The Impact of NCSY
As my blog entry for this week I thought I would share a correspondence between myself and an anonymous NCSY’er from Kansas City.
Dear Rabbi Burg,
There are so many things that I need to thank you for. I can honestly say I would be a different person without NCSY. Where I come from, its just not “cool” to be Jewish, and it was with this attitude that I attended my first NCSY convention. Pushed into it by a friend, I expected to eat some food, sing some songs and go home.
I never could have guessed what was going to happen. That very first night, I sat down at the shabbos table and I feel like I have never left. It was then that I stopped living from weekend to weekend, break to break, and started living from shabbos to shabbos.
Thanks to NCSY, a lot has changed since then. Wearing skirts in a school like mine is not easy, especially when even parents join in the criticism. The same goes for keeping shabbos or kosher. It is NCSY that keeps me strong, that keeps me moving, that keeps me climbing. It is enough for me to know that whenever I need help, NCSY is there for me. From advisors to other kids, the friends that I’ve made will last me a lifetime.
So thank you for introducing me to the person I never knew existed, the person I never knew I could be, for showing me the beauty of Torah and Shabbos, for the fact that I know all the Lev Tahor songs by heart and for my Judaism, which is as much a part of my life as breathing. Please keep doing what you are doing, because there are more people like me, who will never see how amazing Judaism can be unless NCSY opens their eyes.
Thank you!
- KC NCSY’er (who prefers to remain anonymous)
Dear KC NCSY’er,
Your gratitude and appreciation is both touching and overwhelming. Please understand that NCSY is only able to point people in the right direction. We are just the traffic cops of the Jewish teen world. You, my precious Jewish friend, are the hero/ine of the Jewish People. We have survived for thousands of years because of dear souls like you have struggled against all odds to seek out G-d in a world that has largely forgotten Him.
Now, it is your sacred duty to share with others the Judaic knowledge that you have amassed. To let others know that clinging to G-d can bring them a fulfilling life. My only caution to you is that you remember, we only offer the tickets, whether someone wants to get on the Judaic train is up to them.
Thank you for sharing your strength and passion with all of us in NCSY!
Steve Burg
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