Here we go. Last post. I really can’t believe it’s here, that it has actually been 60 days and that each and every day we shared some Torah together…well here we go, let’s make it count. You might wonder why we are making such a big deal about NCSY at 60. You might think that

A truck pool, Alfie's story time and 7 layer deli cake may not mean anything to you... unless you went to Camp Sports!

It's a round-the-clock job and one that somehow always has your car smelling like pizza... check out these 25 things most NCSY staff members can relate to.

King Solomon tells us (Proverbs 27:21), “מַצְרֵף לַכֶּסֶף, וְכוּר לַזָּהָב; וְאִישׁ, לְפִי מַהֲלָלוֹ – the refining pot shows us what silver really is, the furnace shows us for gold, but a person’s true colors are shown by what they praise.” We can learn a lot about a person based upon what they feel is important.

We started by asking a former NCSYer who her inspiration was and continued to ask each nominated person until we got "6 degrees of inspiration."

Whoa…it’s almost the last day. I guess this better be good. We have spent the last few days preparing for the imminent end of this blog – today is perhaps the most important preparation for that. When parents raises a child from childhood to adulthood they must do many things to get them there. The Talmud spells out three things

Ecstatic, devastated or annoyed - there are some things you just know how NCSYers will react to.

Wow, I can’t believe it’s almost over…as we mentioned yesterday, as we get closer to the end of our summer together we have to start getting ready for life outside of this blog. So today we are going to talk about one of the most important secrets to keeping the inspiration and growth going. (There are

Shout out to all you Michlelet ladies out there! How many of these make you feel nostalgic?

Whether you're brainy or a hippy, there's definitely an advisor you can relate to on every Shabbaton. NCSY has got 'em all.

Sadly, after today, there are only 4 more days in our journey together…it’s time to start getting ready for what’s coming. The Talmud tells us (Tamid 32a), “איזהו חכם? הרואה את הנולד – Who is wise? One who see what’s coming.” but elsewhere (Pirkei Avot 4:1) we are told, “איזה הוא חכם? הלמד מכל אדם – Who

Toward the end of the summer we read Parshat Shoftim, in which the Jewish people are commanded to appoint judges and guards at their gates – “ שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים, תִּתֶּן-לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ – You should appoint judges and guards at all your gates”. Whenever the Torah uses the word לְךָ, which literally means ‘for you’, it means

This is for all you past or present REBOs out there... it's hard having the most important job in NCSY.

No, this isn’t a shameless plug for, the now Kosher, Gatorade (although, I’m sure that the proceeds from it becoming Kosher do help in paying my bills…). But it is a shameless plug for staying healthy. The Torah tells us (Exodus 4:9), “רַק הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ וּשְׁמֹר נַפְשְׁךָ מְאֹד – Protect yourself, guard your life a

During the summer, we observe Tisha Be’av, our Jewish national day of mourning for all our tragedies, and the days leading up to this day are also marked with a certain amount of sadness. The days leading up to Tisha Be’av mirror the days of mourning after a person loses a loved one. But they

FLASHBACK: Check out these letters to NCSY that came directly from the office of the president of the United States, Israel, and Prime Minister of Canada!

We have learned a ton about Shabbat over the course of the last 52 days and as I mentioned all the way back on Day 4 ”keeping” Shabbat is only a small part of what Shabbat is really about. Let’s review: There are actually 4 pillars of Shabbat: Oneg Shabbat – Enjoying Shabbat (By eating) Kavod Shabbat –

Check out what the average NCSYer's decisions and thoughts are based on with these fun graphs and charts. Plus take a look at what a regional Shabbaton looks like by the numbers!

On a recent camping trip with my students they challenged me to find a Torah message with the next song that came up on the playlist. I accepted. Once I heard the melancholy guitar rift of “Friend is a Four Letter Word” come on, I knew it would be a Cake walk (pun intended). You see, the