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Days of Pride

NCSY Kollel August 3, 2017

The last two days on the NCSY Summer Kollel have both been extremely meaningful.  The two days had very opposite feelings and emotions associated with them, but both contained a similar message – one of unity and pride, be it in Kollel, in NCSY, or in the Jewish nation as a whole.

Tuesday, we closed out Tisha B’Av by hosting what has come to be known as the “Kumzitz of the World,” and aptly so.  What may have at one point simply been a Kollel kumzitz at the kotel has become an amazing experience that we proudly share with the entire world, whether in person or via our livestream.  Seeing the hundreds of Jews surrounding us, many if not most of whom have no affiliation with Kollel or any summer program at all, created intense feelings of connection and pride in being Jewish, aside from the endless inspiration that we felt from singing out hearts out in front of the Kotel as the sun set on Tisha B’Av.

Today was quite the turn around in terms of mood.  On the famous country-wide holiday of Yom NCSY, there was no better way to build up our Kollel pride before the celebrations than to play in five different intense intercamp games against our friends from Sulam.  All-Star teams in hockey, ultimate frisbee, soccer, and two different teams in basketball all competed, with the entire Kollel cheering them on (we came away with victories in hockey, soccer, and our first basketball game).

Finally, we found ourselves in Park Ranaana with the rest of the NCSY Summer family celebrating Yom NCSY.  We enjoyed a delicious meal with some of the other programs, followed by the night’s main event, a Mordechai Shapiro concert with all of the programs together.  Some amazing singing and dancing (don’t worry, there was a mechitza) was highlighted by on-stage appearances from Zach Berger (Mordy Shap’s doppleganger), Dean Glover, Azi Fine, and Matthew Wexler and an amazing solo from Dovid Pearlman.  Overall, everyone left the event with a feeling of unity amongst NCSY Programs and pride in being a part of the amazing things that NCSY Summer accomplishes.

We are looking forward to harnessing these amazing feelings into enthusiasm with which we can take advantage of the final stretch of the summer!