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Summer 2014

Guest Blogger: Tali Weg


It’s been a little over two weeks since GIVE 2014 came to a close, and most of us GIVE girls have returned home.We all started school and gotten back into our regular swing of things. Although, we might be distracted with work, school, or seeing our friends again, we are all still connected to Israel and the experiences we had there. I believe I speak for all the girls on GIVE when I say that this year is going to be different. Give has impacted my life so much, and I know this year, I’ll be more thankful for what I have, I’ll see the hand of Hashem in everything I do and in everything that happens to me, and most of all, and most importantly, I’ll continue growing in my Judaism and strive to make an impact on the world. 
On GIVE we visited a special needs community, where the high functioning special needs adults put on a whole production for us, with singing, dancing, and music. This was the most incredible experience of my summer, because when they got up into that stage, they were so incredibly happy and full of joy, even though they have it so much worse than we do. The smile was never wiped from the faces of any of the special needs adults, and they were so much happier than we usually are. We complain, and groan about this or that, but these amazing adults and teenagers were just thankful they were alive, and would continuously sing to and thank Hashem for that. At the end of the production, the lead singer in the play stood up and gave us all a bracha. She told us to remember to always be happy and not let anything bring you down. That moment really put everything in perspective for me. It made me realize how much I’ve taken advantage of what I have, and how much I have to be thankful for. That woman taught me that no matter what, in any situation, you have to stay positive and trust in Hashem that everything will work out. 
That is the main lesson I took away from GIVE. I’m sure other girls have different ones but that is mine, and since I have gotten home I have been trying to always remember that. So when I’m busy with a lot of school work (Junior year!!!) or when something might be bothering me and it seems like it’s the end of the world, I try and always remember that Hashem has my back, and I have to trust in Him and believe that everything will work out. It’s so important to stay positive and have faith in Hashem. This is one of hundreds of amazing things I learnt on GIVE. GIVE truly changed my life and changed me as a person, and I am so incredibly thankful for that. I cannot thank everybody enough who made it possible, and my incredible GIVE family will always be remembered and held closely to my heart. Thank you everyone and I love you all so much! 

Guest Blogger: Jolie Davies

Hey everyone!! My name is Jolie Davies, I’m 16 from Boca Raton, Florida. I’m pretty camp sick right now, so let’s reminisce on one of my favorite moments that actually became a chessed. Towards the end of camp, on one of our last nights in Jerusalem, we decided to do the beloved flashmob. Everyone had been so eager to finally do it and especially now that we would be doing it in one of the outdoor malls in the holy city! We got to the spot where we were gonna break out, there were giant speakers and everyone was casually scattered in the square. Then the music came on blaring through the speakers and 2 colors started the dance with all of their energy. Ya, we were a little off beat. But, then everyone came in by color and I like to think we became synchronized. There was a crowd forming around us, everyone had their phones out. We definitely made it to at least 87 people’s snapchat stories. All different kinds of people were watching it, but the climax was yet to come. People started joining in on our simcha dancing! My friends and I were dancing with three moms to Hashem Yimloch! They told us we made their week. People had kids on their shoulders and were dancing in the middle of the circle. There was a group of what looked like too cool twenty-something year olds but when ‘Happy’ came on they were hyped. They asked me to teach them the dance while their boyfriend was recording it. Am Yisroel came together in the most fun and random way possible. This is one of my favorite memories of GIVE 2014 because we did this flashmob as a funny thing for ourselves, but it became a chessed for everyone there. People came up to us that it’s been a very hard week for them because of all the deaths in the war and this brought light into their lives. One of the most powerful things about our people, is our unity. I’m so happy that I got to witness the Jewish nation come together in a very much needed time.

Guest Blogger on Our Last Day of GIVE: Sarah Rosenblum

Hi my name is Sarah Rosenblum. I’m 16 years old and I live in West Hempstead, NY! The last day of GIVE came so quickly. It feels like just yesterday we all landed in Israel for the Best. Summer. Ever. On our last day, some of the girls woke up at 3 am to hike Massada, while the rest of us woke up at a regular time and headed to Ben Yehuda. It was a truly amazing experience to be able to explore Israel in the middle of all the hustle and bustle with all of my friends. After lunch we walked to Ma’asharim. Many of us got new siddurim to remind us of our experience in Israel. Following our day out we went back to our hotel, packed up, and got ready for banquet and the ceremony preceding it. At the Ceremony we all sat in a circle passing around a candle, sharing our memories and thoughts from our time on GIVE. It was simply beautiful to hear everyone’s experiences. Seeing a lot of the girls get emotional was truly inspiring. After listening to everyone’s meaningful words we headed to the banquet where we shared our last few d’var torahs for the summer. My favorite part of the night was when the advisors selected books from the beit midrash to give to each girl with a personal note inside. We then said our goodbyes and headed to the airport. NCSY GIVE was truly the most inspiring, spiritual, and over all amazing summer I have ever had. I know the connections I made with everyone will last with me for a lifetime and beyond. GIVE 2014 will without a doubt be part of me forever.

A Surprise Guest for NCSY GIVE

‘HAPPY’ NCSY GIVE FLASHMOB AND MORE 2014

Our Last Day on NCSY GIVE

By now most of you are home, and if not I hope you are having a fun time in Israel (or you have a safe flight on your connecting flight!) The last day together was a whirlwind of emotions, but nonetheless a beautiful day. After shopping on Ben Yehuda and Ma’asharim area, we made our way to our last program. This program was called pass the candle. Each girl gets the opportunity to tell her favorite moment, or just say a thank you when you are passed the light candle. It was a very moving ceremony that brought many girls to tears. Afterwards, we had a wonderful banquet put together by our staff, which ended off the summer with a big bang! We had yummy food, great speeches, a siyum, some songs, and a banquet video by the end (which you can see posted on the blog as well.) We handed out booklets of information, camp jokes, and each girl received a book from our traveling Beit Midrash that we had with us all summer. With teary eyes the girls said good bye to one another, but knowing they will always have their 73 sisters there for them. The staff of NCSY GIVE 2014 wants to express to all of you that we had a wonderful summer with each and every girl. Through thick and thin you girls held on tight and made the best of your experience. We know we will be hearing from you soon, so this is not goodbye just “See you later.”

BANQUET VIDEO

An Awesome Jam Packed Day on GIVE!

I think many girls would agree that today’s jam packed day was a memorable one. We started our day off in a place called Yad L’kashish. This is a place that takes in elderly immigrants that don’t know the language or have skill and teach them a trade. After the girls had a chance to interact with the workers they saw the beautiful gift shop of all the things that elderly actually make. We then made our way back to the hotel for lunch and our Body Image program. We started off by splitting the girls into groups and giving them newspaper to create an outfit from a specific category. After each team performed, we watched a video and Miriam Borenstein spoke to the girls about many aspects of this important topic. When finished we made our way to the One Family fund headquarters. There the girls had a chance to interact with kids whom’s families have been traumatized one way or another by a terrorist attack. They went on a scavenger hunt around the area and really had a chance to get to know and have fun with the kids. We went back to the hotel for dinner and had a big surprise waiting for the girls. One of our advisors had written a letter to chayalim during one of our programs. She had left her number at the bottom and in doing so a chayal in tanks decided to extend the thanks and call her back. She explained to him what GIVE does and asked him if he wanted to come and speak a few brief words to the girls. He came and truly ended off our summer bringing it into a full circle. After that very emotional talk, we walked to the Kotel for the very last time on GIVE 2014. This jam packed day was filled with truly great memories.

Our last weekend with NCSY GIVE

On Friday the girls split up to have the opportunity to do two chessed’s simultaneously. One bus went to a home for low functioning adults calledAleh. While the other bus went to a nursing home near by. Both places sang Shabbos songs to enhance to resident’s weekend. Afterwards, the girls were able to experience the shuk on a crazy friday afternoon. We made our way to the last stop, Beit Gesher, where we will be until the end of the program. The girls enjoyed their last Shabbos on GIVE by going to the Kotel friday night, hearing from their friends, singing together, and performing an amazing flashmob Saturday night in Mamilla. All in all it was an incredible last Shabbos together on NCSY GIVE.

Guest Blogger: Tamar Weiss: Learning Elective

 

My name is Tamar Weiss and I’m 16 years old and l live in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Today was elective day, and I chose to do a whole day of learning with teachers from four different seminaries. The learning was so interesting and really inspired me. To start off the day, Rabbi Yamin Goldsmith from Shalavim for women gave us a shiur on He talked about how we, as jews need to always remember the past, lecher lachorban, while striving to a better `lecher lamikdash. Next, we had Rabbi Eli Mayer from Tiferet and he talked about chessed. Then Mrs. Abraham from Machon Maayan spoke about the parsha. Lastly, Rabbi David Katz from MMY came and spoke to us about smiittah because next year is smitthah year. I personally connected to two of the shiurim more then the others. One, Rabbi Goldsmith’s lasting message about incorporating our past and future into our present lives. The second one I connected to was Rabbi Katz because he spoke about smittah, and for me living in Israel this really affects my day to day life. All in all it was an absolutely amazing day of learning and I’m really glad I chose to do this elective. After elective day we met up with the whole camp at Malcha mall in Yerushalyim, We had free time there to walk around and create more memories. Then obviously I got a rebar, because….how could how I go to the mall without getting a rebar. Today was another amazing and unforgettable day on NCSY GIVE.