Summer 2018

Tova Wieder is from Teaneck, New Jersey. She attended Maayanot for high school and then spent a year and a half in Shaalvim for Women. She is now in Stern College majoring in Speech Pathology. Tova was a madricha on Michlelet last summer and is so excited to be back!!

Tova’s chaburah goes through Rav Avigdor Miller’s 10 Steps to Greatness. Each step is a different, seemingly unconnected action. The common theme between these steps is the fact that they make us focus on the environment that we are in and recognize HaShem in our everyday lives.

The incredible girls in Tova’s homeroom are Adina Adler (Edison, NJ), Shayna Jaffa (Queens, NY), Rivka Shapiro (Hillside, NJ), and Atara Black (Toronto, ON).

What was your favorite tiyul on Michlelet?

Adina: My favorite tiyul on Michlelet was when I had the privilege to go to Save A Child’s Heart where I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with children who suffered from heart diseases. They came to Israel from many different places around the world to get treatment. I was so inspired by the bravery that these children had in them every day while going through their situation and not even having their parents by their side. I, along with many other girls, went around to talk to and play with the kids and while doing so, I felt so connected to the children whom I didn’t even know until a few moments before. After this experience, I realized how you don’t have to look, talk, or act the same way as someone for you to make a connection with them or even just to put a smile on their faces.

Rivka: My favorite tiyul was going to הבית של סוזן -it was really cool to see regular kids making really beautiful things!

Atara: My favourite tiyul this summer was climbing Masada at sunrise. It was hard to wake up at 3 in the morning but the view from the top of the mountain made the early wake up worth it. The experience gave the girls a chance to bond over something that was meaningful and fun at the same time.

Shayna: My favorite tiyul that I experienced this summer was waking up early to go to nefesh b’ nefesh. Being by the airport greeting the people and cheering them on really inspired me and showed me how amazing it is to make Aliyah and not only was it inspiring but I also had a great time too!

Today was a day full of chesed on Michlelet! The day started off with powerful chaburahs and classes. We are getting in every minute of learning we can this last week!! Before lunch the girls and madrichot prepped the gym for the amazing carnival we had for underprivileged children in beit shemesh. Every girl set up and worked at different booths such as, Coke or Pepsi?, Guess How Many Chocolate Chips, Find the Penny in the Flour and more. They made signs and got all dressed up to greet the children. The carnival was a blast!! Everyone had a great time; both the Michlelet girls and the children guests. There was singing and dancing, games and lots of ruach! After the carnival there were 2 trips, one to the mall and one to the Coke factory. Our guest night speaker Rabbi Fix gave over an amazing shiur and afterwards we had a great game of family feud! All around a packed and exciting day!

Tiferet Schafler is from Long Beach, New York. After attending SKA, she spent one and a half years at Sha’alvim for women and is currently studying Psychology and Judaic Studies at Stern College. This is Tiferet’s first time on NCSY summer, and she feels so privileged to be able to teach Torah everyday and be part of such an amazing organization.
The girls in the chaburah are Aviva Striks (Queens), Leora Goldberg (Florida), Yona Leibowitz (Canada), and Abby Emanuel (Canada).
The Chaburah focuses on re-defining words in our daily vocabulary (“peace,” “good,” “love,” etc.): the group goes through all places in the Torah that the word is used, learns each context, comes to see how different the Torah definition of that word is than our current understanding, and discusses how this difference should impact our lives and perspective.

When the girls were asked their favorite quote/slogan they live by, they answered:

Yona: “Whatever I will be, I will make a difference, I will fulfill my dream”

Abby : “A little bit of light takes away a lot of darkness”

Leora: “It is our actions that make us who we truly are, far more than our capabilities”

Aviva: “Happiness comes from within”

Rivka Greenberg grew up in the great city of Chicago, Illinois and then learned in the even greater city of Yerushalaim Ir Hakodesh for a year and a half in Michlalah and MMY. Although she is not studying bio or psych, she is currently a student in Stern College for Women! In her spare time, she packs and unpacks suitcases, as she is usually on her way in or out of an NCSY shabbaton.

This summer, Rivka has the privilege to learn with four special NCSYers in her homeroom: Ayelet Glassberg, Moriah Rosenthal, Madeline Hartranft, and Molly Horwitz. A fun fact about this homeroom is that all of their first and last initials can be found in the same five letters (A, G, M, R, and H). Homeroom focuses on the book Living Inspired by Rabbi Akiva Tatz, and in chabura, they learn about carrying that inspiration through daily life by learning spiritual depths behind our mundane routines.

The girls in Rivka’s chabura are on a mission to change the world, and if they were Michlelet madrichot this is what they would teach:
Ayelet Glassberg: I would want to teach about davening because nowadays most people just say the words in davening without understanding the meaning.
I would want to teach the meaning of the words we are saying and give an understanding so it’s not just us saying random things.

Moriah Rosenthal: If I created a Michlelet chabura I would choose its topic to be about being proud to be a Jew.
In my Chabura with Rivka Greenberg (KULULULULUUU), we read a letter by the Baal Shem Tov and he explains why he served HaShem through Torah and Mitzvahs.
He explains that as important as it is to serve HaShem, it is just as important to do it with pride.
Serving HaShem without pride will not be long lasting. Pride in being Jewish is what keeps Judaism alive forever. It is what makes being Jewish possible, even in a secular place like a public school.

Molly Horwitz: As a Michlelet advisor I would teach proofs of Judaism in my chabura. I believe that Jewish youths are often expected to blindly prescribe to the Jewish faith. They are not given a strong and diverse collection of proofs of the Torah or G-d because they have followed Judaism long enough that it is assumed that they already have emunah. Furthermore, families and the school system are more focused on teaching details of the Jewish faith rather than giving youths a firm core of belief. These same teenagers do not question Judaism out loud because they fear that they will sound ungrateful or uneducated. If young Jews are given proofs of the Torah then they will have a logically based understanding of Judaism that they can fall back on in times when they question their faith.

Madeline Hartranft: I would do a chabura on the different branches of Orthodox Judaism. For example, one day we would explore modern orthodox, another day yeshivish, another day chasidish, and so on. We would explore what is unique about their approach to Judaism and what positive things we can take from them. We have this idea of loving every Jew like we love ourselves but it’s so hard to do that when other Jews seem so different. If we learned about what we have in common and what lessons we can learn from other Jews we would be closer to loving every Jew.

Esti Steinberg, from Chicago, couldn’t be more excited to spend her second summer on Michlelet! After high school, Esti spent a year and a half in Michlalah, and is now in Touro in Manhattan majoring in finance. This coming year Esti will be an NCSY advisor for the Atlantic seaboard region.

The nashim tzidkaniyos in Esti’s chabura are Shira Borochov (Cedarhurst), Ilana Brunner (Woodmere), Maya Molobsky (Denver), Chaya Weissman (Lawrence), and Chavy Weitz (Monsey).

Esti’s Chabura is called Torah Through the Lens of YouTube. Each Chabura they watch a different YouTube video that has gone viral and connects each one to a Torah idea. Esti’s goal is to show her campers that a Yid can uplift anything to a higher level- even YouTube. Together, Esti’s Chabura goes though various Torah sources to bring the topics to life in a new and refreshing way.

Ilana Brunner:
This year on michlelet one of my chabura’s focused on videos that went viral on YouTube. I, together with my chabura then looked a little deeper to find the reason why specific videos went viral. One YouTube video that really inspired me is a recording of a stepmother expressing her love to her stepson despite that fact that they are not biologically related. This touched my heart because it shows that love doesn’t run out and isn’t only for specific people. On a broader note this video shows the importance of the Jews loving each other even though we are not all relatives.

Shira Borochov:
Recently, I watched a video about a little poor boy who looks at himself and sees nothing. He’s wearing torn clothing and ripped up shoes. He then turns his head and sees a boy about the same age as him sitting in nicer clothing. All this boy wants is to switch places with him. So what happens? They switch places. The poor boy soon realized that the kid he was so jealous of ending up being paralyzed. From this video I learnt to be thankful for everything I have. I may wish that I have something that someone else has and I might not, but really, whatever that thing is- is not necessary in my life. And whatever I have is what I need. This video taking me not to take all the things I do have in my life for granted and to be much more appreciative for the things HaShem decided I need in my life.

Chavy Weitz:
In my Chabura we take YouTube videos and connect it to Judaism and gain inspiration through them. The Vharav Na music video (the first one) by Baruch Levine and Simcha Leiner inspires me because it combines music with such excitement for torah and happiness to learn it which is what I get a taste of on Michlelet.

Maya Molobsky:
In my Chabura this summer, we took YouTube videos that where inspirational or went viral, and we Learned how they connected to Torah and how to apply the lessons within the video to our everyday lives. A YouTube video that I found to be inspirational was about a homeless man who received 100 dollars from a random stranger. This homeless man was then followed and videoed to see how he would spend this money. Instead of using this money on unnecessary items, he went into a grocery store and bought food for other homeless people in need. This inspired me because this man could have used 100 dollars all on himself but instead he chose to help others who where just as needy as him. This video showed me the importance of recognizing other people’s needs, and being in the mindset of always thinking of others.

Chaya Weissman: There are a couple of videos on YouTube that show a few people helping out the homeless by giving them a makeover, food, and necessities that a normal person would need daily. It shows how much we take everything for granted and not appreciating even the littlest things like the homeless people do. It inspires me to look at big and little things in life and thank HaShem for all that He does for me.

Shabbat Shalom!

Today was a wonderful day at Reishit! Full of torah, fun and ruach!! We started off with a Yom Iyun on technology for the morning. The opening speaker was Rabbi Bienenfeld who spoke to us about the concept of pausing to reflect. After that the girls had a choice of 4 different shiruim to attend taught by amazing teachers. Then we had discussion groups lead by madrichot and pulled it all together with end notes form Mrs. Yudin. In the afternoon we had our great chaburahs and classes before having our mini tiyuls for the day! One group went to the Biblical Zoo in Yerushaliam and another group went to help clean up an area of Eretz Yisrael. We had an amazing guest night speaker: Charlie Harary! After he gave an inspiring shiur the girls realized the madrichot were missing!! They ran to the buses, went to the mall and had to find the madrichot hidden and disguised all over the mall! Everyone had a blast! 

Orlee Rebibo is from Potomac, Maryland. She went to Amit for seminary, stern for college, and will continue to social work graduate school. This is Orlee’s second summer as a Madricha on Michlelet and is so excited to be back. Orlee’s chaburah is called Vayis Einav, and he lifted his eyes, in which the girls learn about how to see Hashem in every day matters. For example when looking at the quote silence is golden and taking that to learn about the Middah of shtikah. The amazing tzadekeses in Orlee’s Homeroom are
Orly Stark (Rannana, Israel)
Rachel Stern (Staten Island, New York)
Shoshana Schwartz ( Cedarhurst, New York)
Kira Rappaport (Woodmere, New York)

What was the most meaningful experience on Michlelet so far and why?

Kira Rappaport: Visiting a Tammy karmel a women who has ALS was a very meaningful experience for me. it showed me that no matter what you are going through you can still be happy and have complete trust in hashem. It also helped me realize how important it is to recognize what hashem has given me and to take total advantage of it!

Rachel Stern: My most meaningful experience on Michlelet was the learning. I’ve never felt such excitement to learn torah and go to chaburahs before this summer. Not only have I gained from the learning itself but I also gained from seeing how much time and effort our madrichot put into our chaburahs and care about our growth this summer

Shoshana Schwartz: my most meaningful michlelet experience was going medical clowning in the hospital. My group went to visit sone children. To see the joy on the parents faces, not even just the kids, really showed me the joy of giving to others.

Orly Stark: my most meaningful experience on Michlelet was going to Tami Carmel’s house and seeing the definition of עבדו את ה’ בשמחה she caused me look at myself a healthy person b”h and think about what i can do if she could do everything she does while being paralyzed.

Penina Torczyner is from West Hempstead, New York and is very excited to be spending her first summer on Michlelet! After attending SKA for high school, Penina studied in MMY for a year and a half. She is currently in Stern College, majoring in Jewish Education.

Penina’s Chabura is titled “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” The Chabura explores famous advertisement slogans and their deeper messages, in an attempt to filter what the world tries to sell us through our Torah values.

The ALL STARS in Penina’s Chabura are Devorah Schreier (Woodmere, NY), Chani Karasik (Memphis, TN), Yael Mehlman (Brooklyn, NY), and Rachel Benovitz (Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel).

What was your favorite part of the North trip?

Chani: “Rafting down the Yarden because it really bonded everyone. Even if we were in separate rafts we sang together and splashed and bonded as a whole group!”

Rachel: “The DeKarina Chocolate factory because I love chocolate and it was really fun!”

Devorah: “We went to visit someone’s house who lives in the Golan. It was really nice to see someone so happy to live in Israel and with his decision to make Aliyah. And it was nice to see someone who could find his passion here!”

Yael: “I loved the rafting it was so fun!”

Color war 2018 was amazing!!! Today started off strong with learning and shiurs, and team dvar torahs at meals! Then we had an exciting dodgeball match between all 3 teams! After lunch and learning the color war festivities continued with a 39 Melachot Apache Race!! Girls went through different challenges and worked as a team to get to the finish line. The teams also competed in the Belts. After a BBQ dinner outside we had all the color war presentations. Each team presented their banners, songs, alma maters, skits and dances. The evening was so fun! Although we are all winners here on Michlelet NCSY, the team that won color war was RED!! Everyone played a great game and had so much fun participating!