Summer 2013 Archives

NCSY GIVE 2013 Banquet Presentation!

It was a tearful goodbye :(

After some shopping at Machaneh Yehuda and Ben Yehuda we began our final program on NCSY GIVE 2013. We started off with the candle passing ceremony, where each GIVEr had the opportunity to share some thoughts about her summer. It isn’t often that we get to hear from each and every GIVEr, so this was something very meaningful. This program gave us the chance to learn even more about everyone and deepened our ever growing connection to each other.

Our next stop was the banquet, which was filled with both laughter and tears. We had the chance to hear words of Torah and chizuk from Rabbi Felberman, David Cutler, Erin Stiebel, and many of our own GIVErs. We watched an incredible video that was a hilarious and at times emotional recap of our summer. Our banquet ended with many tear-filled goodbyes as we loaded the busses to the airport.

As we wait in the airport to begin boarding the plane back to JFK, we are amazed at how a 5 week summer program can change your entire life.

We truly had the Best. Summer. Ever.

NCSY GIVE Week #5 Recap

Extreme Makover!!!

Today we had the unique experience to be a part of something very special.

Extreme Makeover, Home Edition, is a TV show in America which renovates a house for a family in need. This show has recently made its way to Israel and today we had the privilege of escorting the Lubotzky family into their new home. Asael Lubotzky was injured in the Israeli Army and was inspired by all of the people who helped him during that challenging time in his life to become a doctor. Along with their family, friends, and new neighbors, we sang and danced all the way to the entrance of their new home!

It was an incredible experience!

Another fun filled day on NCSY GIVE!

We had another fun filled day on NCSY GIVE!

We started our day hearing from Devorah Steiglitz who told us all about how she came to love and appreciate her Judaism. She is a phenomenal speaker and very inspirational!

We then left Mevasseret and visited an army base. There we were able to speak with some chayalim and let them know how appreciative we are to them for protecting Israel.

Our next stop was the Bar Kochba tunnels where we crawled on all fours through the tunnels and learned about the history of that time.

Our last stop is the Bedouin tents. we just finished a thrilling camel ride and are preparing for dinner. We will be spending the night here, which will hopefully include some sleep!

Yom NCSY!!!!

We just came back from the most incredible NCSY event ever!

There were TONS of people, AWESOME food, and AMAZING entertainment and dancing! It was a night that made you truly feel like you’re a part of something more than just our (phenomenal) summer program.

We heard from some of the many inspiring figures in NCSY and we hope to take the chizuk they gave us back home when GIVE is over.

Yom NCSY was an event that we will not forget!

Week in Review from our Director, Erin Stiebel

Dear Parents,

After weeks of fun-filled, jam-packed days, we are sending NCSY GIVE love from all over Israel as we embark on our “free weekend”. Let the sleeping begin!

Last shabbos was quite the experience as we rose to new spiritual heights in the holy city of Tzfat! After a lovely havdalah, we hopped on the bus and headed to Tiberias where we took an awesome boat cruise down the Kinneret, complete with fabulous dancing and singing! It was a blast. The next day was filled with fun from the very start- kayaking, fresh personalized pizza lunch, shopping in the Naot shoes factory and visiting… De Karina, a famous Israeli chocolate factory where we toured and generously agreed to taste-test some of the sweets. We even had the chance to make our own chocolate and take it home with us! If you’re lucky, your daughters brought you souvenirs, but I wouldn’t bank on them remaining uneaten until we return home…

Monday began our week of electives. Each GIVEr was assigned a location where she would volunteer consistently each morning for the week. The locations ranged from soup kitchens to working with the elderly, assisting with children and helping with the disabled, and so much more! The girls did a fabulous job, many making connections that will last and definitely impacting lives for the better. Our afternoons were filled with various activities including hearing from Rabbi David Katz of MMY, visiting Yad VaShem on a tour lead by world-renowned speaker, Rabbi Hanoch Teller, learning from Rabbi Yakov Glasser, Regional Director of NJ NCSY and Director of Education at NCSY, enjoying a wonderful dinner at Papagaio, a delicious restaurant in Jerusalem, and of course a whole slew of fun night activities! We had everything from So You Think You Can Dance, where the GIVErs were broken into groups, assigned a genre of music, and were asked to prepare a dance for their piece, to a HUGE Bat Mitzvah celebration (in my honor!)- complete with hors d’oeuvres, a signing board, classic Bat Mitzvah games, memory candles, songs, a (HIGHLY embarrassing) slide show of my childhood pictures, and tons of simcha dancing! After the Bat Mitzvah we broke out Olympic Color War, which included apache races, competitions, gymnastics, dance offs, newly minted national anthems, sumo wrestling and egg trivia. (Sound absurd? It was. Check out the pictures online!) A big congrats to the Orange Team- all the way from India!- on their win. Captains Tzippy Atkin and Kayla Blumenfeld masterfully led their team to victory! Go, Orange, go!

An unforgettable highlight of the week was our visit to greet an incoming Nefesh b’Nefesh flight. The flight was filled with passionate Jews, young and old, all ready to take a leap of faith and uproot their lives to return home. A former GIVE staff member was on the flight, along with relatives of several of our campers, all of whom we welcomed with personalized posters, big hugs and tears. We’re so proud of all of the new Olim! Best part? NCSY GIVE was SO good, that we made it to the cover of the Jerusalem Post and are all over the NBN homepage. Nice work, ladies!

All in all, this week was both meaningful and unbelievably fun! It’s hard to believe that we just have one more full week on NCSY GIVE, but we’re sure it will be just as memorable and will help to solidify all of the growth and experiences we have shared over the summer!

We wish you and yours a beautiful shabbos- wherever you are!

Erin and the NCSY GIVE Family

Gili’s Goodies and NCSY GIVE!

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NCSY GIVE Week 4 Recap

Color War!

NCSY GIVE 2013 Color War was fantastic!

We had Olympic gymnasts, awesome dances, very professional national anthems, egg trivia, sumo wrestling, and a wild apache!

Congrats to the Orange team for their win! It was a tough race, but you did it!

We are all off to our free weekend, where we will spend time with family and friends and rejuvenate ourselves for our final week on GIVE.

Have a great weekend!