In today’s society, virtually all youth are at risk.  No ethnic or religious group is immune to the challenges of raising children in a culture that is increasingly plagued by episodes of violence and confronted with explicit images in the popular media. Jewish youth have an extra risk factor in that it is so easy for them to assimilate completely into the prevailing culture that they no longer see the value of religion in their lives, turning instead to other - potentially harmful - influences. The Orthodox Union's National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) is uniquely poised to combat society's threats to the physical, moral and spiritual well-being of Jewish youth.

·        For more than four decades, NCSY (grades 9 - 12) and Junior NCSY (grades 6 - 8) have been reaching out to at-risk youth by offering them social, recreational and educational outlets in a safe and nurturing environment.

·        Founded in 1954, NCSY pioneered the Jewish outreach movement and today is the world's largest Jewish youth program.

·        With chapters in 39 states, 215 communities across the nation and 3 Canadian provinces, NCSY offers young boys and girls 750 major educational events and programs annually as well as 10 different summer experiences - in the U.S., Israel and the Ukraine.

·        From Shabbat gatherings in communities across the country, to study and touring in Israel, to camping with Jewish children in the Ukraine - and serving as their first teachers of Judaism - NCSY provides teens with meaningful religious experiences.

·        Over the decades, Jewish youth have repeatedly cited NCSY among their strongest Jewish influences.

·        In 1998, an independent survey commissioned by the Lilly Foundation found that 99 percent of NCSY graduates marry Jewish, live Jewish and stay Jewish.

·        The key to NCSY's phenomenal success is ruach (spirit).  Keeping thousands of pre-teens and teenagers involved and invested in Judaism means imbuing them with the spirit of friendship, the spirit of community and the spirit of tradition.  Through the ruach of NCSY, participants develop pride in their Jewish heritage, strengthen their Jewish identity, promote the rights and interests of Jews worldwide and learn how to apply the  principles of Judaism to their daily lives.

NCSY Educational Programs

·         The Schottenstein Youth College - Teen Torah Centers provide free after school Jewish studies programs in public schools throughout the U.S. and Canada.

·        Jewish Culture Clubs - Held in public high schools, these clubs are led by NCSY advisors and are designed to encourage Jewish identification.

·        Yarchei Kallah - During the December break, when most kids are skiing or vacationing in warmer climates, NCSYers from public schools and Jewish day schools choose to spend their week off from school in intensive Torah study.

·        Leadership & Values Education (LAVE)  - Presents key Jewish issues and teaches Jewish values through popular movies and television shows.

NCSY Summer Programs

·        Camp NCSY Sports For Boys (Baltimore, MD), Summer Experience for Girls (Catskills) and Canada Experience for Girls (Kingston, Ontario) - these single-sex programs, for boys and girls ages 13-18, offer a unique mixture of study, organized sports and field trips. 

·     Camp NCSY West for Boys (California) provides a similar program for boys grades 5-9.

·        Israel Summer Experience & The Jerusalem Journey - Four-week, comprehensive co-ed tours of Israel for teens ages 14-18.  The Israel Summer Experience is geared toward students who attend Jewish high schools, while The Jerusalem Journey is designed for public school students.  

·        Israel Summer Kollel & NCSY Michlelet - NCSY’s extremely popular, six-week intensive study programs in Israel for boys and girls, respectively.  The programs also include sports and touring.

NCSY Around the World

·        Joseph K. Miller Torah Center, Kharkov, Ukraine -  The Center is active 365 days a year, offering a yeshiva program for university men, a Torah study program for women, ulpan Hebrew for adults, a Sunday school for young children, Sabbath and holiday events and a summer camp.

·        OU/NCSY Sha'alvim High Schools in Kharkov  - These schools provide Ukrainian students with educational and vocational guidance counseling. Many of the Sha’alvim graduates emigrate to Israel.

·        Seymour Abrams World Torah Center in Jerusalem - Provides educational, social and recreational programs for visitors and new immigrants to Israel.

·        NCSY-in-Israel - Designed to reach out and introduce Israeli youth to their Jewish tradition.  Maintains special programs for at-risk Israeli youth, as well as English-speaking immigrants and new immigrants from Russia and the Ukraine.