Yoni Besser is having a blast back on Kollel for his third summer, first as a madrich. From Clifton, NJ, Yoni spent four great years at Heichal Hatorah before two summers at Sha’alvim. Next year, Yoni plans to head to Yeshiva University and major in business. He takes great pride in being a 3-on-3 intermediate tournament champion back when he was in 10th grade.
Yoni’s chaburah is composed of four amazing NCSYers: Eitan Mensh and Moshe Lieberman of Teaneck go to MTA, Avi Berlove lives in Boston and attends Maimonides, and Yonah Shapiro lives in Hamilton, going to Yeshivas Ohr Chaim in Toronto. Together, they’ve meshed into a wonderful group, and the chemistry they’ve developed, both in and out of chabura, is a pleasure to watch.
The learning done in this chabura is especially unique because of the conversation that goes on for the entire hour. Every statement is taken into account, and each NCSYer adds their own special outlook and unique take on the topic being done that day, because each person has their own special cheilek in Torah. The chaburas are mostly centered around modern halachic issues and the sugyas surrounding them. The width and breadth of cases in question and Torah allows for fantastic conversation to flow throughout chaburas, with many different issues creeping into play as the sugya progresses. Yoni and the guys took on themselves two aspects for the nine days and Tisha Ba’av to bring back home with them. In the realm of bein adam lemakom, they’re working on 100 brachos a day and making them with the correct mindset. For bein adam lechavero, they took it upon themselves to try to avoid saying lashon hara, but starting at the root cause: choosing to look with an ayin ra’ah at the person in question.
The entire Chabura has grown tremendously having a blast so far this summer, and they’re really excited for what the next week holds!
