Sam Mandel, the chabura’s madrich, is from Scarsdale, NY. It is his first summer on NCSY Kollel. After graduating SAR High School, He spent two years overseas at Yeshivat Shaalvim, and plans on spending his next chapter at Yeshiva University.
Although Sam gives it his all, the NCSYer’s exceptional grit and hasmada is what makes the ‘bura special. Out of Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, we have the star-studded trio of Shmuli Feldman(West Hempstead), Eli Zern(Cedarhurst), and Akiva Mosak(North Woodmere). When in doubt, you can always count on Shmuli to come out firing with a strong kashya, as well as a Mak’s birthday cake that can feed a family for weeks. He’s complimented by Akiva Mosak, a budding phenom who loves a good Mets win, but has even more affinity for the Meiri. Lastly, we have Eli Zern, the “makkos master” who subtly puts the chabura on his back, volunteering to read mekoros aloud more than any talmid the game has ever seen. Out of DRS, we have Sruli Seigel(Hewlett), Mendy Markus(North Woodmere), and Yosef Adler(Cedarhurst). Sruli has been a key member since day one, with his soothing “esa einay”, but more importantly his memorable explanation of a chakira in the sugya of Tosefes shabbos, which sparked a shiur debate about the nature of a hamburger with added pastarami. He’s complemented by Mendy Markus, who’s always locked in during chabura, but even more so on the football field. As the bura was developing into a legitimate championship contender, they realized one essential piece was missing. Minutes before the trade deadline, the bura traded cash considerations for Yosef Adler. Yosef’s elegant middos as well as his desire for torah has made the bura complete.
The chaburas mission is twofold. First, the understanding and analysis of some of Torah’s most classic sugyas, such as zrizin makdimin lmitzvos, birchas hatorah, and shomeah keoneh. Second, to instill core jewish values into the NCSYers, discussing the topics of simcha, teshuva and more. This summer has been incredible so far and it should only get better from here!
