Hadassah Weber lives in Efrat and spent the past year at Nishmat after two years of Sherut Leumi with the elderly. This is her first NCSY summer and she’s super excited for Michlelet to be the best summer yet.

Hadassah’s Chaburah is called Jewish Geography and the goal is to familiarize girls with other groups, places, eidot, stories, Gedolim and Minhagim in Judaism. This chaburah gives us great appreciation for the big picture. In the Chaburah the girls travel together to different countries and learn about the rich history of the country and how the people there served Hashem. By seeing where everyone came from, we can understand different customs we see, even if they are not our own.

Hadassah has four super cool campers in her Chaburah and when asked what their favorite part of the Chaburah (so far) has been, this is what they answered;
Raphaela from Minnesota- thinking with a different perspective
Rivka from New Jersey likes the environment
Yael from Bergenfield like the people
Meira from Beit Shemesh likes the discussions and the snacks 🙂

Eliana Antosofsky is from Teaneck, NJ. After attending Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, she spent a year and a half learning at MMY, and is currently in Stern College. Eliana is excited to spend this summer in Eretz Yisroel with the incredible girls on Michlelet!

The girls in Eliana’s Chabura are: Racheli Finkelstein, Elisheva Ismach, Elaina Korn, and Elana Newhouse.

Eliana’s Chabura is called “The Sound of Torah”. Each day a different song from either Tanach or Judaism is discussed. The goal is to show how music fills a role in our lives that nothing else can fill, as well as to make all of these songs that we sing (or say) all the time relevant to our lives. For example, Az Yashir teaches about Emunah, and Hallel teaches about the avoda of simcha. Once we know what the songs we sing all of the time mean, we will be better equipped to have kavana while saying those shiros.

How is Michlelet living up to your expectations?
Racheli Finkelstein: Michlelet is living up to my expectations because It is a perfect balance of everything a teenager wants to gain from a summer plus so much more.
Elisheva Ismach: Michlelet is definetely living up to my expectations. As I hoped I would, I’m learning so much from my madrichot, teachers, and amazing people and girls around me! I’m connecting to Israel and the Torah on a higher level then I ever have and I’m definetely having the best summer ever so far!!
Elaina Korn: Michlelet is living up to my expectations because of the learning, touring and chesed, it is exactly how I thought it would be, the learning is making me want to know and learn more for the sake of learning not tests. The touring is amazing being able to see the places we learned about all of our lives.
Elana Newhouse: Thank G-d, michlelet is reaching my expectations and each day gets better and better.

Today was a special day on Michlelet!! Our guests for the second day in a row, TJJ Ambassadors, made our morning of learning uplifting! They joined our awesome activities as well that included, ice cream making and Zumba with Shimi Adar!! Shimi was our second special guest for the day! After teaching her Zumba class she joined ua for lunch and chaburas and participated in the most incredible part of our day and maybe even the highlight of the summer: THE BRIDAL SHOWER!! Both TTJA and Michlelet girls spent the afternoon decorating the dining room for a beautiful shower. The Kallah and her mother were greeted at the door by girls singing and danced all the way up the stairs to the dining room. We opened presents had dinner together and were mesamach hakallah the entire evening. The energy in the room was AMAZING. The girls were ecstatic to be taking part in this huge mitzvah! The night ended with a great night speaker: Mrs. Haber! 

Today we had the ZECHUT of welcoming TJJ Ambassadors!! We started off with a train of Michlelet girls making arches leading all the way from the TJJA bus to the Beit Midrash that the TJJers ran through! Then, Rav Willig addressed us all together about what it means to have a relationship with Hashem. Afterwards the TJJers were split up into our Madrichot chaburahs and joined us in learning torah together all day. We had our amazing activities which TJJA was happy to be included in. We went on trips together in the afternoon to Kakadu painting, Ethiopian village and Stalactite Caves and a special stop at Rebar! TJJA joined us for all meals and our night speaker, Rabbi Burg after dinner. The day ended with an very fun night activity called Panic. We got dressed up as different people using only the items in our dorm rooms. Thanks to programming staff for a great night! The girls really enjoyed spending time with the TJJA participants and getting to know them. We cant wait to spend another day with them tomorrow! 

Gaby Stemp is from Queens, NY, went to the Ramaz Upper School, and spent 2 years in MMY. She just finished a year at Barnard College but will be making Aliyah in September and will study neuroscience at Bar Ilan University. Gaby is so excited to be able to give back to Michlelet, which had such a huge impact on her as a camper.

Gaby’s chaburah is titled “Ishei HaTanach: Role Models for Life.” With all of the negative influences and role models in today’s society, it is easy to lose sight of what is important and difficult to have any real character growth. But if we look to the figures in Tanach- their triumphs and tribulations, where they are successful and where they stumble, and their own journeys of growth- we can learn what it means to embody different middot and how to develop these middot in a practical way. Ishei HaTanach, in particular, are so important to hold as role models because they are perfectly imperfect, and teach us to embrace our own imperfections and to use them to grow. Each chaburah focuses on a different middah and uses instances where we see this middah in Tanach as a springboard for a larger discussion. Gaby’s goal is to help the girls develop their middot while simultaneously accepting their imperfections, using them to grow even further, and embracing their whole selves.

Gaby’s incredible homeroom girls are: Shira Friedman (Hillside, NJ), Tehilla Kornwasser (Teaneck, NJ), Chana Esther Schwartz (Teaneck, NJ), and Rena Vegh (Philadelphia, PA).

If you could have dinner with anyone in Tanach, who would it be and why?

Shira- I think I would meet with Aharon HaKohen because I would like to see how he is able to talk to and work with everyone with shalom.

Tehila- Yehonatan because he embodies what it means to embrace the ratzon of Hashem.

Chana Ester- Chana so I could meet the person that my name came from.

Rena- Avraham Avinu. Because first of all, I heard he prepares a mean meal for his guests! And second of all, I would love to have a conversation with him about how he always stayed strong and trusted in Hashem through his extremely difficult nisyonos.

Today started off great with a schedule of phenomenal chaburahs and shiurim which got us energized and excited for the rest of the day!! After lunch we loaded the buses and went to the Gush. First we visited a park called Oz Vgaon, a park dedicated in memory of the 3 boys that were kidnapped, Ayal, Gilad and Naftali. We heard about how the entire park was built by volunteers and keeps being added to all the time. In the last 4 years many benches, areas and tents have been built there. We had the ZECHUT of helping to prepare land for planting trees. The girls took part first hand in YISHUV ERETZ YISRAEL and had a blast doing it. After we finished our work there we went to ziplining! An amazing thrill of adventure to end off our time in the Gush. When we returned to Reishit we heard from Rabbi Katz and ended off the night with a an exciting night activity: FEAR FACTOR. Girls volunteered for crazy fun challenges and everyone had a good time watching and participating. More to come tomorrow!! 

Dassy Domnitch is from Teaneck, NJ and is currently studying psychology in Stern college. She went to Bruriah for high school and then spent a year and a half in Midreshet Moriah. Dassy came on Michlelet as a madricha last summer and is so excited to be back! Dassy’s chaburah is called והלכת בדרכיו – Through their footsteps. The chaburah focuses on different gedolim and the extraordinary middos they can teach us. The goal of the chabura is to gain a stronger appreciation for Gedolei Yisroel and to find practical ways to emulate their middos in everyday interactions.
The girls in Dassy’s chabura are:
Chana Acobas (Great Neck), Rebecca Spitzer (Manhattan), Rivka Grosberg (Baltimore), and Kayla Miodownik (Highland Park)

What was your favorite part of the Eilat trip?
Chana: My favorite part of the eilat trip was the water sports. Me and my friends went on the pancake and it was really fun trying to hold on without falling in. After, we ate amazing pizza for lunch from big apple pizza.
Rebecca: My favorite part of the Eilat trip was definitely tubing !
Rivka: My favorite part of Elat was going repelling and jeeping. We got to see a beautiful view and gave us a chance to try new things. This was an adventure I will never forget!
Kayla: My favorite part of the Eilat trip was the tubing. It felt amazing to get into the water after a hot day. I also appreciated how challenging it was to hold on. Tubing will definitely be one of my favorite summer highlights.

Aviva Jacobs is from Teaneck, NJ and is now a senior in Stern College studying Jewish Education and English literature. She went to Bruriah for high school and then spent a year learning in Michlalah. After an incredible summer on Michlelet as a camper, Aviva is so excited to be back and give back as a madricha!

The amazing girls in Aviva’s chabura are Esther Dyckman (Queens, NY), Ayelet Wasserman (Yerushalayim, Israel), Goldie Walls (Silverspring, MD), and Tzivya Gross (West Hempstead, NY).

Aviva’s chabura is called “The Language of the Soul: Exploring our Shabbos Zemiros”. Each chabura is based off of one of the beautiful zemiros which we sing every week, and focuses on the main theme or midah connected to the zemer and it’s relevance and practical application for our own lives. Our goal is to develop a greater appreciation and personal connection to the Shabbos zemiros, and to use the ideas we learn to enhance our own avodas Hashem.

What was your favorite part of Shabbos on Michlelet?

Esther: The kumzitz at the end of Shabbos. When we were all singing together you felt very connected and felt the achdus.

Ayelet: The awesome Shiurim.

Goldie: The tisch with the Rabbi and the Rebbetzin and all the singing and ruach, it was uplifting.

Tzivya: The ruach and zemiros by the Shabbos table and everyone singing, it sounded really beautiful.

Aliza Hersch is from Woodmere, NY, went to SKA for high school, spent a year in MMY, and is now studying in Stern College. Aliza is back for her second summer as a madricha and is having an incredible time being able to give back to the program that made such an impact on her as a camper!

Aliza’s chaburah is called “Life is a Highway: Your Road Trip to Greatness.” The chaburah takes different aspects of a road trip and uses to them impart a variety of life lessons and values. Some examples include: checking the weather corresponding to the power of perspective, pot holes and the impact of the small things in life, patience through traffic, and car music teaching the value in every individual. Aliza loves getting to learn with and from the girls in her chaburah, and hopes the lessons they learn together can serve as guiding perspectives through each of their personal life journeys!

Aliza’s feels so privileged to have these amazing girls in her homeroom: Dina Amos (Staten Island, NY), Tova Adam (Passaic, NJ), Elisheva Glatt (Woodmere, NY), Aviva Itskowitz (Pittsburgh, PA), Huvie Travis (Baltimore, MD)

If you could take a road trip anywhere in the world where would it be?

Tova: I would like to take a road trip around all the 50 states because they are just beautiful places. The US is where I’m from and I want to see the places I grew up in

Dina: I would love to do a road trip all over America through Canada then finally go to Alaska to see the northern lights. I would love to tour America because I feel like every state is a different country, Canada because the people are probably very nice, and the landscape is clean and stunning. Then Alaska because I love the cold and the northern lights are probably awesome

Elisheva: I would want to go on a road trip around Europe because I’ve never been there and there are a lot of interesting things to see and do there

Aviva: I would want to take a road trip through Europe because I would want to see where my grandparents and my family came from and grew up/lived

Huvie: I would like to tour all over Asia because I’ve never been there before

What an incredible week on Michlelet!