Winners Jeremy Fine, Moshe Pilevsky, Jonathan Meyers and Avi Esses at the Sixth Annual New York NCSY Community-Wide Basketball Tournament. More than $80,000 was raised at the event to support local programming.
was made by a Junee’s professional dressmaker and featured in the fashion show. Her skirt design was also introduced in the new clothing line under her name and was sold at all Junee stores. Chaya Hoffman of New Jersey placed second and received a $250 gift certificate to Junee and Chana T. Zaks of Maryland placed third and received a $101 gift certificate to Junee
REGIONAL BOARD EMBRACES NEW MISSIONS The 2012-13 Regional Board is excited to announce the creation of three new projects they are launching to kick off their leadership campaign. The “Buzz Team” will aggressively grow the teen public relations arm of NCSY, dedicating themselves to a PR campaign to establish NCSY as the teen leadership network in NY. The second team is the new “JSU Task Force.” They will be designing and implementing new programs across the New York area aimed at changing the paradigm of Israel advocacy and Jewish leadership in public schools. The third team, “Team FNL,” will be responsible for bringing the NY NCSY Friday Night Lights (FNL) program to new communities across New York and bringing together Jewish teens from all different backgrounds. The three teams will be lead by teen President Deena Borenstein of West Hempstead and Vice President Ariella Freedman of Cedarhurst.
Brooklyn, NY Nechama Kamelhar Kamelharn@ncsy.org
REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST In honor of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial
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Day, Judith Leventhal, one of the co-authors of the bestselling book, “Small Miracles of the Holocaust,” came with a Holocaust survivor to Edward R. Murrow High School’s Jewish culture club. The room was filled to capacity with both teachers and students. Everyone came to hear the story of a woman that stood only a few feet from the gas chambers. In silence, the audience learned that only seconds before her death, she realized that only God could save her. That moment, a guard received a phone call asking to send all the women to a labor camp. The speaker told how her story was like many other stories of people that were saved only by the hand of God. After hearing the remarkable story, students and teachers had time to ask questions to the author and Holocaust survivor.
NURSING HOME TEACHES TEENS CHESED CAN BE FUN At almost every FNL (Friday Night Lights) in the NY NCSY South district for the past two years, Nechama Kamelhar and Moish Zucker have taken a group of teens to the nearest nursing home to sing and converse with the residents. This has always been a fun and educational experience for the teens. Teens get to sing, learn about other people’s lives and most importantly, they get to see that chesed is as much about receiving as it is about giving. Word of NCSY’s nursing home activity spread and in March, the New York NCSY office received a phone call from a nursing home asking to have a Shabbaton in their facility. After some planning, a group of NCSYers went to the Margeret Teitz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to join the Shabbat morning minyan and participate in the communal Shabbat lunch. During the break between davening and lunch, NCSYers had the opportunity to spend quality time interacting with the residents. During lunch, the singing could be heard throughout the center. The residents were overjoyed with the
company while the teens learned that giving back could be fun.
Staten Island, NY Simcha Silverman Silvermans@ncsy.org
FNL SHABBAT ACROSS STATEN ISLAND Staten Island Friday Night Lights had teens from Staten Island and from across the region for a Shabbaton. Shabbat began with a special Carlebach minyan followed by a Shabbat dinner NCSY-style, cholent competition and oneg. On Shabbat afternoon, teens visited and brought cheer to the local nursing home. This trip was led by Nechama Kamelhar.
SOUTHERN Todd Cohn, Executive Director 1-866-887-5788 Southern@ncsy.org southern.ncsy.org Rabbi Ben Gonsher Gonsherb@ncsy.org
ISRAEL AWARENESS NIGHT BRINGS TOGETHER TEENS FROM ACROSS FLORIDA On March 15, more than 60 teens from Miami, Hollywood and Boca Raton packed the Young Israel of Hollywood for an informative and inspirational evening in support of Israel. Teens listened to intriguing speakers who spoke about important issues affecting Israel. Rabbi Uri Pilichowski, a
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