Yaakov Fuchs is no stranger to NCSY Summer, having spent the past two summers on the NCSY Summer Kollel before joining the all-star lineup of RTC madrichim. Most recently, Yaakov was part of the Camp Kaylie Masmidim program, learning under Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz for the first half of the summer. Yaakov recently graduated DRS and he will iy”H be heading to Yeshivat Shaalvim next year.

Yaakov has one of the most dynamic chaburahs in the history of RTC with six incredible post-9th graders. They are: Donny from Teaneck, NJ (MTA), Ezra (MTA), Yehuda (MTA) and Chananya (Frisch) from Bergenfield, NJ, Nachi from Highland Park, NJ (TABC), and last but certainly not least, Ari all the way from Beit Shemesh, Israel (Ahavat Yisrael)!

This summer, the chaburah is focusing on important lessons in hashkafah to enhance the high school experience, and how those lessons help us grow in our relationship with Hashem.

Each member of the Chaburah was asked: “Who is your biggest role model in Tanach and why?”

Donny said: “Avraham Avinu since he didn’t need to invite anyone into his tent, but did so anyways because of his ahavas chesed.”

Ezra said: “Noach because when everyone was doing the wrong thing, he still went ahead and did the right thing.”

Yehuda said: “Aharon HaKohen since he easily could have been jealous of his brother’s position, but he still went ahead and helped free the Bnei Yisrael.”

Chananya said: “Elisha, since he had a tremendous role model like Eliyahu HaNavi, who he admired and looked up to, but Elisha still wanted to be his own type of Navi which reflected their differences.”

Nachi said: “Shaul HaMelech since he is extremely underrated in that he gets a bad reputation for chasing Dovid around, but in reality he was a great person.

Ari said: “Dovid Hamelech since he expressed his bravery by standing up to Golias. Also, he had red hair (like me).”

The Chaburah can’t wait to continue growing, learning, and chilling together (in no particular order) on the BEST.SUMMER.EVER.

After a full morning of Shacharis, breakfast (pancakes, cereal, and bagels), shiur, and chaburahs, we ate lunch (baked ziti, salad bar, and brownies) and boarded the busses for our second day of sports leaghes at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex. After davening mincha, the intense league games began, and we enjoyed the state-of-the-art sports facility for more than 3 hours. We then boarded the busses to Camden Yards, where we were set to watch a heated matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees. Before the game, we celebrated a siyum on meseches makkos by camper, Daniel Lebowitz, and we enjoyed grilled chicken sandwiches. RTC fan favorite and certified legend Mike Ford – who we saw play last week at the Scranton Railriders game – was called up by the Yankees and hit a home run, which proved to be the go ahead run of the game for the Yankees and definitely one of the more electric moments of the summer. We also bumped into a camp of Mexican and Venezuelan Jews, and spent a couple of innings singing with them in a beautiful display of achdus despite the tremendous language and cultural barriers. All in all, we had a beautiful day, and we look forward to Hershey Park tomorrow!

Yitzy Kopstick is your average 19 year old guy coming off his first year in Yeshivat Sha’alvim. He spent the first month of this summer learning in the Camp Kaylie Masmidim Program, and now he is thrilled to be a Madrich for post 9th graders on RTC.

Yitzy’s chaburah consists of 7 amazing boys. Abe is from Boca Raton, Florida (KYHS), Ephraim S. (Heichal) is from Bergenfield, Yitzchak (MTA) is from Bergenfield, Yosef (Heichal) is from Springfield, NJ; Isaac (DRS) and Dov (MAY) are from Lawrence, and Ephraim B. (DRS) is from Woodmere.

The Chabura will be learning about different topics throughout Shas, whether it be about the existence of demons or why we eat Shalosh Seudos.

Every NCSYer in Yitzy’s Chabura was asked the following question: “If you were a public speaker, what would your message be to the world?”

Yitzchak: “Don’t be afraid to admit when you’re wrong.”
Dov: “Don’t take the time you have in this world for granted and don’t fool around.”
Isaac: “Always try your best.”
Yosef: “Make a plan and stick to it. Without a set plan nothing productive will happen.”
Ephraim S: ”No matter where you are in life, use your time wisely because you only live once and that means doing the right thing because if you do the right thing now in the world to come you will get reward that last forever and ever and ever and ever and ever.
Abe: “Think before you do.”
Ephraim B: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed (Mark Twain)”

The Chabura is looking forward to having the best summer ever!!

Akiva Aryeh is privileged to be a Madrich for the inaugural summer of RTC. Akiva attended DRS for 4 years of High School and is looking forward to continuing his growth next year at Yeshivat HaKotel.

Akiva is excited to be giving Chaburahs to 5 awesome boys from New York and New Jersey: Avraham, Doniel (Yeshiva Katana) and Baer (HALB-DRS) are from the Five Towns, and Eli (RYNJ-Frisch) and Shlomo (RYNJ-TABC) are both from Teaneck.

The goal of Akiva’s chaburah is to grow in their Middos and to become a true Ben Torah. The Chaburahs will be on different topics in Pirkei Avos and interesting Halachic scenarios.

Every boy in Akiva’s Chaburah was asked, “What is your favorite Jewish holiday and why?”

Doniel said: “Pesach, because I get to go away with my cousins.”
Baer said: “Chanukah, because I get presents each night and also it’s very interesting to learn about the Chag.”
Shlomo said: “Pesach, because there’s no school.”
Avraham said: “Purim, because it’s my birthday.”
Eli said: “Pesach, because my entire family goes away to a hotel.”

This awesome chaburah is looking forward to growing together in their Middos along with having awesome experiences which will create the BEST SUMMER EVER!

Week two got off to a smashing start today with basketball and football leagues at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Pennsylvania, the largest indoor sports complex in The United States! After Mincha and some open courts, the NCSY’ers played some very intense football and basketball games. In addition to the games, the boys were also given access to a 100-foot rock climbing wall and some awesome arcade games. After leagues, we headed for an evening at Hershey Park, where madrich Akiva Aryeh made a siyum on meseches Megillah in memory of his great-grandmother, whose yahrtzeit was today. The boys were treated to a BBQ in the park in honor of the siyum, and then they spent a couple of hours going on rides. Following Hershey, we headed to the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Hunt Valley, Maryland which will be our base for the week. After a long and exhausting day, we look forward to the first full day of week two tomorrow!

Our final day of our first week got off to a start with Shacharis and breakfast (French toast!), which was promptly followed by chaburahs and a shiur by Rabbi Wiener. We quickly boarded the busses to Riverfront Sports and squeezed in a quick league game before heading to Dorney Park, where we spent the remainder of our day. Upon our arrival to Dorney Park, we davened Mincha, followed by lunch (deli sandwiches/grilled chicken wraps). NCSY’ers split up into different groups with various madrichim and went around the park, on rides and playing games. After several hours, we reconvened outside of the park for a delicious BBQ dinner, followed by Maariv and the boarding of the busses to head back home for Shabbos.

After a truly incredible week one, we can’t wait for week two!