Since its inception in 1954, NCSY (formerly the National Conference of Synagogue Youth) has been lauded as a world-recognized organization that continues to play a vital role in shaping the lives of Jewish teenagers. Its sundry of programs, including in Israel, Europe, and the US, promote chesed (everlasting kindness) and serve as a viable antidote to confront malevolence and apathy in today’s troubled times.
Meant to empower through “Torah and Tradition,” NCSY has undoubtedly given young Jews the ability to harness their leadership skills through proactive and responsible chores in and around communities with its various social and recreational programs.
NCSY GIVE – Girls Israel Volunteer Experience – is specifically a five-week summer program in the Holy Land that gives high school girls, like Kew Gardens Hills native Hadar Basalel, a unique opportunity to experience hands-on altruism while also being in the Jewish state.
The Queens Jewish Link caught up this week with the energetic and intelligent 16-year-old while still on her program in Israel. It began on July 8 and runs until August 12.
Preparing to enter the 11th grade at Shulamith High School in the Five Towns this fall, Basalel credits her school as “incredible at keeping us involved with everything to do with Israel. It was very clear to me that I needed to go to Israel this summer. I have lots of family in Israel on both of my parents’ sides,” she says.
The primary focus of NCSY GIVE is volunteer work while also granting a broadened exposure to Israel’s splendor. Most tours in Israel include spending a Shabbos in Tzfas, hiking in the Judean Desert and the Golan Heights, as well as floating in the Dead Sea. These are activities Basalel and her friends have surely enjoyed this summer, but these excursions have in no way defined her trip.
“NCSY GIVE is a program that takes place for five weeks. We travel all over Israel, performing one or more acts of chesed a day,” she says. “I’ve been here for about three and a half weeks, and it’s been life-changing. We’ve done so many things here, so there really isn’t a regular set itinerary. Every day is totally different.”
Kids Kavua “is one activity that we did three times. We visited a place for underprivileged children and we got to know them.” Over the course of the ensuing few weeks, “we saw them once a week, and we even got to take them to a trampoline park. It was so incredible to get to know these kids and build relationships – just to see smiles on their faces.”
Basalel explains that while trauma is palpable all throughout Israel post-October 7, “there hasn’t been much change in the itinerary as we have traveled from up north to all the way south to Nahal Oz. We even went to the gate beside the Gaza border,” she says.
Nahal Oz, located in the northwestern part of the Negev, near Sderot and Netivot, was founded three years after Israel’s independence.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists entered the kibbutz and led a heinous assault there and on the nearby military post. Forty-one Golani Brigade troops, as well as 20 in the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps, were killed, as reported by The Times of Israel. Hamas also killed 15 Israeli civilians from the kibbutz, while taking eight hostage. The site was held for 12 hours until the IDF killed the remaining terrorists before taking back control.
“We’ve met lots of Israelis here who have said the country may be different, but it’s strong and together,” says Basalel. “Israel is definitely a changed country, and it will probably never be the same, but the Jewish people have been more united. You can feel the achdus (solidarity) within the streets here.”
With her group, Basalel attended the shiv’ah of Avraham Azulay, a 25-year-old Israeli soldier who was killed this summer during an attempted Hamas abduction in southern Gaza. Master Sgt. Azulay was a heavy engineering operator in the Southern Command’s engineering unit.
Basalel met with Azulay’s wife, Ruth, who talked about her husband. This left the teenager deeply moved. “She spoke with us outside her home about Avraham and how passionate he was to fight for Israel. It was actually chilling when she said that she was waiting for him at home with dinner. He didn’t make it home,” recalls Basalel.
NCSY GIVE enables female Jewish teenagers the ample confidence and opportunity to “give back some of the good they received in their lives to those less fortunate,” says a mature Basalel, who also had the unique chance to meet with new female olim from Ethiopia. These women were given pointers on how to adjust to modern society, which may not have been so easily (or ever) allotted to them in their native country. “This included the ability to use an oven and learning valuable social skills,” says Basalel.
“I’ve been growing so much while in Israel. I’ve been learning so much from each chesed we’ve done,” says a thankful Basalel. “I’ve learned, too, to not take any of the chasadim lightly, whether it’s building a porch, playing with kids, or pulling weeds. They’re all crucial and important in helping the country. No job is too small,” she adds.
“When I come back to Queens, I have to start getting ready for 11th grade,” concludes Basalel. “Giving back to the country I love, through this program, is something that I am so passionate about and so grateful to be doing.”
By Jared Feldschreiber
