Nothing Like NCSY
Recently a good friend of mine, Rabbi Pesach Sommer (and one of the people I spent my first NCSY shabbaton with) sent me the following post from another blog he follows. I was wholly touched by the power of this man’s sentiments and I truly believe his post captures the heart and purpose of NCSY.
Below is an excerpt from Rabbi Harry Maryles’ blog.
“We live in an era today of unprecedented freedom. There has never been a country like the United States of America where the freedom to practice religion is a constitutionally protected right and for this we should be eternally grateful. But, this kind of freedom is a double edged sword for those of us who want to preserve tradition. For along with an unfettered freedom to practice Judaism in any way we choose comes the freedom to not practice it at all.
Just as this country allows the freedom to practice religion, so too does it allow all manner of attraction away from religion. Although assimilation is good up to a point, the beck and call to assimilate out of Judaism is so great as to pose the single biggest danger to the continued existence of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Nowhere is the pressure of assimilation greater than in then halls of today’s public high schools. It during the vulnerable teenage years where there is immense peer pressure to conform to today’s latest fads. The task of Kiruv amongst teenagers is so difficult that few organizations have even attempted it for this age group. This is where National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) shines like no other Kiruv organization.
NCSY has gone into the trenches of today’s public schools and have caringly and lovingly, literally, ripped thousands of young people away from assimilation. Through NCSY these teens have discovered their own heritage and have not only become observant, committed Jews, they have also grown into idealistic leaders in virtually every sphere of Orthodoxy. And NCSY does so with every intention of maintaining a harmonious relationship between a teen and his or her family.
NCSY does Kiruv with little fanfare or even notice from the Frum public on a daily basis and has done so year after year ever since it’s founding many decades ago. And it does it in the manner that our sages dictate of Chanoch L’Naar Al Pi Darko, treating each NCSYer as an individual and guiding them along a path that is most sensible to that particular individual. So NCSYers can “graduate” from a public high school environment into the entire spectrum of Orthodoxy whether it be Modern Orthodox or Ultra-Orthodox. There are committed teenagers that because of their circumstances remain in public high school and are Shomer Shabbos. In Chicago, there are NCSYers that end up in the mixed gender high school, Ida Crown, the center-right Fasman Yeshiva High School, the more right of center, WITS, and the ultra right Telshe Yeshiva. There are even some individuals who have ended up Chasidic. And many end up studying in a Yeshiva in Israel and come back to their own niche.
This is the beauty of NCSY. They are a Kiruv organization whose sole purpose is to guide young people into a commitment to Torah observance without pressuring them to fit into a mold.”
true story. reminds me of our stroll in toronto =]
Posted by David Bardo on 06/11 at 11:26 PMhmmm, Rabbi Sommer can sure pick those blogs. i am so ever blessed to have once had him as a teacher. keep up the blogs rabbi burg, thank you for everything you do,
sincerely,
the girl from the chapter that will never EVER leave you alone, (thats a promise, not a threat),
-kaley m. ames.Posted by kaley m. ames. on 06/26 at 12:03 AM
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