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Chaburah Spotlight – Binyamin Kaminetsky

NCSY Kollel August 15, 2016

Binyamin Kaminetsky is returning for his staggering ninth consecutive summer as an official member of the NCSY Kollel. After two years as an NCSYer, he subsequently served as a member of the Sports Staff and as a Jr. Madrich, before spending five years as a Madrich, including two as a Division Head, and this year filling the role of Assistant Head Madrich. Binyamin is from Woodmere and attended DRS for high school, followed by a two-year stint in Shaalvim and a third year learning in Mir Yeshiva. He then returned to YU and graduated this year with a BA in Computer Science.

 

The guys in BK’s Bura are Josh Beer (Woodmere, DRS), Binyamin Buchbinder (Teaneck, MTA), Jon Gibber (Teaneck, MTA), Meir Jacoby (Teaneck, Heichal HaTorah), Chaim Kazlow (Teaneck, MTA), and Roni Kupchik (West Hempstead, DRS), all returnees looking for even more in their second summer on Kollel. Shortly after the summer began, they welcomed the addition of point-forward Caleb Milobsky (Denver, Cooper) to the crew, which put to rest all challenges to their self-proclaimed title of “best ball Chabura” on Kollel, and immediately livened up the Chabura WhatsApp group.

 

It’s not only on the basketball court that Binyamin’s Chabura excels. These guys don’t play any games in the Beis Medrash either. You can find them every afternoon in the old cubby-room enclave, debating the intricacies of the Sugyos in the 8th Perek of Sanhedrin, including Rodeif and Ba BaMachteres. When learning the Gemaras and Rishonim, much of the emphasis is placed on learning to ask the right questions, and how to use both those questions and some of their answers to flesh out the deeper underpinnings of the Sugya. Often, when one of the guys understands a point or comes up with an answer before the others, he will be the one to explain it to the rest of the Chabura, encouraging a true group learning dynamic. More than just learning what to do, these Gemaras can teach valuable lessons about the value of a life, the severity of committing sins, and how to strike the appropriate balance when the two values come in conflict. On Thursdays, the guys get a taste of BK’s trademark Machshava Chaburas, which pool from an eclectic array of sources to bring out different ways to look at life and oneself a little more deeply. And finally, on Shabbos, the Chabura focuses on Tefillah, specifically on understanding the Shmoneh Esrei. The same model of asking questions and using them to uncover a deeper understanding is used to gain a greater appreciation for this all-important prayer.

 

Binyamin and the boys are have had a rocking summer so far, with even bigger and better things on the horizon as we enter the final stretch of an unbelievable summer.

 

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