Shabbos in Cleveland, Ohio started off with a bang, as we joined The Green Road Synagogue for a beautiful Kabalas Shabbos, followed by the Friday night meal in the social hall complete with delicious food, divrei Torah, and zemiros. After the seudah, we heard a schmooze from Rabbi Menachem Tennenbaum, the Regional Director of Central East NCSY, followed by a tisch filled with tremendous ruach and energy. At the tisch, we had the privilege to hear words of Torah from Rabbi Avery Joel, the principal of The Fuchs Mizrachi School in Cleveland. The NCSY’ers then headed back to their hosts to go to sleep. Shacharis on Shabbos morning began at 9 am in the Young Israel of Greater Cleveland, and was highlighted by RTC members campers and staff members davening for the amud and leining, in addition to the Shabbos Derasha being delivered by our Director, Avi Rosalimsky. We then had the Shabbos day seudah at The Young Israel. After a Shabbos afternoon break full of well-deserved rest, playing games, and hanging out with friends, we met back in The Green Road Synagogue for a schmooze given by Rabbi Pinchas Landis, the founder and Director of Partners in Torah in Cleveland. We then davened mincha, followed by a joint shalosh seudos with the Cleveland community and words of Torah given by the Rabbi of The Green Road Synagogue, Rabbi Binyamin Blau. We then davened Maariv, headed back to our hosts to pack up, and then returned to the Shul for our end of summer banquet. The banquet featured a delicious Chinese dinner/melava malka, trophy presentations to the league and 3×3 tournament champions, a staff-made game of RTC Family Feud, a comedy skit made by the staff, the end of summer video, and presentations of Seforim and swag to the staff and NCSY’ers alike. It was a beautiful ending to what was was truly an incredible summer!

Jonathan Malove is from Miami, Florida and he is thrilled to have been a madrich on RTC’s first summer. He is a recent graduate from the RASG Hebrew Academy in Miami Beach and next year he plans on attending Yeshivat Shaarei Mevaseret Tziyon. Jonathan spent the previous two summers as a camper on NCSY Kollel and this summer, he enjoyed the opportunity to give back as a madrich on NCSY RTC.

This summer Jonathan’s chabura had 4 incredible post 8th grade boys. Shabtai from Sharon, Massachusetts, Yosef from Teaneck, NJ, Eytan from White Plains, NY, and Jeremy from Cedarhurst, NY.

Now to focus on the learning! Jonathan’s chabura was unique in that it didn’t have one specific underlying theme. Rather every chabura lesson was unique in its own regard and they all individually focused on different ideas. The main way Jonathan created his chabura lessons was by reflecting back on what challenges his Judaism faced when he was in high school. He created his chaburahs with the intention of educating, empowering, and inspiring each NCSYer.

At the end of RTC, Jonathan’s chabura took time to reflect back on the summer. In the reflection, each of the guys was asked “What did you learn in our chaburah that will help you in the future?”
Yosef – “To channel all of my actions to serve Hashem and to live my life in a way that is L’sheim Shmayim.
Jeremy – “Impriving in the area of mitzvos bein adam l’chaveiro, by treating others nicely.”
Eytan  – “To improve in the area of ‘Veahavta Lereacha Kamocha.’”
Shabtai – “To help others and to focus my actions on helping Klal Yisroel bring Moshiach as soon as possible.”

Shmuel Bak is enjoying his time on RTC. Shmuel went to TABC for high school and is currently studying in Yeshivat Sha’alvim in Eretz Yisrael. Shmuel has 6 awesome campers in his chaburah: Avi (Teaneck, MTA), Yehuda (Teaneck, MTA), Aron (Teaneck, MTA), Shmuel (Teaneck, TABC), Ephraim (Montreal, HA of Montreal), and Assaf (Woodmere, DRS).

Shmuel’s chaburah is learning about a combination of important middos to focus on, interesting halachic questions, and different personalities throughout the gemara.

Shmuel asked his chaburah: “Who’s your favorite Marvel superhero, and what middah can you learn from him?”
Assaf said: “Captain America, because he always puts others’ needs before his own.”
Ephraim said: “Spiderman, because he’s friendly, smart, and hard-working.”
Shmuel said: “Antman, because he does whatever is needed to protect his family.”
Avi said: “Dr. Strange, because he is a surgeon so he saves lives.”
Aron: “Black Widow, because she gives up her own life to save everyone else.”
Yehuda said: “Iron Man, because he tries to better himself while caring about others.”

Today we began the day with davening and one final d’var halacha from Rabbi Marcus. After another fantastic breakfast, we headed to the Multiplex for the league championship games. Following that, we went to Canton, Ohio where we experienced the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and learned a lot about one of the America’s greatest pasttimes. Afterwards, all of RTC headed to the Cleveland Jewish community where we’ll be graciously hosted by many members of the community. We can’t wait to end the week with what is sure to be an incredible Shabbos!

Efrayim Saks has just finished his first year learning in Israel at Yeshivat Hakotel. Efrayim went to TABC for high school and Yeshivat Noam for elementary and middle school. Efrayim has gained a tremendous amount from his education over the years and he is excited that he has share so much of what he’s learned.
Efrayim’s chabura is made up of 4 very special NCSY’ers from New York and New Jersey. Zack (HALB) is from Woodmere, New York; Avraham (RYNJ) is from Teaneck, New Jersey; Reuven (YKLI) is from Woodmere, New York and Kalman (YKLI) is from Cedahurst, New York.
The chabura goes through an array of topics, primarily focussing on Parshas Hashavua, Tisha Bi’av and Shemonah Esrei. The material is thought provoking and engaging, and enhances each kid’s understanding of the Parsha, Tisha B’av and davening.
Each member of the chabura was asked the following question: “What aspect of high school/8th grade are you most looking forward to?
These were their responses:
Kalman- “graduating middle school.”
Zach- “the excitement of going to a new school.”
Avraham – “getting closer to becoming a dentist.”
Reuven- “the new rebbiem and learning opportunities.”

Today after davening and a delicious breakfast (pancakes, waffles, and cereal), we had another awesome day of chaburas and shiur. We then headed off to Adrenaline Monkey, which featured a ninja warrior course, rock climbing, and other extreme activities! After that, we had some nail-biting league playoff games in the Multiplex, which was followed by a division-wide game of lineup! Following that, 8th graders went to Whirleyball and laser tag while the 9th graders had an engaging Q & A Session with Rabbi Marcus. Both divisions ended their nights with poppers, kugel, and night swim, in what was both an exhilarating and awesome day!