Julie is from Hollywood, Florida and a student at Stern College. This is her third summer on Michlelet and she’s so excited to be back!

The NCSYers in Julie’s chabura are Chaya Shira Fink (Woodmere, NY), Sarah Last (Plainview, NY), Michali Mazor (Boca Raton, FL) and Tzipora Hirsch (Queens, NY).

Julie’s chaburah is about the Sheish Zechirot. It’s a small tefilah said at the end of Shachrit every morning, in which we remember six events and people in Jewish history.

Each zechira is it’s own unit, in which the girls discuss the topic, why it needs to be remembered and then connect it to relevant ideas encountered in their daily lives. The goal of the chabura is to understand each zechira and the history behind it, and then learn something very special from it. The girls should hopefully make the Sheish Zechirot a part of their daily tefilah, and connect to each in a new and unique way.

Q: If you could plan your own color war, which team would you be on and why?

Chaya Shira: “Team Or, to represent all of the good that Hashem does for us.”
Sarah: “Team red, to represent #pimplepesach!”
Michali: “Team Ahava, to help show and increase our Ahavat Yisrael during this time.”
Tzipora: “Team Rainbow, so none of the other colors feel left out!”

Chani Hyman is from Teaneck, NJ. She went to Bruriah for high school, then spent a year in MMY, and is now a junior in Stern College.

The girls in Chani’s chaburah are Shira Felsenthal (Beit Shemesh, Israel), Ayelet Berkowitz (Silver Spring, MD), Allison Weinick (Plainview, NY), and Chava Segal (New York, NY).

Chani’s chaburah focuses on the importance of emulating Gedolim and Tzadikkim. By reading stories and discussing the lives of Gedolei Hador, we realize how much there is to learn from them. Each chaburah continues with sources that support that message or middah. The goal is to internalize these ideas and integrate it into our daily lives.

Q: If you could travel to any place, where would it be and why?

Shira: “Arkansas because based on my vast knowledge of the U.S. nobody ever goes there, and I think it feels left out. We learned in chaburah that it’s important to pay attention to little things, and find your role in life. Therefore, I would go to the little state Arkansas, because even though it’s small it could make a big difference in my life and theirs.”

Ayelet: “I would visit Africa to play with the children and make them happy, because we learnt in chaburah the importance of an act of chessed and how one small deed can change someone’s day.”

Allison: “I would stay here in Israel because it is our homeland which is filled with kedusha.”

Chava: “If I can go anywhere in the world I would want to go to Poland. My interest stems from the stories that my grandmother has told me and my imagination of what life was like in the old country.”

Today was an unbelievable day of ruach, fun and achdut here on Michlelet NCSY! Our NCSYers really got to shine and show their talents in sports, trivia, song, dance or art, and it was amazing to see their achdut and respect for one another throughout the day! Congratulations Sukkos/ Yellow Team! A huge yasher koach to all teams involved! We had a great day of learning and color war fun!

Sarit Zaret is from Chicago. She went to Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov for high school, and then went to Michlalah for a year and a half. Sarit is currently a student in Stern College, majoring in Biology. Sarit spent two summers as a camper on Michlelet and is so happy to be back for more!

The girls in Sarit’s homeroom are Ariella Benovitz (Monsey, NY), Leah Berman (Toronto, Canada), Miri Minkowitz (Brooklyn, NY), and Margalit Silver (Teaneck, NJ).

Sarit’s chabura is on the specialness of Shabbos Kodesh. They go through Hebrew and English Torah sources starting with the written Torah and Gemara, through contemporary sources, all discussing different aspects of Shabbos and the meaning of it. Through each chabura consisting of sources and great discussions, girls build an excitement for Shabbos, the holiest day of the week. The learning in the chabura allows girls to apply the concepts of Shabbos weekly, creating a special connection with HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

What is your favorite part about Shabbos on Michlelet?
Ariella: “tisch -the food, the Rebbe, the works!”
Leah: “Ebbing because we have so much achdus as we sing together.”
Miri: “the singing and dancing on Friday night because I feel the achdus!”
Margalit: “the shiurim because there are always such great speakers!”

It was another awesome day of learning here on Michlelet NCSY! We had a day full of learning and activities and were zoche to hear from Rav Hershel Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University as our night speaker. Afterwards, Rav Netanel Leibowitz broke out… COLOR WAR!!! After announcing our camper and madricha generals, the girls split up for team time to prepare for tomorrow’s Color War activities! Good luck Pesach (orange), Shavuos (green) and Sukkos (yellow)! We can’t wait to see all your talents shine!

Dear NCSY Michlelet Parents
Our Shabbos here in Chispin was absolutely fabulous!! To have the buildup of sharing three Shabbatot together in a row made the third Shabbos we spent together surpass even the incredible Shabbatot we’ve spent together up until now. It was truly uplifting, unified and full of spirit! Today was a fulfilling day with a combination of a phenomenal chessed trip and wonderful learning. We are looking forward to another wonderful day here in Chispin tomorrow.
May there be peace for all of Am Yisroel.

Mrs. Rivka Yudin
Director
Michlelet NCSY

Cori Dennis is from North Miami Beach, Florida. She went to Weinbaum Yeshiva High School, then spent a year and a half at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim (MMY) and is currently attending Stern College.

The girls in Cori’s Chabura are Moreet Levine (Teaneck, NJ), Reut Rappaport (Alon Shvut, Israel), Shira Levy (West Hempstead, NY) and Rebecca Lipsky (West Hempstead, NY).

Cori’s chabura focuses on understanding Midrashim and Aggadatas. By reading through and discussing the texts of various Midrashim and Aggadatas, the deeper message becomes more apparent. Each chabura continues and concludes with sources that support the original theme. The objective is to internalize these themes and integrate each message described into our lives.

Q: Describe a mashal that would best fit an experience you’ve enjoyed on Michlelet so far!

Moreet: “Just like a plane that is missing one tiny screw would come crashing down, so too we learned on Michlelet when we went to ODT (outdoor training) how important each person is to her group. If one person doesn’t hold her weight, it would negatively impact the rest of the group.”

Reut: “In order to produce the finest grapes, three conditions are necessary: 1) fruitful seeds 2) good land and 3) proper agricultural work. The ריהל applies this to the Jewish nation. Bnei Yisrael are compared to the fruitful seeds and In order to obtain greatness the Jewish nation must be in the (good land) of Eretz Yisrael serving Hashem in the best way. On Michlelet we are able to come to Israel as a unified group and serve Hashem through learning torah and Chessed. Hopefully we will be able to reach greatness and be zoche to see the rebuilding of the bet hamikdash.”

Shira: “The bees and flowers share a relationship of mutual benefit. Even though at first glance it seems that the flowers give more than they receive, when you look closer it becomes clear that the flowers gain just as much, if not more, from the bees. On the Chessed trips that we go on, similarly to the flowers, we all walk away having gained more than we could have given.”

Rebecca: “On our hike we were climbing upwards and stepping over rocks in order to reach our goal. Similarly in life we should always be climbing and reaching toward greater heights.”

Our fabulous Michlelet NCSYers took part in an amazing chesed project today.
We split into 4 groups and traveled to 4 separate locations in Teveria, such as a nursing home and a soup kitchen, to paint their facilities. Some of these places required touch-ups only while some required more elaborate artwork and painting. The girls not only had a fabulous time but were also able to truly give back in a pure form of chesed – we are so proud! We enjoyed a delicious shwarma lunch afterwards before heading back to Chispin to clean ourselves off 🙂
After dinner we were privileged to hear from Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, director of NCSY Kollel (and father of our camper Atara Benovitz :), who spoke about the unique opportunity we have to be in Israel this summer, and left us feeling empowered to rebuild and stay strong.
Looking forward to another amazing week on Michlelet NCSY!

Shabbos on Michlelet was awesome for the third week in a row! Our weekend started when we all went to Tiveria together Friday morning to enjoy a day out strolling on the tayelet and enjoy the beautiful views of the Kinneret. The girls enjoyed walking around with their madrichot and being able to do some shopping and relaxing with their friends. We then got back to Chispin with plenty of time to get ready for Shabbos. Our Shabbos was amazing yet again! We were joined by Rav Avrohom Willig and family who told over beautiful Divrei Torah and sang zemirot with us. On Shabbos day we were zoche to hear from Rav Dov Zinger, Rosh Yeshiva of Mekor Chaim Yeshiva in the Gush, the Yeshiva of Naftali Fraenkel and Gilad Shaar hy’d. The girls were super leibadik and the achdus was really inspiring to see. After our beautiful Shabbos, we had an awesome Capture the Flag night activity around our Chispin campus and then enjoyed a delicious pizza Meleva Malka! Shavua Tov!