As a teenager you are always trying to find yourself.  You start in fads, different schools, classes, clothes, and even hair.  Then, usually, you come to the realization that you can’t discover yourself in materialistic things.  So you begin to search within yourself.  After that you go to friends, parents, teachers, even books.  Finally at the end of this process you become well acquainted with your emotional makeup or better known as the human psyche.

Now you’re confused. You’ve figured out that you are made of 2 components; the physical part which are all of those fads and trends that you tried, and the second part which is your complex mind that you’ve become more acquainted with. Yet there’s something else, something which you can’t quite explain.  Just like your mind, you can’t see it, yet you don’t connect with it all the time.  You know what I’m talking about, because you felt it on your last regional.  Maybe it was during ebbing or perhaps you only felt it during Havdala, either way you’ve felt it at some point of your life. That first Kiddush you heard, or the first time you put on tefillin, your first NCSY Shabbaton, you felt a rush, but couldn’t figure out what it was.  That feeling you experienced, that part of yourself you connected with, that was your neshama- your G-dly soul.  

Just as your physical body needs nourishment, so does your neshama.  For the past 4 years NCSY has been feeding your soul Torah.  Now your high school years are coming to a close and its time to move on.  But what about your soul?  Who will feed it? Israel will!  Taking out a year of your life to go to a Yeshiva/Seminary in Israel is well worth your while.

Yeshiva and Seminary is such an incredible experience.  For a whole year you get to really “find yourself.”  You spend time learning Torah without any distractions.  You form new opinions and make new friends from all over the world.

            You leave your environment, your lifestyle, your home for a whole year and discover yourself.

A lot of people don’t want to go to Israel because they think that Yeshiva and Seminary is just like school.  Well those people are mistaken.  If I had to compare Yeshiva or Seminary to anything I would probably compare it to an NCSY summer program.  There is a lot of Torah learning and a lot of spiritual growth.  You meet so many new people.  The dorms are sooo much fun. And for a whole year after high school, you get to focus on just you.  You get to figure out who you are, who you want to be, and how to get there.  And in the mean time you’re having tons of fun going on trips and Shabbatonim in the holy lands.

Sometimes we feel like people are putting way too much pressure for us to be religious and we decide to rebel.  Israel is a great place to reconnect to Judaism from a new perspective.  If you ask anyone who went they’ll tell you that learning in Yeshiva or Seminary is the opportunity of a life time.  So just think about, talk to people who went.  Ask NCSY staff and advisors for their advice. And trust me, its incredible, you’re going to a place where you get that rush year round.