Today was an an amazing packed day on campus!

We learned with our teachers and madrichot, had creative and fun activities like cake decorating, jump rope, tennis and basketball!

We were so excited to welcome NCSY GIVE to our campus for dinner, to hear Mrs. Yudin speak, and of course for our annual MICHLELET vs GIVE basketball game!!!!

The energy could be felt in the air as the girls headed to the basketball court in their jerseys and swag! Cheers and songs from both programs were sung! After a close game, Michlelet won 29 to 28!!! We’re so proud of everyone’s skills and middos on the court! Everyone was happy to see old friends and meet new ones!

Stay tuned and check out our pictures!

Yael Mashiach, from Chicago, couldn’t be more excited to spend her first summer on Michlelet!! After high school, Yael spent a year in Israel at Shaalvim for Women and is currently studying at Stern in Manhattan. Through out the year she is a Midwest NCSY regional advisor!

The amazing girls in Yael’s chabura are Hayley Tanzman, Shira Kosowsky, Batsheva Rubin and Nelaje Branch.

Yael’s chabura is called Torah Through the Eyes of YouTube. The chabura focuses on middot and core Torah values. After watching a video related to the topic of the day. The girls discuss what they think it means and how it relates to their life. Every day they discover more about themselves as they discuss different concepts, middot and values. The chabura goes through various different Torah sources to be able to bring the topic to life. At the end of each chabura the girls leave with an understanding that Torah is their guid to life and how they can utilize each concept to improve and love Torah to its fullest.

Question: If you could be a food what would you be and why? 

Shira Kosowsky- I would be a prickly pear so no one would eat me.

Batsheva Rubin-Definitely mac and cheese because everyone loves it and I’m creamy, but almost chewable.

Nelaje Branch-I would be a pizza with veggie sausage because although I have many diverse layers and situations to me ,I become one cohesive world loved meal. And you can eat it at any time of day

Hayley Tanzman- A really good STEAK because cooked perfectly and juicy. it’s amazing like me.

Red noses! Tutus! Smiles galore!

Yesterday, on Sunday, we had medical clowning training, followed by trips to different hospitals in Yerushalayim where we visited patients, sang, and told jokes to brighten their day!

Upon returning to campus, we ate dinner, heard Rabbi Goldsmith speak, and then had a crazy fun night activity searching for our madrichot who disguised themselves in the mall!!

Stay tuned and check out our pictures!

Yet another great day on NCSY Michlelet!!! We kicked off the morning with an outdoor breakfast, followed by amazing learning with our madrichot and teachers! Our activities today utilized girls’ various talents including braiding hair and face painting!!

After lunch, we changed into our messy clothes and headed to different community centers in Ramla to paint their rooms! We moved the furniture, lined the floors with plastic, and painted away!! Fun was had by all, ano we headed home with Popsicles!

We ended the day with a delicious dinner, fun night activity of making videos with our homerooms, and packing up for the weekend!

The day and the whole week was amazing! Wishing everyone a relaxing and fun off shabbos and can’t wait to get back together on motzei shabbos!

Stay tuned and remember to check out our pictures!

Shabbat shalom from Michlelet!!!

Ariella Freedman is from Lawrence, NY. She attended Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central), followed by a year of learning at MMY, and is currently a senior at Stern College for Women. Ariella went on Michlelet as a camper and is so excited to be back as a madricha!

Ariella has the utmost privilege of having Leah Feder (West Hempstead, NY), Arielle Miodownik (Highland Park, NJ), Sophia Fromme (Hollywood, FL), and Leora Trencher (Silver Spring, MD) in her chaburah!

Ariella’s chaburah is based off the Tomer Devorah, a sefer written by the great kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero zt”l. We are focusing on the first chapter, in which he identifies Hashem’s 13 Attributes of Mercy and explains how we can practically emulate these middot in our own lives. Throughout the summer, we will discuss middot such as patience, forgiveness, and generosity. B’ezrat Hashem, we will gain greater clarity in seeing the tremendous chessed Hashem does for us in our lives through internalizing these attributes and applying them to our own relationships.

How have you felt closer to Hashem through learning His 13 Attributes of Mercy?

Leah: When learning the 13 middot, I feel like I am building a relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. These middot are Him; They are what I hope to emulate and be. Hashem is powerful and loving and everything else. He judges favorably and is merciful and truthful. Through learning these middot, I know what to strive for. This summer I have the incredible opportunity to be on Michlelet. Here, I am given the tools to become a better me. Through this chaburah I hope to grow as a bat yisroel. L’Shana HaBa’ah B’Yerushalayim!

Arielle: The more you know about a person, the closer you feel to them. In our chaburah, we had a list of deep questions to discuss with the person sitting next to us. This made us feel closer to each other because we knew more about our partner. The same is with Hashem. The more we know about Him and His attributes, the closer we feel to Him.

Sophia: I have felt closer to far to Hashem by learning the 13 middot of rachamim! Since by emulating the attributes of Hashem, you can have a closer relationship with Him. Also, just knowing them doesn’t do justice, by knowing how to apply them to life can impact you as a person.

Leora: The more you learn about someone, the more you understand them and the closer you feel to them. We, as Jews, are supposed to do our best to try and emulate Hashem’s middot. So, by learning the 13 middot of Hashem, I am learning more and more about the characteristics of Hashem and how to emulate them in order to be my best self. I feel closer to Hashem because I am learning a seder in my chaburah that helps me understand just the kind of middot Hashem has unconditionally towards us, the Jewish people.

We can’t believe it’s trip day already!! We packed our lunches and headed South to Masada, where we saw the remnants of Herod’s palace. 

We then ate lunch, hiked Ein Gedi, and had some amazing singing, dancing, and splashing in the waterfall and pools with all our friends!!! It was such a beautiful day together.

We headed back to Reishit for a delicious dinner, followed by a speech by Mrs. Schneider, and a chill night activity. 

Looking forward to a great chesed trip tomorrow! Remember to check out our pictures!! 🙂

Elana Kaminetsky is from Boca Raton, Florida and attended Weinbaum Yeshiva High School followed by Michlalah and she just graduated from Stern. This is her third summer as a madricha and she is very excited to be back.

The girls in Elana’s chabura are Aviva Barth (Queens, New York),  Estee Brooks (Denver, Colorado), Esther Miller (Woodmere, New York), and Marnie Weingarten (Queens, New York).

Elana’s Chabura topic is “Songs In Real Life.” The Chabura is based on different popular Jewish songs. After listening to the song, the girls go through the original source of the words as well as various other sources to discuss the meaning of the song. The goal of the chabura is to realize the unbelievable power that song has to inspire and bring genuine simcha to our Avodas Hashem.

What song would you use to describe your Michlelet experience thus far?

Aviva Barth- I would say that the song “Feel the Music” by Nachas describes my michlelet experience. On michlelet you feel the music in lots of way. Michlelet is a camp with lots of achdus; we all come from different backgrounds and from different places, yet we have the same goal and you can feel that.  It’s like one big family because we are all united. In addition, whenever music is playing on michlelet, you literally feel it whether it’s shabbos zmiros or a kumzitz. Michlelet caused me to really understand what feeling the music is. The song also talks about jumping higher, which to me symbolizes growth. Spiritual growth really does take place on michlelet and here I have learnt that growing never ends and you should always aim higher.

Estee Brooks- I think The song ואהבת לרעך כמוך by yeshiva boys choir describes Michlelet because everyone here is very friendly and kind.  I came knowing only one person and yet in no time I have made a lot of new friends because everyone here is so outgoing!

Esther Miller- Odcha by the Chevra 2 because through Michlelet we learn that thanking Hashem is a way to connect with Him and other ways to connect with Him is learning Torah, doing Chessed, being at home in Israel, and doing what we think is right in Hashem’s eyes. All of this is achieved throughout the program and we have all been able to thank Hashem for such a great opportunity and have connected to Him even more by doing everything we’ve been doing here on Michlelet.

Marnie Weingarten- I feel that “Mahapecha Shel Simcha” perfectly describes Michlelet ncsy. The song talks about family achdus and simcha and that’s what Michlelet is all about. Not a day goes by where the feeling as one family is not felt.

Ariella Weiss is from Woodmere, New York. After attending SKA for high school, she went Tiferet for seminary and is now in Queens College.

In Ariella’s chabura they are learning the Sefer Chovos Hatalmidim, written by the Piaseczna Rebbe. Together they are learning about what is really means to be a Jew; to have a relationship with Hashem, and how to open heir hearts to learning how to be an eved Hashem and unlock their potential.

The girls in Raizy’s chabura are: Orly Baras (Silver Spring, MD), Yaira Lightman (Lawrence, NY), Efrat Rosenwasser (Chicago, ?) and Temima Feder (Lawrence, NY).

What’s your favorite emoji and why?

Temima: ? While this emoji seems typical, I find myself using it a lot. It’s constantly in my recently used because the way one texts is the way they want to be thought of. It’s easy to be the person you want to be when you can’t see the other persons face and you feel more free. I strive to be a happy person. I love to laugh because when I’m happy, achieving the rest of my goals is so much easier and more enjoyable. I will always try to stay spirited and laugh.

Yaira: ?? The Israeli flag represents more than just my homeland. It represents the connection I feel towards being a Jew.  My parents infused in me the importance of Jewish history and Israel is the place where it all happened. I feel a certain sense of appreciation towards the land of which I get to spend my summer in learning Torah.

Efrat: ? I chose this emoji because you can make anything a party just by adding this emoji. It has so much to offer in life! For example, when a someone sends a mass-text inviting a bunch of friends somewhere, it can really lighten the mood to just respond something like “WOO can’t wait” with a bunch of ??? And with making our daily activities more positive and exciting for everyone, we will be zocheh to have the time of our lives!!

Julie Harary is from beautiful and sunny Hollywood, Florida and currently lives in the very freezing (yet great) NYC. This is her fourth summer on Michlelet, and she’s so excited to be back! 

We had a great day with the girls of TJJA again! 

Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin gave a fantastic session on public speaking tips and the importance of telling our own stories. Girls from both programs then got up to tell their heart felt stories, and they did a fantastic job!!!

We had fun activities including basketball, tennis, baking, zumba, and swimming! The CLIMAX of our day was preparing the bridal shower for our kallah! From wrapping gifts to hanging balloons, everything was decorated!

When the kallah arrived with her family, we danced, sang, gave divrei Torah and bracha, and had a real party overall!

We heard Mrs. Haber speak to us at night, followed by a thrilling night activity of Panopoly, followed by Torah Tuesday with Ayelet.

We’re so grateful for another fantastic day! Stay tuned for our trip to Masada and Ein Gedi tomorrow! Remember to check out our pictures