Hey. I hear its bulk season, so get working on those lats and pull up to Adam Zahler’s bura with da bois. Last name ever first name greatest, like a sprained ankle this bura ain’t nothing to play with. Adam Zahler, the faithful madrich (who has way too much power being able to write whatever he wants here) has been on kollel for five summers (3rd as a madrich). He had stops at Drs, Gush, and YU undergrad on his journey, and he is currently in YU Semicha.
Now, let him introduce you to our seriously stunning scholars. Dishing out great takes like Steph Curry puts up threes, we got Avi Rabhan from Miami Beach, Florida. Taking Drake’s advice and deciding to bless us with his presence at Yeshiva we got Justin Schloss from Brooklyn, NY. With insights so bright he makes the sun want to get some Ray Bans, we got Ariel Schwartz from Newton, Massachusetts. With a thirst so great for the waters of Torah he’s got the fish looking on in jealousy, we’ve got Aviel Shabbat-Koplin from Florida. Equipped with quips and jokes for days, with a unique ability to brighten the darkest of rooms we got Shlomo Shyrokov from Great Neck, NY. Always ready for a good time, while being equally ready to learn something new we got Yoni Zaslavsky from Potomac, Maryland. They say real g’s move in silence like lasagna, and Brandon Hachey despite only coming from TJJ Canada for the last two weeks of the summer, was able to make a huge impact on the chabura with his quiet, friendly and inquisitive demeanor.
Torah is a song that we are all each called on to sing throughout our lives. Adam’s chabura has spent time analyzing many songs, with a special focus on the lyrical masterpieces of one of the up-and-coming artists of our times, L’chaim OG. They spend their time analyzing his hit singles Kiss the Mezuzah and Shabbos Juice, with scintillating lyrics such as “Mesh tzitzis, yeah I like to feel the breeze. Summer time, pop out to Ashdod and hit the beach,” and “if I’m in Raanana then I hit the early minyan. Man, that Yemenite davening is something different.” They began by delving into music’s endless potential to help us: express ourselves, heal, connect to G-d, and even travel through time. From Bnei Yisroel at the Yam Suf, to Dovid Hamelech, to The Script, AJR, 21 Pilots, NF, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar they really explored the full gamut of musical experience to arrive at their spiritually uplifting conclusions. Along the way, they made sure to spend time focusing on and developing their connections with the Mesorah: past, present, and future through Rav Soloveitchik’s famous pidyon haben speech, his discussion of his relationship with the Rambam in “And From There You Shall Seek,” Rav Sack’s “Letter in the Scroll,” as well as some key gemaras (i.e. Menachot 29b with Rebbe Akiva and Moshe, as well as Yevamot 97a discussing how the Torah of Tzaddikim helps them live on beyond themselves). They discussed the importance of creating our own legacy, writing our own song, while ensuring that we are sampling the songs of our ancestors (see Tupac’s quote- “my murderous lyrics equipped with the spirit of thugs before me”), as well as ensuring that the song of our life is worthy enough and geared towards ensuring the continuity of the Jewish future through us (see Kendrick’s quote- “When the lights shut off and it’s my turn to settle down, my main concern, promise that you will sing about me”). They also learned about important Mitzvot that we do every day (i.e shema, davening…)
Just a really great group of guys learning together, chilling together, growing together, and having the best time ever, while diving headfirst into the waters of eternity, which serves to create a bond between them that is rooted in the eternal and therefore not easily broken.
