Summer 2014

Becky Shachter is from Boca Raton, Florida. She went to Weinbaum Yeshiva High school and then spent a year in MMY. She is currently in Stern college for Women, majoring in Psychology. This is her first summer on Michlelet and it has been unbelievable with the such incredible campers and staff! The girls in Becky’s chaburah are Elisheva Pfeiffer (Teaneck, NJ), Basia Ebel (Chicago, IL), Henna Storch (Woodmere, NY) and Rachaeli Treitel (Monsey, NY).

In her chabura titled “ Ethical Dilemmas: What would you do? Becky presents moral dilemmas, often times from the tv show “what would you do?” The girls then think and discuss what they would do in that specific complicated situation. Afterwards they then discuss what middah they would have to implement in that situation to succeed. Finally, that middah is learned by going into depth with sources over the span of a few chaburahs. And then on to the next! This hands on and applicable way of learning about middot has the unbelievable potential to build confidence in how to act when presented with moral dilemmas.

Pick a quote that weve mentioned in chabura and explain how it relates to you or your summer:

Basia: “If a person falls from his level, he should know that the whole purpose of the rejection is thsat he should be drawn closer… the proper thing to do is to begin afresh as if you were just starting to serve god. Start now as if you had never begun before at all” – Rebbe Nachman

Focusing on a mitzvah is a challenge, one that Ive faces many times. When I decide to focus on a mitzvah I will inevitably start with guste , only to find myself stuggling once again. Its very disheartening. But Rebbe Nachman’s quote has given me a new perspective. Instead of loving motivation and giving up on the mitzvah, I just need to try again. “modeh Ani…” Every day when our soul is returned to us its like we are a different person, a person who has not yet had an opportunity to serve god. So as Rebbe Nachman says: we can start a new. Everyday we are given a second chance. This quote has taught me that even failure doesn’t mean I should stop striving to perfect myself.

Henna: My favorite quote from our chaburah is “It takes a lot of courage to begin, but this is not the deepest coutrage we need. The deepest courage we need is to really hold on.”
This quote really spoek to me. Sometimes when I am having trpoube with something its easy to change it in the moment but later it becomes routine and the insporation is gone and its harder to keep doing it.

Rachaeli: “The quote I chose was “Patience is not simply the ability to wait- it’s how we behave while were waiting.” I chose this quote because this summer was tested with patience numerous times. One way that affected me most was when we were waiting for the buses, or waiting to go somewhere and for whatever reason we got stalled. We could have all complained and got angry, or we could make the most of the time and spend it together interacting with friends having the Best. Summer. Ever.

Brina Bressler is from Toronto, Ontario. She went to Tiferes Bais Yaakov for high school, spent a year in Michlalah, and now is in York University.
The girls in Brina’s Chaburah are Goldy Weissman (Cedarhurst, NY), Gabi Froom (Toronto, Ont), and Ayelet Strauss (Staten Island, NY).

Brina’s chabura is on Pirkei Avos. Each day we learn a different mishna and focus on the middos and messages that each one teaches us. The goal is to internalize these ideas and apply it to our everyday lives!!!

What did you come to camp without that you are leaving with?

Goldy: “This year on Michlelet, I did not come with as much of a knowledge that HaShem is always controlling EVERYTHING. When I leave Eretz Yisroel after this summer, I will fully understand how even though i may plan something, Hashem’s plan is the ultimate and best of all. As a leader, being that I am Shana bet, I gained the realization of how important positive attitude is. I now know that when I am an older more experienced person, I have the power to change the atmosphere for better or worse depending on my personal attitude because people look up to me and follow my lead.”

Gabi: “Besides gaining a deep relationship with some fun bugs, shnitzel, and New York accents, I really did make a lot of friends and now have a real appreciation of being able to visit Eretz Yisroel safely BH.”

Ayelet: “I came to camp without friends from places out of New York, and I’m leaving with friends from Canada to Israel.”

Sara Wiener is from Teaneck, New Jersey and she is so excited to be spending her second summer here on Michlelet- previously as a camper, and now as a madricha. She went to Bruriah High School, then to Michlalah, and currently attends Touro College in Manhattan. After majoring in psychology, her hope is to go on to social work graduate school.
The girls in Sara’s Chaburah are Michal Miller (Woodmere, NY), Hadassi Cohen (Houston, TX), Zehava Gros (Kew Gardens Hills,NY), and Maytal Cuperfain (Toronto, Canada).
The topic of the Chaburah is Nature/ “Ma Rabu Maasecha Hashem.” Each day focuses on a different element of nature by first going through the sources of where it comes up in Torah, and then developing a hashkafa of what it represents for us and what we can learn from it. For example, we learned how light/day, represents something that is completely spiritual in the physical world, and we discussed how Bnei Yisrael are the “light unto the nations,” because we are spiritual beings in the physical world.

If you could be anything in nature, what would you be and why?

Michal: “Fire because fire is compared to Torah. Also, fire goes upwards, always striving to be closer to Hashem.”
Hadassi: “Body of water so I could sustain everyone in the world/ all living beings.”
Zehava: “Water because it sustains the rest of G-d’s beautiful creations.”
Maytal: “I would want to be a tree because a tree keeps growing” 🙂

Michlelet NCSY Shana Bet 2014 had an absolutely unforgettable summer experience!
An exciting perk of being part of Shana Bet is having an extra chaburah, which was definitely a highlight and a true bonding experience for us as a group. Over this past summer we had the opportunity to learn the ‘Iggeres HaRamban’ together. Whether in Chispin, in the Reishit library, or on a bus, we always found time. We spent time discussing how the letter, which the Ramban wrote to his son, expresses what the Ramban felt was important in life and how important it is for his son to prioritize his time. We learned from the letter that what a person chooses to pass down to the next generation is in essence a reflection of what was important to him in his own lifetime. The Ramban describes the ripple effect of how certain middot lead to others, both in a positive and negative way. As a unit we worked together on different middot as we learnt them, and challenged ourselves to inculcate the important lessons from the Ramban into our everyday lives.

SHANA BET IN ONE WORD:

“Life-changing” -Raisel Altman (Chicago, IL)
“Schnitzel” -Maytal Cuperfain (Toronto, ON)
“Growth” -Sarah Engel (Piedmont, CA)
“Special” -Yonina Fireman (Cleveland, OH)
“Exhilarating!” -Miri Fried (Woodmere, NY)
“Positive Attitude” -Matti Fuld (Teaneck, NJ)
“Chex-Mix” -Tali Ginsberg (Woodmere, NY)
“#Superawesome“ -Rivka Greenberg (Chi-town, IL)
“Insane” -Atara Huberfeld (Lawrence, NY)
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” -Moreet Levine (Teaneck, NJ)
“BETter” -Anna Lis (Skokie, IL)
“Shana Gimmel” -Eliana Nachman (Woodmere, NY)
“Inspirational” -Adira Shiff (Toronto, ON)
“Family” -Rachaeli Treitel (Monsey, NY)
“Options” -Hannah Warso (Chicago, IL)
“Amazing“ -Allison Weinick (Plainview, NY)
“Happy” -Goldy Weissman (Cedahurst, NY)

Liran Weizman grew up in Hong Kong, went to Midreshet Tehillah for Seminary and now currently resides in Manhattan, NY and attends Stern College for Women in New York as a Senior. She is completing a double major in Public Relations and Psychology with a minor in Computer Science. This is her first summer on Michlelet as a Madricha and it has been THE BEST SUMMER EVER with the most amazing campers, staff and teachers!

The girls in this SPECTACULAR, AWESOME CHABURA are Eliana Nachman (Our one and only Shana Gimmel from Woodmere, New York), Moriah Dubowsky (Las Vegas, Nevada), Sarah Comar (Chicago, Illinois), and Eliana Tanner (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

The topic of this chabura is “Making Plastic Holy” with a direct focus on elevating how we use our phone in a kedusha way. Each chabura was based on a different character trait and then connecting it to how we use our phone and social media from a Torah perspective. For example, when we learned about the midah of Ahavah, we had a discussion if we properly loved someone, would we really text in front of them.

What is one thing you feel you have gained from this summer?

Eli Nachman: “Man plans while G-d laughs. Who knew we would be eating so much shnitzel?”

Moriah: “You can do more in your Yiddishkeit and do more mitzvot. There is no one stopping you or holding you back, except for yourself.”

Sarah: “This summer I gained a great love and appreciation for Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael. Being here at such an intense time really cemented my commitment to the Jewish people.”

Eli Tanner: “I gained the full realization of Gam Zu Ltova and that even though we did not even up where we thought we would be, we ended up where Hashem knew we needed to be. And I personally gained so much from this summer that it makes sense to me why we needed to first go up to North to Chispin and do everything different then was originally planned.”

Kira Lustman is from Baltimore, Maryland and currently lives in New York, where she is going for her masters in social work from Hunter College. Kira spent a year and a half learning at Tiferet in Ramat Beit Shemesh, and then after graduated from Stern College for Women. While she has never been or worked on Michlelet before this summer, she is so excited to experience all that a Michlelet summer has in store, and be part of the Michlelet family!!!

The AMAZING girls in Kira’s chabura are Abby Andrew (St. Louis, MI), Jenelle Balk (Englewood, NJ), Corine Dahan (Teaneck, NJ), and Shenya Stern (Woodmere, NY).

Kira has always had a strong love and connection to kumzitzes, and because of that has chosen to focus her chabura on delving into different popular kumzitz songs. There is a special koach to singing which enables one to connect to Hashem in a very unique, deep, and most real way. By going through and understanding the true meaning of the words that we are singing we will be able to recognize and explore different middos that will propel us to strive to be the best we can be! The goal of this chabura is for the girls to be able to elevate singing at a kumzitz from a nice activity, to a meaningful experience of feeling closer to Hashem and growing in their avodas Hashem.

After going through and learning about many different songs, which kumzitz song do you feel best represents your experience on Michlelet?

Abby: “My favorite song we learned about in Kira’s chaburah that I feel best represents Michlelet for me is טוב להודות. It has been one of my favorite songs for a long time and now it has a new meaning to me. In life it is really easy to take things for granted and this song reminds me to always be thankful for even the slightest things, even the little details and have a real appreciation for everything I am given.”

Jenelle: “A song that really represents my experience this summer is Vehu Keli. In this song the message is we must have emunah and trust Hashem. Not going to Reishit and starting off the summer in a way I did not expect was hard for me. I didn’t understand what was going on and honestly was really frustrated. This summer I realized that stressing and worrying does nothing and at the end of the day Hashem has the ultimate plan. One of my favorite quotes is “man plans and god laughs” because we truly never know what will be. If you have trust in him and let Hashem take full control you will be a much happier person. This lesson I learnt here on this amazing program I will never forget.”

Corine: “The kumzitz song that i feel describes my experience in Michlelet is Im Eshkachech because even though i had a strong connection with Israel, Michlelet really enhanced it and made me love Israel more. And also Michlelet really made me more passionate about mashiach and wanting the Beit Hamikdash to be rebuilt.”

Shenya: “The song that best describes my experience on Michlelet is Acheniu Kol Bais Yisroel for many different reasons. We learn from this song how every Jew has a place in this world and is a piece that completes the puzzle. It helped me realize that I do have a place a in this world and I was put here to do a job no one else could do. It also helped me realize that just like I have a place in this world so does everyone else therefore I should respect them because they’re doing what they were sent here to do whether their skirt is long or short or whether they observe shabbos or not. It’s not my place to judge them because they’re in their place. Another line from this song is “meshibud li’geula” from slavery to redemption; we’ve become slaves to materialistic things and we don’t even realize it. People are addicted to their phones, food, and money. We’re asking Hashem to please redeem us from this “modern day slavery” hashta b’agala uvizman kariv!”

Today was WEDDING DAY!! After a day of chaburot and wedding prep, the girls were able to fulfill the mitzvah of hachnasat Kallah as they made and attended the beautiful wedding of Leah and Moshe! It was truly an unbelievable day!

Devorah Adler is from Woodmere, New York. She went to SKA high school and then spent a year in Michlalah. She is now in Queens college. Devorah went on Michlelet for two summers as a camper and has been loving being back as a Madricha.

The girls in Devorah’s Chaburah are Raisel Altman (Chicago, IL), Ayelet Landau (Cedarhurst, NY), and Shira Teichman (Clifton, NJ).

The topic of the Chabura is “Dear Blank Please Blank.” In each chaburah, they read a different letter. The letters range from poems to famous speeches to personal letters. After reading the letter, they delve into different middos that are derived from it. In order to make the middah more practical, each chaburah ends with a connection to a different part of tefillah. The goal of the chaburah is to take practical lessons and apply it to tefillah daily.

What is your favorite letter in the alphabet and why?

Ayelet: “If I could choose my favorite letter it would be the letter X. The letter X represents kibutz galuyot. In the letter X there are lines coming in from all 4 directions that meet at the center point. This is just like us. We all come from מארבע כנפות הארץ -different backgrounds, hashkafot, and beliefs, but we all come together and meet in the center. Our center point is the Torah which brings us all together and unites us as one nation. We each take our different paths in life but we can all end up at the same central point. This is especially relevant on Michlelet because there are so many girls from so many different backgrounds, but we all came here for the same goal, to learn and grow together.”

Raisel: “B will never be the first. It will always be behind A. Almost in the spotlight, but not quite, but B doesn’t mind. It is totally content in its placement. B is often ignored. Like in words thumb, dumb, and numb, but does it protest? Never. It stands dutifully and loyal. It doesn’t have to be mentioned. Just its own knowledge that it is doing its part to complete the word is satisfactory. We should all aspire to B like B. 😉

Shira: “My favorite letter in the alphabet would be J. J teaches you that you have to fall to rise up.”

It’s hard to believe it was out last tiyul day here on Michlelet! We wanted to make the most of it so we woke up bright and early and headed to Masada! Shana Bet-ers who had done that tiyul last year went zip lining. Afterwards we headed to the cool and refreshing Ein Gedi springs for some much needed swim time! It was a gorgeous ending to a wonderful string of tiyulim! After dinner back at Reishit we heard from Rabbi Avi Schneider, Rebbe at NCSY Kollel and Yeshivat Torat Shraga. We then had our jam packed annual talent show!

Tomorrow is wedding day! We are so excited!