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! 

Atara Charnowitz is from Woodmere, N.Y and is currently studying in Queens College. Atara attended SKA high school and then spent a year and a half in Michlalah. She came on Michlelet as a camper, and coming back as a madricha has always been a dream of hers. Atara is so excited to be on Michlelet again and to participate in everything this amazing program has to offer.

The title of Atara’s chaburah is, “Your life starts now”. The goal of this chaburah is for the girls to learn the real meaning of time and make the most of each day. When learning about the value of every single day, the girls realize how important every moment in life is and how to utilize every day to the fullest. Through this chaburah, the girls will get the chance to learn about themselves on a much deeper level and find meaningful values and ideas which they can incorporate into their lives. Atara’s goal is to help them realize their potential through their ability of being proactive with each and every day.

The girls in Atara’s chaburah are:
Eleora Fine (Woodmere, NY), Anni Jacobowitz (Lawrence, NY), Rivka Loeb (Chicago, IL), and Yona Pamensky (Toronto, On ).

What is something you really enjoyed about the first week on Michlelet?
Eleora- This week, the first week on Michlelet I really enjoyed how we were able to make new friends while experiencing the combination of all different types of things that go on on Michlelet. There were such fun tiyulim, chessed trips, night activities and learning. I’m so excited for what else is to come on Michlelet iyH!

Anni- Michlelet so far has been amazing the trips chessed leaning etc…! One thing that really stood out to me was when we went to the kotel on the first day and how quickly we all connected and came together. Although we’re all from different places and from different backgrounds it didn’t matter we became as one.
Rivka- My favorite thing about michlelet this week was the super fun first day in Eilat! I first went to the salad trail and got to eat the vegetables of eretz yisrael which I thought was super cool! Then I went repelling down a cliff wich was a rare life experience. Then I went jeeping around Israel with all of my new friends that I met. Not one day goes to waste on michlelet!

Yona- Something I really enjoyed about the first week of michlelet was taking the Jeep tour in the Negev. It amazes me how I was looking at what was literally just sand and rocks, but somehow in Israel it is just breathtaking. I had the privilege of davening mincha at the top of a mountain while looking out on the beautiful view. I literally just kept saying מה רבו מעשך ה over and over, because seriously, how awesome are HaShem’s creations!!! This country never fails to amaze me with its beauty.

Meet Chanalee Elhyani who hails from Monsey NY. She currently attends Stern College for Women and is studying Jewish edu. She went to Bruriah HS and spent a year and a half in Tiferet in EY! This is her first NCSY summer and she’s so happy to be spending it as a madricha on michlelet!!
The girls in her chaburah are Sophie Greff, Indigo Paris, Devorah Frank, and Chani Wolfson.
Her chaburah is called “Putting the Yid back into Yiddishkeit” and the goal is to try and imbue some meaning into these girls lives/help them feel excited about their yiddishkeit (Judaism). We discuss different topics in chassidut and discuss how and what Gd used to create the world. We try to make everything practical and show how Judaism isn’t just something to learn, it’s something to live.

When she asked her chaburah what was the highlight of week 1- the responses were:
Sophie Greff: “I really love the activities, especially basketball league“
Indigo Paris: “the sunset every night has been absolutely breathtaking- always look forward to those views!”
Devorah Frank: “shabbos ebbing outside was amazing”
Chani: “I really liked the shabbos learning groups”

Day 2 in Eilat was spectacular!! Starting with a 4 am sunrise hike and ending with a BBQ at a park in Mitzpeh Rimon, we had a wonderful time. The beautiful sunrise hike and a delicious breakfast buffet at the hotel got the girls energized for water sports! Groups of girls had the opportunity to go to banana boating and tubing, paddle boating and more! Perfect to cool off during the Eilat summer heat! We had a pizza lunch and even ran into TJJ at the pier! Afterwards we headed to Top94 which had amazing indoor ropes courses, rock climbing, bungie jumping and obstacle courses 94 feet from the ground!! The girls had a blast challenging themselves on all the fun courses. We finally made it to the park and enjoyed a yummy BBQ together before heading back to Reishit. Stay tuned for more fun to come tomorrow!

Our first day in the south was one of the best yet!! We boarded buses at 9 am and went to the Salad Trail! The girls learned a lot about irrigation and the the moshav that grows the vegetables. We even got to pick and taste freshly grown tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots!! They were delicious! One bus of girls went to paint pottery and we all met up in Mitzpeh Rimon for jeeping and repelling! What a thrilling experience! The girls overcame their fears and felt very accomplished after repelling down the mountain. We had a great deli dinner afterwards and then made our way to the hotel in Eilat to get some sleep because tomorrow an early day starting with a sunrise hike!!

Today on Michlelet we had a FANATASTIC day full of shiurim, tiyulim and exciting activities!! It was the first day with afternoon chaburahs and activities and the girls loved it!! They were able to have classes and chaburahs not only in the morning but in the afternoon as well. They experienced many different subjects and teaching styles. In the afternoon we went on a mini tiyul to the Bar Kochva caves!! We had the best time climbing and bonding together during the walk through all the caves. We had the zechut of hearing from Shayna Goldberg who told us her incredible story of how she decided to make Aliyah and what her life is like living in Eretz Yisrael! During night activity afterwards we played a large game of steal the Latkes! What a great day! Next stop: Eilat! 

Today was an incredible day of learning and chesed on Michlelet!! This morning the girls had their first chaburahs and classes. They met their homeroom madrichot and went straight into shteigging over different topics from “Torah Through the Lens of Youtube” to “Dichotomies in Judaism”. The kol shel Torah could be heard ALL over Reishit!! It was also the first day of activities. Girls had the chance to participate in many activities such as: art, sports, beatboxing, boot camp, sign language and more!! After lunch at Reishit we boarded to buses to different chesed opportunities! We went to the Chabad Soup Kitchen in Maleah Adumim and Yad Ezra VeShulamit. We helped organize their huge pantry of food and packed bags with food, ingredients and cleaning supplies for over 300 needy families in the Maleh Adumim and Yerushalaim area. Girls also sorted piles and piles of donated clothing and prepared packages for families in need. They were so happy to have had such a great impact on klal Yisroel through their amazing chesed!! At night we heard a shiur from Rabbi Hajioff from Stern College for Women. The girls were so excited to have their first night speaker of the summer! Night activity that followed was a BLAST. Everyone came in to the room with a twin and we played MICHLELET GUESS WHO?! Looking forward to a day full of Torah and fun tomorrow!!

Donate to one of the organization we worked with today here: https://www.yadezra.net/?gclid=CjwKCAjw7IbaBRBqEiwA6AyZgnmS9GFkhkqrB2gfWQtzMxMZqynXLefBwnkwhUDIdvatqV9oZyc_eRoCNgsQAvD_BwE

We had an AMAZING first week on NCSY Michlelet!! Shabbat Shalom from Eretz Yisrael!!!!