up as a group, seven buses strong.  We moved sports, leisure, learning, rabbeim, dinner, and Thursday night’s energetic mishmar all together.  Many years ago, our dear friend and former Rebbe on the program Rabbi Ari Katz became the Director of Public Relations of the Hesder Yeshiva in Sderot.  In one of those early brainstorming sessions, it was suggested by our staff that the Yeshiva paraphrase the famous advertising campaign of the Golan Heights- “Ha’Am im HaGolan- the people with the Golan.”  Why not launch a campaign that declares “We are all students of the Sderot Yeshiva.”?   After all, their presence on the very front lines and their extraordinary brand of Toras Eretz Yisrael do in fact make them teachers of us all.  Finally, after many years, we fulfilled this vision.  We are all students of Sderot.

We all learn from the heroism of October 7 there and the bravery of everyday life there. We learn from the sense of mission and the pride in Zion.  We are guided by the indescribably inspiring cranes and the endless building.  Thursday was one of the most unforgettable days ever on the program.  As we gathered on the famous Yeshiva roof watching the sun set over Gaza, singing and yearning, we felt inseparable from the narrative of Jewish history and felt like true creators of the Jewish future.

With a run like this-  Eilat, Community Leadership Symposium, Sderot- it can be easy to overlook the more ordinary days on the program.  So we will return to where we began. We will highlight one last kind of guide post.

After all, it is the phone that’s tucked away and the harkening to a madrich or Rebbe that truly guides.  It is the maariv after the symposium, and the dorm chill after that when events are processed, ideas are formed, and direction begins to take form.  When we enjoy the unrivaled Beit Meir sunset each night, there is a curious phenomenon.

As the skies darken, the land in front of us begins to take on a more definitive form. And if we look out at the infinity horizon we can begin to make out…a path.  In all that is set before us we find ourselves and our mission.  We are shown the way.

This Shabbos of course is a much-deserved break.  Our free weekend is a time for connection and reflection and we look forward to welcoming everyone back after Shabbos, well and rejuvenated.

Thank you to all who have reached out with meaningful feedback.  We look forward to hearing more

Wishing you the most peaceful of Shabbos, with prayers for only good in all corners of the world,

Moshe Benovitz

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