NCSY

I did this Shabbaton two weeks, not this past week before.

We brought 150 public school kids, 12th graders, boys and girls, to the five towns in New York with this organization called Olami Launch, a beautiful organization that takes all these NCSY kids who are in public school and they're about to graduate from high school, and to try to convince them to go do a gap year in yeshiva in Israel, yeshiva for the boys and seminary for the girls.

We spend the Shabbat with them.

It's really, really a beautiful, beautiful Shabbat.

Lots of different people because I was in L.A.

I played music for NCSY for 33 years.

They flew me all over the country.

Wow.

I live on the Upper East Side.

I know John originally from NCSY for probably 15, 16 years now.

I don't know, a very long time.

And I started Dating by Donnie about March, April time this year.

There's something called Olami Launch, which they do an incredible thing.

They take a lot of the NCSY 12th grade boys and girls from around America and bring them together for a Shabbat and to try to explain to them, convince them, enlighten them in what taking a gap year in a yeshiva or a seminary in Israel means.

And we spend a whole Shabbat with about 150 kids just... talking about it and giving as much fire as we can.

So Baruch Hashem, I don't know if you see my eyes, I apologize, I haven't slept in a while because from that we came to go and do this, this event for tonight.

If any of us had the opportunity to be adopted by an Avraham Avinu personality.

Can you imagine if you were, let's say back in the day, you were taken, I don't know, you came on some NCSY program or something, and they brought you to Rebetzin Batcheva Kanievsky.

Imagine if Rebetzin Kanieski decided, come live by me.

Come live by me.

Avraham was the person whose tent was open on all four sides, and it was welcoming guests, running to them, offering them water, offering them these huge meals.

He was the NCSY Shabbaton.

"Come have a great time.

You don't have enough to pay? We'll g- we'll get a sponsor for you.

You've never experienced a Shabbos? Come." And Yitzchak was like the NCSY, you know, uh, counselor who the next morning is like, "Come on, it's eight thirty.

We gotta get up for Shacharis." You know, "Why aren't you coming to davening? You have to be there on time." Right? Avraham was the Chesed, and Yitzchak was the Din, right? And that sort of-- that combination of the two is both-- they're both important, right? You know, you can't...

I think, by the way, these are much heavier ideas for the sociological statement, uh, uh, the sociological place that the Jewish people are in right now, by the way.

Like, you've got to follow halacha.

This is not just NCSY Shabbat tones all the time.

You've got to follow things.

That's what they say.

We used to go in on Fridays to listen to him pasken the world's shailas.

And, uh, someone came in from NCSY and said that, uh, that an NCSY advisor had called, that there's a ninth-grader, um, who, uh, who's getting frum.

His family is not frum at all, and they don't keep kosher in the house, and, uh, he doesn't know what to do.

Um, but he, uh, he, he, he can't move out.

Our talented host this evening is Anna Krausz.

Anna is the director of NCSY's Shavet Glaubach Fellowship and a licensed social worker.

This podcast is anonymously sponsored ［foreign language］ and by the generous support of the Slomo and Cindy Silvian Foundation.

Enjoy.

Think of the Baal Tshuva movement.

Think of NCSY.

We get up, we pour tens of millions of dollars into NCSY and you're reaching out to kids that the name neither.

That's the halacha.

Where do we stand Okay, open up the Rambam Hilchati Suri Bia, Terek Hamisha Sa Tetfav, Halacha Aleph.

for Shira.

Right.

Okay, so let me tell you that the NCSY would never ask a question like that.