Summer 2019

Today we had a morning full of torah and learning, and then after lunch we switched gears to implementing our torah by prepping for the wedding for our Kallah!! After a full afternoon of cleaning, decorating, dancing and preparing, the night finally came! We had the zechus of being a part of a beautiful wedding, with dancing, eating, an incredible chuppah and being mesameach the chassan and the kallah. The campers were able to be a part of a huge chessed, but also were able to realize how much they could accomplish, as they put together the wedding all together on their own!

Racheli Freundlich grew up in Atlanta but she now calls Montreal, Canada home. After spending a year and a half studying at Michlalah, Racheli began Stern College where she is majoring in biology. Racheli spent one amazing summer on Michlelet as a camper and is so excited to be back on Michlelet as a madricha this summer!
Racheli’s chabura is titled Making Judaism (ce)Real. The chabura connects essential Jewish ideas to cereal names with the goal of developing personal, tangible connections to these topics. Some topics covered are: Gratitude, Tefilla, Bitachon and Ahavas Yisrael. Through text based study and discussion, the girls learn about themselves, others, and their relationship with Hashem.
Her chabura includes Dasha, Daniella, Rebecca and Ellyana.

What’s your favorite part of the day?

Dasha – My favorite part of the day is going to the chaburas and teacher shiurs and being able to connect with who I am. The advisors and the teachers are able to help me connect l, and it is such a special time in my day because I don’t have this on a daily basis or even at all; I usually only get to learn maybe once a week or only once a month. Getting to learn 4 times a day is my favorite part of my day.

Daniella – Everyday spent in michlelet has been absolutely amazing. Every class, every activity and every trip will resonate with me for forever. But one thing that I really look forward to everyday is my morning chaburas. My Madrichot are truly inspiring and passionate and help me start the day with the proper mindset. Through these chaburas, I’ve been able to transform mundane days at camp into meaningful days of inspiration. When I spend my mornings learning with my chabura, I’m motivated to achieve more in life than just simply having a good time. At chabura, we begin with a topic and together we share stories, opinions and thoughtful words and leave feeling like a better person than we were before. My chabura are really great listeners and give me their full attention when I profoundly go off saying my opinion and thoughts 🙂 I learn so much from these amazing girls and I’m so grateful for that and I wouldn’t trade these mornings for anything.It’s so important to start your day off correctly because it truly impacts how the rest of your day will play-out.

Rebecca – My favorite part of the day is homeroom. It is a great way to start off the day in a meaningful way. Although homeroom is 15 minutes long, I gain so much from what we learn. I have the ability to get involved, share my opinion, and learn something new. A good day always starts off with something positive. Homeroom gives me the opportunity to start everyday off with something so meaningful. Not only that, the topics we learn are really great discussion based concepts and relatable ideas. My favorite topic we learned so far was about tefila. I loved the suggestions and thoughts that were shared in both homeroom and Chabura to make my tefila more personal and special.

Ellyana – There are many amazing things about michlelet. My favorite part of the day on michlelet is the night. After a great day of fun chessed and learning we get chill time. The best part about chill time is that you get to decide how to spend it. The night is the perfect time to hang out with friends and learn with your madrichot one on one. The fun and inspiration on michlelet is endless. I feel that my closest relationships on michlelet are built based on how I spend my night. 

Mina Stein is from Clifton, New Jersey and is currently pursuing a biology major in Landers College for Women (Manhattan). She attended Bruriah High School and then went on to study  for a year and half in Israel at Michlalah. Mina is so excited to be back as a madricha after coming on michlelet as a camper! 

Mina’s Chaburah is titled “19 Keys to Unlocking the Treasure.” The main focus of the Chaburah is delving into the brachos of Shemoneh Esrei and the deeper meanings that each bracha portrays. The goal is to help the girls connect to the words of Shemoneh Esrei and realize that the words they say are the key to developing a deeper connection to Tefillah and ultimately to Hashem.
The amazing girls in Mina’s Chaburah are Daniella, Veeta, Yael, Naomi and Ariella.

Question: Which Bracha in Shemoneh Esrei do you connect with most and why? 
Daniela- I connect most to the Bracha of Shema Kolienu because it is a time to express to Hashem in my own words what I want to say.

Naomi- I connect most to ‏אתה חונן because during that bracha, I’m able to ask Hashem to not only help me by giving me the wisdom I need to get through the day, but also to make the right choices throughout the day, and to help me react to situations in the correct way.

Veeta – The bracha in shemoneh esrei that I connect the most to is “אתה גיבור”. It reminds me every day about Hashems strength and really shows me how he runs the world.

Ariella- The Bracha I connect most to in shmoneh esrei is ״אתה חונן לאדם דעת״. I’ve always valued knowledge and intellect and love to learn new things. This is the Bracha that allows me to thank Hashem for the ability to do so. Also, in learning about the Bracha, we learnt how the Bracha included 3 different leshonos- 1) chochmah, 2) binah, and 3) da’as. The three are each individual things we thank Hashem for. We thank Him for the insight we’re able to gain by assessing a situation, as well as the ability to see deeper into things and not just on a superficial level. As well, when I say this Bracha, what I think of is the clarity Hashem gives me in my life when facing every day choices. Clarity is such a major blessing that I think it’s really important to thank Hashem for providing it as well as ask Him to continue to do so! 

Yael – The Bracha in שמונה עשרה that I relate to the most is רפאנו. Every summer I go with my family to camp simcha and I meet kids who are fighting cancer every day and that really need a רפואה. In our chaburah we learnt how in רפאנו we daven for a רפואת הנפש the healing of the soul or the heart. We learnt that a seemingly healthy person can visit a cardiologist thinking nothing is wrong and then find out that they have a heart disease. The soul works the same way. People think that they are very spiritual and are on the highest level when they really might have a spiritual illness that they are not even aware of. So now when I daven רפאנו I don’t only daven for mine and others physical health but also spiritual health that we won’t loose any more נשמות to the secular world.

Ronit Landsman is from Holliswood, New York. After going to Central for high school, she spent an incredible year and a half in Sha’alvim for Women. She then continued on to Queens College where she is currently studying psychology. This is Ronit’s first summer on Michlelet and she’s having an amazing experience and is excited for all that’s to come!

Ronit’s chaburah is titled “A Jew in a Catch 22” and it goes through various practical dilemmas which a high school girl may encounter on a daily basis. After discussing the conflict and its potential solutions, we focus on the dilemma through a Torah lens by learning about a specific midah or mitzvah and how we can use it to improve our avodas Hashem. The goal of the chaburah is for each girl to learn more and have a deeper understanding of these midot and mitzvot in order for it to enhance their daily lives.

The following 5 awesome girls make up Ronit’s chaburah: Rebecca M, Rebecca S, Chavi, Daniella, and Sarah. 

The girls were asked: If you could go back to any moment of the summer, what would it be and why?

Rebecca S: If I could go back to any moment from the summer it would definitely be Yom NCSY. Seeing 2600 NCSYers come together in one open area to dance and have a great night was an amazing opportunity to come together as one, despite our differences. Being able to dance with a TJJ ambassador on my right and a give Israel NCSYer on my left allowed me to dance with a unified group and that’s what the Jewish people are all about!  It was also an extremely uplifting night when NCSY Hatzolah rescue presented the brand new ambucycle. This made me so appreciative of the Hatzolah in our communities.

Rebecca M: If I could go back to any moment this summer I’d choose the bridal shower that we made for a poor bride. It was one of the most moving experiences I’ve had on michlelet so far because it was an opportunity that is so rare and we made it so beautiful. Seeing the pure happiness on the kallah’s face as we danced around her and gave her presents was so rewarding and special.. Every experience on Michlelet leaves us feeling something different but this was extremely special and we were really able to see the benefits of our hard work preparing for this event!! I feel so lucky that I was able to be a part of this mitzvah and ultimately finish it off with making a wedding for this couple from start to finish!!

Sarah: If I could pick one moment this summer to go back to I would pick hiking up mesadah and davening while watching sunrise. I would pick this because being able to daven while looking at Hashems beautiful creations in front of my eyes made my davening much more personal and meaningful. Being able to appreciate the greatness of what Hashem can do ultimately led me to appreciate the smaller day to day miracles He performs. It gave me the opportunity to create a stronger appreciation and connection to Hashem, and gave me the ability to see everything He can create and the beauty He put into this world.

Daniella:  If I can go back to any moment in the summer it would definitely be the 2 days that TJJ ambassadors came to michlelet. It was such a meaningful experience yet fun at the same time! Despite our many differences we all came together and focused on creating a connection with other Jews which was very inspiring. We all came together with achdus to create a bridal shower for a poor bride which made the experience even more meaningful. We put aside our different backgrounds and spent the day learning, creating friendships, and having fun!

Chavi: On michlelet we have so many amazing moments, therefore it’s very hard to choose just one. 
One of the many amazing moments was the incredible experience of going to Tzfat for shabbos. Something that stood out to me over shabbos was going to the sound caves where we all walked hand in hand and sang together and really felt like one big unit.

Rivka Zimmermann is from Cedarhurst NY. She went to SKA high school for girls, spent a year and a half in Michlalah, and is currently in Queens college. She is so excited to be back as a madricha and give her campers an incredibly impactful summer like she had as a camper. 

Rivka’s chaburah is about various English quotes through the lense of Torah, middos, and Judaism. Every chaburah focuses on a different quote that can teach us a powerful message. Throughout the chaburah we discuss the quote, find the meaning behind it in the torah, and relate it to our everyday lives in avodas Hashem.

Shlomtziyon- “I am in charge of how I feel and today I choose happiness” 
No matter what happens in life, we can always remember that it is in our own power to choose how we will react and how we will feel. No one else can make us feel anything or make us upset if we remember that we always have the choice to choose happiness. If we can always control our mindset and perspective and always try to choose happiness, then we can be our best selves and serve Hashem in the best way we can every single day.

Sari- My favorite quote from this summer is “As I look back my life, I realized that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better.” It taught me that whenever I am in a situation that I don’t find ideal, I have to remember that everything happens for a reason. I may not know why, but I know that it’s what hashem wants and is what is best for me in the long run. Whenever I look back on something in my life that happened that I thought I was being driven away from something that I felt was right for me I realized, I was actually being pushed by hashem in the exact path I was meant to be on.

Layla – My favorite quote we learnt this summer is “the tongue has no bones, but is strong enough to break a heart.” What I took from this quote that helped me with my avodas hashem is everything we say counts. You can never take your words back, therefore I try to watch what I say so it prevents me from saying loshon hora.

Rivka – “ I am in charge of how I feel and today I choose happiness”
When we do mitzvot and serve Hashem, we must be in a state of simcha and happiness. We decide if we want to be happy or not. We all think that in Av we’re suppose to be sad but really we’re never suppose to be sad, were only suppose to lessen our simcha. Smiling at someone is the best and easiest way to make someone feel special and like they matter. Your smile can make someone’s day. The word simcha splits into two words, Sam and Moach, which means put your mind. You are the one that can choose to put simcha into your mind.  The person that’s happy is someone that is happy with what they have and realize everything they have is from Hashem.

Leora -“As you grow older you realize it’s less important to have more friends and more important to have real ones” meaning it’s important to realize what a friendship actually means. Sometimes we think having a lot of friends will make us happy and feel good but at the end of the day it’s more important to have less friends who you feel comfortable around and can trust!
One thing that stood out from learning this quote is that we as Jews have the obligation to be there for our friends and always feel their pain. ״כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה״- Everyone in klal yisroel is responsible for each other and to be a good friend to a fellow jew. 
As michlelet is coming to an end I’ve realized how important it is to have real friends and what a real friendship means. I can’t wait to continue to strengthen the relationships I’ve made on michlelet. This quote has helped me learn how to be a good friend and be there for others.

Today we enjoyed our last regularly scheduled day of chaburahs and classes!! After a morning of learning torah, we had a delicious lunch but saved room for later. Then, after afternoon chaburahs, we split up. Most of us went to Mahane Yehuda Market to experience the many tastes of the shuk, while others went on a hike in Sataf. Afterwards, we all met up back at Reishit for a fantastic dinner, and then had the zechus of Rav Turetsky speaking to us about inspiration and what to do with it. Lastly, we had the incredible night activity of a talent show – where campers and Madrichot showed off their many skills. 

We began our Tisha B’Av with a meaningful kumzitz and kinnot Motzei shabbos, and then continued with the serious mood the next morning where we started the day with Shacharis and kinnot. Madrichot and Rav Yudin lead the kinnot, and helped make them more relatable to modern day. Throughout the day, there was plenty of optional movies and shiurim to enhance Tisha B’Av, such as ” The Power of One”, a movie about Rav Noach Weinberg’s life, and a Shiur by Mrs. Yudin. We ended Tisha B’Av the way we started it, with a beautiful kumzitz. 

After enjoying a Shiur by Mrs. Schneider of Tiferet, we loaded the busses and spent time by Kever Rochel. After this, we had lots of free time to prepare for Shabbos and the upcoming Tishabuv. 

Orit Reiter is from Staten Island NY. After graduating from Bruriah she continued on to learn at MMY for a year and a half and is currently entering her senior year at Stern College studying Judaic Studies and Psychology. The girls in Orit’s chabura are Ayelet, Noa, Tamar, Bayla and Chaviva. In her chabura titled “Mixed Messages” they discuss different conflicting values and ideas throughout Judaism and work to find their balance.

What has been your favorite Tiyul on Michlelet so far?

Noa: My favorite tiyul on Michlelet was visiting Save a Child’s Heart. It really showed me how much chesed Israel does for anyone and everyone in need.

Ayelet: My favorite tiyul on michlelet was our trip up north. We had raft building, a gorgeous Shabbos in Tzfat, and rafted down the Yarden. This tiyul was my favorite because it was the perfect balance of a lot of fun and great trips but also feeling the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael.

Chaviva: My favorite tiyul on michlelet was when we visited yad vashem and har hertzel. I felt a better connection to the pain and suffering our past has gone through to be able to have the opportunities we have today.

Tamar:  My favorite experience this summer was YOM NCSY. I thought it was so special to have such a large variety of of girls and boys all coming from different homes. I felt so honored to be apart of the Jewish nation family. I hope to grow in my love for every single Jew, and gain the respect of all my peers.

Bayla: My favorite tiyul so far has been going to Chevron. Hearing about how the Jews fought to get back in to Chevron and are living there even though it’s dangerous is really inspiring.

Risa Friedman is from West Hempstead NY. After attending Central for high school she spent an amazing year and a half at Midreshet Moriah in Yerushalayim. Risa is currently in Queens college about to begin her second semester.
This is her first summer on Michelet and she’s having the most incredible time!!

The girls in Risas chaburah are Neshama, Leora, Tea, and Nava.
Risas Chaburah is titled “19 Ways to a Meaningful Conversation with Hashem.” This Chaburah goes through the many different brachos we say each day during Shemone Esrai and allows the girls in her chaburah to have a better understanding of each bracha and how it is practical to their lives. The goal is for each girl to enhance their kavana by learning the brachos in depth and making the brachos more meaningful to them.

What has been your favorite trip so far and why?
Neshama: My favorite trip so far has definitely been Tammy karmel. Going to Tammy was a life changing experience, She changed my outlook on life. She taught me that Hashem believes in us and gives us the right tools to accomplish our tafkid in life.

Tea: My favorite trip was Tevaria because it was in the beginning of camp and I felt like I was able to get to know a lot of girls during the trip. It was also so fun and an amazing way to start camp.

Nava: This summer Michlelet gave us so many incredible opportunities everyday to go on amazing tiyulim. However, my favorite and most meaningful tiyul this summer was visiting mioras hamachpeila. In Risa’s chabura she taught us the power and the meaning of teffilah. Being able to daven and connect by the kevarim of our forefathers and foremothers with the new knowledge and insights of tefillah was an amazing experience.

Leora: My favorite trip was Tevaria because we did such fun things. My favorite was banana boating because I got to have an amazing time with my friends.