Dear Michlelet NCSY Parents,

We are off to a phenomenal start here at Michlelet NCSY 2013! We have a fantastic group of girls this summer, from all over the US, Canada and Israel. The positivity, enthusiasm and excitement can be felt in the air.

On Monday, July 1st, after getting some food and refreshments at the airport, we came to our beautiful campus at Reishit.  There, the girls put their stuff down while the porters brought their suitcases into campus, unpacked a bit, had delicious refreshments, got their phones and then had dinner. Following dinner, we had a fun “getting- to-know-you” game on our outdoor basketball courts.  Afterwards, we called it a night so the girls could unpack and get some very much needed sleep.

On Tuesday, after davening and breakfast, we had Orientation, where the girls got to meet our head staff formally and find out about our exciting program and schedule. The girls heard from myself, Mrs. Shanie Warman; Assistant Director,  Mrs. Shulie Fried our Camp Nurse and Camp Mom, Rabbi Andi Yudin, Aliza Saltzburg and Racheli Schwartz; Head Madrichot and Atara Starr and Mimi Fuchs; Activities Coordinators. Afterwards, we had the privelege of hearing from Rabbi Zev Leff, Rav of Moshav Matityahu and world renowned  speaker and author.  He spoke so beautifully about Love of Eretz Yisroel and of ourselves.  His words were so profound and inspiring.

After lunch, we headed out to the Old City, where we toured The City of David and hiked through Chizkiyahu’s Water Tunnels with our flashlights, where we got all wet and had a great (wet!) time, singing and cheering in the tunnels while splashing.  Meanwhile, the Shana Bet girls went to the Hashmonayim Aqueducts in Armon Hanetziv and went on a special tour to see the latest findings in Ir David and to the Old City.  Then, we all got to daven (pray) at the Kotel; how special and moving that was.  For some, it was the first time they had ever been to the Kotel!

We then headed for the Hass Promenade, the Tayelet, for dinner from Holy Bagel, where we got to take in the breathtaking view of sunset, from a place where you are literally overlooking all of Yerushalayim, the place where Avraham Avinu and Yitzchok were as they looked up and saw the place where the akaida would take place.  There, we ate our Holy Bagel dinner, relaxing, spending time with friends and meeting new people.  It was truly an amazing first day!

Wednesday, July 3rd, we had our first full morning and afternoon of learning and activities.  Our morning teachers, Mrs. Arielle Arielli, Mrs. Nilli Versheleizer, Mrs. Batya Weinberg and Rabbi Benjamin Yudin for Shana Bet, are all phenomenal, warm, special educators and we are so proud to have them on our staff.  

Following shiur, the girls got to learn from their madrichot chaburahs, the informal learning sessions with their madrichot (advisors.)  Follow us on our blog this summer and we will be posting Spotlights on the various Madricha Chaburot and the girls in them every few days, starting this coming week.

 Following that, the girls had a plethora of activities to choose from- swimming, basketball, art, aerobics, pioneering choir and drama. They got to have fun and let out some energy.

After lunch, we had our first afternoon schedule of learning. The girls got to learn from one of our incredible afternoon teachers.  Our afternoon teachers, Mrs. Sara Leah Haber, Atara Starr, Mimi Fuchs, Rabbi Avrohom Willig and Mrs. Shanie Warman for Shana Bet, are devoted, dynamic, incredible role models and we are so lucky to have them with us. Then, they had sessions with their second madricha (advisor.) You can check out all our madrichot on our staff page.

After afternoon learning, the girls got to choose another activity; whether it was Pioneering, Volleyball, Cake decorating, Exercise, Dodgeball or Dance, they had a great time.

In the evening, after dinner, we heard from our very first night speaker, Rabbi Menachem Nissel, reknowned speaker and author of Rigshei Lev on Women and Tefilah.  The girls were thrilled to hear from him, and he spoke of the power of the first passuk(verse)  in Shema, perhaps the most powerful six words in our Tefillah. He explained how these six words depict our mission statement as the Jewish people in terms of what makes us unique and what we are here to accomplish. The girls laughed and laughed some more, walking away with an inspiring, thought- provoking message.

Then, we were off to our first night activity…. OLYMPICS!!  You could hear the cheering, singing and laughter from far away as the girls really got into the night activity, having a fantastic time, getting to know each other more and letting loose in a healthy fun environment.

Thursday morning, July 4^th, we were up bright and early and davened, ate breakfast and we went down to the buses for our first Thursday chessed trip (volunteering.) The girls were divided up into 3 and some went to Yad Eliezer, some went to Ohr Meir Uvracha and some went to the Jaffa Gate Institute.  In each place the girls got to package food. 

At Yad Eliezer, an organization providing thousands of people throughout Israel with food that they would otherwise would not be able to afford, the girls packed over 80 boxes to be sent out to 80 families. You can see the beautiful letter that Yad Eliezer emailed me later on that day on our blog. At Ohr Meir Uvracha, the girls packaged foods for terror victims in crisis. There they got to speak with the incredible woman who started it, Mrs. Liora Tegdi, a mother of 10 who was injured a number of years ago in a car bomb attack in Jerusalem.  At The Jaffa Institute, located right outside Tel Aviv, the girls packaged foods that would soon after be distributed to needy families as well as Holocaust survivors. In all three places, the institutions were blown away by the efficiency, positivity, organization and helpfulness of our girls! The girls felt so good about the special chessed they had done!!

Then, they headed back to Reishit for lunch and then another fantastic afternoon of learning with their fabulous afternoon teachers and dedicated madrichot. Then, for activities, they chose from Choir, Drama, Volleyball, Basketball, Cooking/Baking or Weekly Newsletter.

After dinner, we had the privilege of hearing from Mrs. Shira Smiles, international lecturer and popular seminary teacher.  Mrs. Smiles’ brilliant and dynamic presentation had the girls riveted. Mrs. Smiles spoke about the five qualities of a leader which also apply to knowing yourself and growing as a person. From there, the girls went straight to our unbelievable Night Activity of “Iron Chef Michlelet!!!!" The girls were split into groups and asked to bake a dessert that would represent the theme of "July 4th"using 3 (very interesting) secret ingredients. They were judged based on taste, creativity and presentation....and boy, were they creative! The results were fascinating, and the girls had a BLAST!!  You can hear them on our hotline cheering during the night activity!

We are very excited for our first Shabbos here at Michlelet NCSY 2013. The girls have been singing looking forward to Shabbos songs all week and are really pumped and excited about it. We are looking forward to a beautiful first Shabbos filled with unity, singing, laughter and meaning and we have special programs planned for the girls (including more “getting-to-know-you” activities) as well as Melave Malka for Motzei Shabbat (Saturday night.)

Please remember to check our website for updated blog, pictures, shiurim and more at michlelet.ncsy.org/

  Our weekly pre-Shabbos recap video can be viewed there as well.   In addition, I will be updating our phone hotline weekly.  Enjoy!

Please feel free to be in touch throughout the summer with any feedback, comments, questions or concerns you may have. My email address is yudinr@ncsy.org

On a personal note, I am looking forward to getting to know better each and every one of your daughters.

Good Shabbos,

Mrs. Rivka Yudin

Director

Michlelet NCSY

yudinr@ncsy.org

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