NCSY, the international youth organization of the Orthodox Union, recently held another successful International Yarchei Kallah, an annual event featuring an alternative winter break activity for teens from public high schools that provides five days of intensive Torah learning.
The event, held at the Holiday Inn in Waterbury, CT, was sponsored by NCSY’s Ben Zakkai Honor Society and Touro College, and coordinated by Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, NCSY NJ Regional Director and Rabbi Shmuel Miller, NCSY New England Regional Director. This years’ Yarchei Kallah was attended by hundreds of students from across North America, representing 84 schools, 13 states, and 90 cities.
Rabbi Steven Burg, International Director of NCSY, declared, “It’s no accident that Yarchei Kallah coincides with Chanukah during most years. Like modern day Maccabees, our NCSY staff and advisors are battling the scourge of assimilation by arming our Jewish public school teens with Torah and an intense pride in their Jewish heritage.”
Guest speakers at the event included Rabbi Mordechai Willig, Rosh Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary; Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, world renowned Torah personality and author; Rabbi Menachem Nissel, renowned international speaker and author; and Charles Harary, an OU National Vice President and former NCSY advisor and founder of the OU’s Young Leadership Cabinet. An all-star team of NCSY professionals and volunteer collegiate advisors also led discussions and learning sessions.