QUESTIONS WITH QUESTIONS FOR MICHELLE & BRIAN LEVINSON NCSY SUPPORTERS Brian and Michelle Levinson live in Chicago, IL with their four children Chaya, Hannah, Sarah and Jonah. Brian is a principal at JB Healthcare and serves in various communal roles as well as serving as a member of the Midwest NCSY Youth Commission. Michelle is an active volunteer in the community serving on the board of The Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago, Past President of Sharlene Levinson Bikur Cholim, as well as being actively involved at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School.
RINA EMERSON CEO, New York NCSY and Managing Director, NCSY
When Rina Friedman (now Emerson) walked into shul all dolled up for her Bat Mitzvah party in August of 1990, she heard about an NCSY chapter board meeting taking place in the basement. It was her big day, but on a lark, she walked downstairs to introduce herself. It was only years later that she realized the profound impact that the chance meeting had on her life and her lifelong relationship with NCSY. Emerson grew up in New Jersey and lived in Cedarhurst for thirteen years, before moving to Los Angeles four years ago with her husband, Rabbi Dov Emerson, who became head of YULA Boys High School. Emerson moved back to the tri-state area this summer where she will begin her new role as CEO of the New York NCSY region and join part of the national structure of NCSY. Rina has extensive NCSY experience, having been involved in the organization since she was a teenager. She has been working for NCSY and the OU for 19 years, most recently as Regional Director of the West Coast NCSY region, which had reached over 4,000 teens under her management. Prior to that, she worked in the development office at OU and in management and development in the New Jersey, Long Island and New York regions. “Rina really led the West Coast NCSY to new heights, and we are confident in Rina’s strong leadership capabilities,” said Rabbi Micah Greenland, International Director of NCSY. “She is incredibly accomplished, both in running programs for teens, as well as in administration and management, and has succeeded in every realm. As West Coast Regional Director, she has earned the respect and admiration of the teens and of the staff, and I am confident that the New York region will achieve unprecedented growth and success under her leadership going forward.” “I’m thrilled to continue with NCSY and the Orthodox Union in New York,” said Emerson. “I’m looking forward to this opportunity and am eager to work towards expanding the region together with all of the stakeholders and I am excited to work closely with the National office of NCSY, utilizing their resources to strengthen our programming and content.” “We are most excited to have Rina join us in New York,” said Allen Fagin, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union. “It is wonderful to have such a qualified Jewish education professional in the highest ranks of the Orthodox Union, additionally serving not only as the CEO of the NY region, but also as a Managing Director of NCSY, working along Rabbi Micah Greenland, Rabbi Keevy Fried, and Rabbi Moshe Benovitz in the strategic leadership and vision of the organization.”
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HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT NCSY? Brian: Growing up in the Chicago day school system, I was aware of NCSY, but was actually much more involved in Bnei Akiva. At that time, NCSY’s reach in the Midwest was predominantly with public school kids. Ironically, one of the few people that I knew involved in NCSY was the pre-semicha Micah Greenland. It wasn’t until many years later when the post-semicha Rabbi Micah Greenland became the regional director of Midwest NCSY that our family became more involved. Rabbi Greenland invited us to our first conclave, and then our first Spring Regional Shabbaton, and the rest was history. We then became regular attendees to conventions and we were the house that was crazy enough to host fifteen girls for Shabbatonim. Michelle: Growing up a day school student in Long Island, NY, I also was not really exposed to NCSY as a teen. It wasn’t until we moved to Chicago and attended our first conclave as a family that I really understood the power of NCSY. WHY IS NCSY CRITICAL TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY? NCSY says it better than anyone else: Inspiring the Jewish Future. Our family has the privilege of being involved in various organizations in our community. Many of them are about bringing together and connecting the greater Jewish community, observant and non-observant, with the goal of insuring Jewish continuity. NCSY, though, is by far the most effective organization in accomplishing this with our youth today. Their ability to inspire public school kids, day school kids, and indirectly the parents of those kids is nothing short of critical in keeping the next generation of Jews connected. WHAT MAKES NCSY UNIQUE? NCSY’s unique ability to bring together public school and day school teens and inspire them both in their Judaism is something that we have not seen anywhere else. There is no one else that can unite teens of every background, in a weekday activity, a more intense Shabbaton, or an even more intense Israel program, and see them bond and grow because of the common denominator of a shared Jewish heritage. HOW HAS NCSY IMPACTED YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? Beyond being able to share in the classic NCSY Havdalah at various Shabbatonim, which by itself is enough to impact a family, we have hosted large groups for Shabbos, we serve on the Youth Commission, and have had the privilege of being close with Rabbi Micah and Rivkie Greenland. Sharing Shabbos and Yom Tov meals with them and being part of the informal NCSY family has motivated our children to get involved. Our three daughters have attended NCSY Summer programs. Our oldest daughter attended Michlelet twice and our next two daughters attended GIVE. They are involved in NCSY4G (for girls) in Chicago. They have formed what we hope to be lifelong friendships with girls that they have met on these programs and they have experienced and appreciate Israel in a way that a family trip could never accomplish. NCSY has inspired them. They have gone on to take leadership roles in the OU sister program Yachad, which is a program focused on working with Jewish teens with special needs. WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HAVE FOR OUR READERS? If you are reading this issue of Ignite, you probably are already somewhat connected to NCSY - but we urge everyone to strengthen that connection. Host a teen for a meal or Shabbos, attend an NCSY fundraiser, learn more about NCSY’s successes. Most importantly, be a part of insuring that our youth are inspired and continue to keep the inspiration for generations to come.