Summer 2017

As the third week and first half of NCSY Kollel 2017 winds down, we couldn’t help but put in a strong performance throughout the day’s schedule.

The day’s learning was powerful and the Beis Medrash was intense all day, be it morning seder, Chaburahs, night seder, or Mishmar long into the night.  Many shiurim took the morning for shiur trips, which included meaningful trips to Aish HaTorah in the Old City for Rabbi Burg, Rabbi Gordon, and Rabbi Ellman, to Shalva Center for Rabbi Gormin, Rabbi Freedman, Rabbi Schneider, and Rabbi Schulman, and to Israel Advocacy for Rabbi Turetsky.  Other shiurim and several Chaburahs had the zechus to hear from Rav Yonasan Sacks from Lander College for Men, who was finishing up a two-day visit on the Kollel.

The afternoon saw competitive league games all around, as the playoffs draw nearer and teams begin battling it out for playoff positioning.  Meanwhile, we have taken to staggering our Mini-Tiyulim on a given day to provide NCSYers the opportunity to play sports and potentially make it onto a trip.  Today, those trips included a “World Cup” of soccer at Kraft Stadium and a tour of the amazing stalactite caves, including some free time in the mall.

The week and the first half of the summer have been amazing so far, and we can’t wait for all the excitement yet to come!

The last time Jeremy Barth was spotted on NCSY Kollel was when he was a camper, but after a five-year hiatus, he has made his return as a Madrich. Hailing from New Hyde Park, NY, Jeremy attended DRS, followed by two years in Yeshivat Shaalvim and a third in Yeshivas Mir, and he is now enrolled in Lander College for Men.

Jeremy has an all-star lineup of guys in his Chaburah, including Moshe Benhamu from Brooklyn (DRS), Yosef Bluth from Hewlett (Rambam), Dovi Herschberg from North Woodmere (MAY), Joe Roth from Brooklyn (MAY), Gavi Singer from Cedarhurst (MAY), and last but not least, Eli Wiseman from Woodmere (DRS).

The Chaburah has already begun to blend together into a tight knit group, despite the diversity of skills and personalities. Each of them have already begun displaying their own unique talents. Whether it’s on the courts, in the Beis Medrash or on a tiyul, each one fills their role in order to piece together an amazing puzzle.

The greater depth of knowledge a person has of a certain topic, the more it allows him to connect to that thing. With this in mind, the Chaburah is delving deep into the topic of tefillah this summer. The Chaburah is moving through the different sections of davening each day and is gaining an understanding of tefillah through the gemara, rishonim, and achronim, while finishing off the Chaburah everyday with some machshava on tefillah. Tefillah is one of the building blocks that the world stands on and plays a very important role in creating a relationship with ה׳, which we are constantly yearning to improve.

Jeremy is looking forward to the continued fun and growth of the Chaburah this summer by building on what has already been an amazing few weeks.

Sammy Schultz is returning for his fourth summer on NCSY Kollel, his third as a staff member. After growing up in Los Angeles, where he attended YULA for high school, Sammy spent two incredible years learning in Yeshivat Shaalvim. While no longer being zoche to continue his learning in Eretz Yisroel, Sammy was able to continue his learning and growth this past year in YU, where he also plans on majoring in finance.

While over the first Shabbos Rabbi Benovitz debated the merits of Kevin Durant’s decision in joining the Warriors “super team,” the real question is how Rabbi Benovitz allowed so many incredible NCSYers to be a part of one Chaburah. This amazing group includes Yoni Benezra from West Bloomfield, MI (Farber); Dovid Pearlman from Staten Island, NY (TABC); Yis Richter from Spring Valley, NY (Frisch); Yonah Schneier from Teaneck, NJ (TABC); and Izzy Sendzischew from Brooklyn, NY (Derech Hatorah).

This summer, Sammy’s Chaburah is learning sugyas related to growing both bein adam limakom and bein adam lichavero. Chaburah topics include discussing in depth the mitzvah of emunah, delving into Rav Chaim’s mihalech on tefillah, the importance of good midos to grow in one’s learning, and yes, even understanding the issur to disagree with one’s parents (you are all welcome parents)! In addition, each NCSYer is assigned a different week throughout the summer to be their own. This not only entails preparing and sharing a Dvar Torah to the rest of the Chaburah, but also includes leading the Chaburah in their favorite Shabbos zemer to get everyone pumped for Shabbos.

Outside of learning, Sammy’s Chaburah has also had many opportunities to have an amazing time together. Whether it was finishing second in Chaburah line-up due to Yonah’s shooting, listening to our superstar singer Dovid belting out some notes, watching Yis attempt to be Tarzan during our Chaburah pool night, laughing at the jokes of our resident comedian Yoni, or trying to figure out how Izzy has so many pictures of all of us while we are not looking, the Chaburah always makes sure to have fun. These experiences have helped the Chaburah gel, and have allowed us to develop together both inside and outside of the Beis Midrash.

Sammy and his Chaburah have enjoyed a phenomenal summer so far, and they cannot wait to continue learning and growing together throughout the rest of the summer, and IMH staying close for years to come!

We are halfway through our third week on NCSY Kollel 2017, and we are quickly learning that on this program, a “normal” day is any day where something abnormal takes place; you would be hard pressed to find a day on the itinerary where something exciting is not taking place.

Today was no exception.  What looked like it would be an average day of learning and sports took a turn for the exciting when we hit night seder.  From 8:15 to 9:45, rather than the usual two slots of night seder, we enjoyed our first Leil Iyun of the summer.  NCSYers and Staff got to choose from question-and-answer based shiurim by Rav Blachman and Rav Taragin in the Beis Medrash or Rav Burg and Rav Bronfeld in the chader ochel.  At 9:45, everyone joined together in the Beis for some words by Rav Twersky before Maariv.

These days of added excitement are truly becoming the norm this summer, and we are sure to experience many more as we approach the midway point of the summer!

Ariel Sacknovitz is on his fourth year on NCSY Kollel, his first as a madrich. He also serves as the head EMT on Kollel this summer. Hailing from West Hempstead, New York, Ariel attended DRS, Sha’alvim, and is currently enrolled in YU. Ariel is attempting to set the record for most positions held on Kollel, having attended the program as an NCSYer for two summers, working as the director of the Canteen, EMT, Shoel Umashiv, and now a Madrich, Head EMT, and Shoel Umashiv again.

Ariel’s amazing post-11th grade Chaburah is an all-star lineup, consisting of five of the most incredible NCSYers around, all on their first year of Kollel: Binyamin Black from Toronto (Darchei); Akiva Goldman from Toronto (Darchei); Zach Hamburger from Monsey, NY (MTA); Ezra Entin from Philadelphia , PA (Mesivta of Philly); and Sam Cohen from Plainview, NY (Rambam Mesivta).  Every member of the Chaburah brings something unique to the table, and the blend creates an amazing cohesive unit that loves to learn, chill, and spend time together as a Chaburah.

This summer, Sack’s Chaburah is focusing on different sugyas from a variety of genres including Brachos, Machshava, and Halacha. The sugyas are built around current topics and cases which come up in every day life. The topics have proven challenging, yet exciting, and the Chaburah is having a great time learning to tie together countless Gemaras and opinions surrounding a single, modern day topic.

Ariel’s Chaburah works together to have an amazing time outside of the Beit Medrash as well. Dominating the opening second year iJump trip, the Chaburah is aiming to finish first in the Chaburah Scavenger Hunt and Chaburah Wars. Ariel and his Chaburah have enjoyed a phenomenal summer thus far, and they are looking forward to finishing on a high note, as well as continuing to remain a tight knit Chaburah throughout the year and well beyond the summer, IY”H!

Jonny Silber is returning for his 4^th summer in a row, and 5 out of the last 6, on the NCSY Summer Kollel. Having spent summers as a camper, CIT, support staff, and Madrich, Jonny re-joins the ranks this summer for his second year as a Madrich. Hailing from Lawrence, NY, Jonny has spent the last year in Yeshiva University, after having taken his talents for two years to Yeshivat Shaalvim.

Jonny’s Chaburah consists of six post 10^th graders with some of the most Geshmak and awesome personalities. Starting with their dynamic duo, hailing from Brooklyn, NY, they got Yosef Goldstein (DRS) and Marty Stevens (DRS). Staying within NY, reigning from Monsey, they sport Coby Sorotzkin (MTA). Moving on to the out of town chevra, they tout the legendary trio of Jonny Posner (HAM), David Silverman (YULA) and Joshua Wolfe (Farber). Their Chaburah started off strong with an opening night victory in their Chaburah challenges where they really exhibited a masterful performance during Chaburah lineup, with 3 of the last 6 contestants coming from their Chaburah. After such an impressive start, the Chaburah has not disappointed since. They lead the league in most dominant chills and most time spent in Chaburahs. However, Jonny’s Chaburah also knows how to shteig hard. They are delving into deep sugyas in Sefer Bereishis, as well as analyzing halachic shaylas from the series given by Jonny’s Rebbe, Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz. The series, “From the Rabbi’s Desk,” consists of halachic questions that come up when serving as a Rabbi in a shul, where the chaburah tries to analyze and discuss how we would answer up these shaylas.

Jonny and his Chaburah have enjoyed a tremendous start to their summer and are looking to only build from here as they continue toward the rest of this unforgettable summer.

As has always been the tradition and with last week’s fast day providing an exception, Tuesday on NCSY Kollel means a full day tiyul, or in today’s case, six (!!).

There were options for everyone today, despite only two shacharis times, at 5:30 and 7:30 AM.  The post-10th Graders got to choose from Nachal Amud, an intense water hike; the Blind Museum, an amazing museum where you experience everything without sight, followed by Ben and Jerry’s (where Kollel’s group actually became the first customers in a store that opened this morning); “caving”, which included repelling, bungeeing, and hiking through enormous caves; and meaningful trips to kevarim throughout Meiron and Tevarya.  The post-11th Graders, meanwhile, had the additional option of the “Returnee Extravaganza,” which took them to a bridge for bungee jumping and repelling, to the Kineret for banana boats and “abuvs”, and to a coffee shop in the north where they were served waffles and ice cream.  All of these trips met at the incredible AquaKef, a giant obstacle course-type complex of blow-up trampolines, slides, and climbing walls that sits atop the Kineret in Tevarya.  Everyone had a blast, and it was a fantastic way to end the tiyul day (not to mention the free schwarma dinner).

The CIT’s, meanwhile, had their own trip that began with sharing Divrei Torah, singing, and dancing with the members of Siach Sod, an educational center for people with special needs.  They then got some free time for lunch on Ben Yehuda before going to Yeshivat Torat Shraga to hear words of Torah from Rav Eisenstein and play a basketball tournament, and they finally ended the day with their own free schwarma dinner.  Their’s was certainly a trip that was both inspirational and enjoyable.

As with all tiyul days, we will hopefully get a good night’s sleep and wake up rested and ready to get back to a packed regular schedule of learning and sports!

Yitzchak Kaminetsky, coming from Boca Raton, Florida, is returning to the Kollel for his second summer after a break of a few years. Yitzchak went to Weinbaum Yeshiva High School, followed by Yeshiva Torat Shraga for 2 years, and he will be attending YU in the fall.

His Chaburah is one of six Kaminets/zky Chaburah’s on Kollel this summer, but his Chaburah is unique in many ways. Despite being an “out-of-towner,” Yitzchak’s entire Chaburah is made up of kids from the NY/NJ area, but as NCSY Kollel proves so often, coming from different locations does not at all negatively affect the camaraderie among the guys.

In the Chaburah, we have Josh Farkas (Cedurhurst) and Gavriel Kahn (Lawrence) from DRS, Hudy Weiss (Passaic) and Daniel Landa (Bergenfield) from MTA, and Aron Weinstein (Spring Valley) from TABC.

Each kid brings his own personality to the Chaburah and contributes to make an awesome and challenging learning environment with a great “chill” (especially bursting out into beautiful song by the extremely talented tone-deaf group of guys) environment.

During the Chaburah slot, the Chaburah explores the Deeper Meaning Behind Mitzvos, beginning with a particular Mitzvah’s original source, trickling down to commentaries, the Psak Halacha, and finally a deeper take-home message the Mitzvah is trying to convey. The topics are broken down into 3 categories: Tefillah, everyday Mitzvos, and Holidays.

Outside the Beis Medrash, the Chaburah also excels, taking home the W in both the Chaburah-human-pyramid challenge and in the Kollel-wide knockout tournament – shout out to Daniel Landa, who won it for the Chaburah. Parenthetically, the Chaburah is also the self-appointed #1 Chaburah at basketball (and has yet to challenge any potential competitors simply because it would be unfair).

Throughout the summer, each kid in the Chaburah is challenged to push himself as much as he can to grow as an Eved Hashem while having an unbelievable time doing so. IY”H the Chaburah will continue to create the best summer ever for each of its members!

Akiva Gottlieb comes from the well known town of Teaneck, NJ. He is now a Junior in Yeshiva University. Akiva is now spending his first summer on NCSY Kollel as a Madrich and is extremely excited to have the zechus to learn with amazing kids from all around.

Akiva was given a stacked squad of all-stars to learn with this summer, ranging from all over the Tri-State Area. We got Oren Nuewirth from New Rochelle (SAR), followed by Avi Kwestel from the Five Towns (DRS), Chaim Medetzky from the Five Towns (DRS), Joey Burg from Clifton (Heichal), and Ezra Levi from New York (Frisch). Each guy brings his own personality to the Chaburah, which has created an amazing atmosphere in which to learn.

This summer, Akiva’s Chaburah has delved into the true meaning of all the different Middos it takes to truly acquire Torah. Based off Perkei Avos (6:6) and other great teachings, the guys are plowing through. Great team effort and chemistry has already led to an amazing start for the team, and we hope to keep up the great vibes!

An inspirational two-day joint program with TJJ Ambassadors came to an end today, but what a day it was.

This morning saw the Ambassadors join the Mechinah program for seder and shiur.  The afternoon started with half a day’s worth of regular league games, following by more joint programming.  This was followed by an awesome Kollel vs TJJA All-Star basketball game (we won’t bore you with the results).  Finally, the day ended with an incredible joint siyum, where members of TJJ Ambassadors finished Pirkei Avos, and Kollel’s own Yitzchak Kaminetsky finished Maseches Kiddushin, inluding speeches by Rav Schachter and Rabbi Benovitz in between.  This was accompanied by a barbecue dinner for all.

This certainly fueled a strong night seder, where the learning was as intense as ever.  We said our goodbyes to the Ambassadors after Maariv and sent them off with some meaningful parting words and a rousing rendition of “Four More Days ‘Till Shabbos” in the Beis Medrash.

Tomorrow promises to be another exciting day, as we head off on six different full-day tiyulim beginning as early as 5:30 AM!