By Molly Werthan & Leeor Israeli, NCSY Alumni
1. The Super NCSYer
To this person, NCSY isn’t a youth group, it’s a lifestyle. They have never missed a Shabbaton, Latte & Learning, or any event since they’ve been involved and plan on attending every single one. The super NCSYer eats, sleeps and breathes NCSY, and lets be honest — probably dreams about it too.
2. The Inspired One
“Oh my Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu this is so inspirational! YOU are so inspirational! NCSY IS SO INSPIRATIONAL!” If you hear these words from an NCSYer, you can be sure that they are “the inspired one” of his or her chapter. This NCSYer is constantly inspired by the amazing advisors, dynamic directors and super uplifting Shabbatons. Another commonly heard phrase: “I love Hashem!”
3. The Ruach Machine
This NCSYer is the definition of ruach (spirited). They are always the first one standing on a chair, screaming out zemiros on Shabbatons, cheering as loud as possible for their chapter at regionals, and spending hours upon hours dancing at Havdalah. Despite beginning each Shabbaton as the loudest person in the room, by the end of Shabbat, they are so hoarse that they can barely even whisper.
4. The Snoozer
The snoozer views Shabbatons as three-day nappurtunities. They doze off during ebbing, snore during movie nights and are always the first one in their room to fall asleep. If they’re missing from shacharis when it’s their turn for an aliyah, you’ll be sure to find them sound asleep in bed or on the closest couch.
5. The Schmoozer
This is the super social NCSYer. This person somehow knows every NCSYer on the planet. They have friends in every chapter — probably from all the socializing they do at Yom NCSY — thousands of friends on Facebook, and seem to always be meeting more people. The Schmoozer doesn’t play Jewish geography, they are Jewish geography!
6. The “Too Cool” Kid
This NCSYer acts as if he or she is too cool to participate in an NCSY event (as if there was such a thing) and refuses to show they are having fun. We can all see that they secretly love NCSY (why else would they keep coming to events?), but we play along with them anyways.
7. The Talmid Chacham
The Talmid Chacham (or Talmidah Chachama) learns at every possible chance with their advisors, rabbis, fellow NCSYers, or by themselves. They come to every Shabbaton equipped with a set of sefarim and an endless list of questions. This NCSYer spends every waking moment studying, and you can even hear them reciting lines of Gemara in their sleep.
8. The Director’s Pet
This NCSYer goes to all of their director’s sessions, Q&A’s, and sits at his table for every meal. Basically, they just follow him everywhere, striving to be just like their director. And when they’re not on a Shabbaton, the Director’s Pet can be found babysitting for the director’s children.
9. The Ultimate Summer NCSYer
The teen who goes on NCSY summer programs every single summer and recruits NCSYers for trips they’ve been on and loved. They have a countdown on their phone for Yom NCSY (August 7, 2014!) that they check at least once a day. “Dude, you should TOTALLY go on BILT. When I went back in 2012, I had the BEST.SUMMER.EVER!”
Did we miss an NCSYer every region has? Leave a comment and make sure to share on Facebook and Twitter with your friends!