Now, next step… you may even have a vision or a recollection of some great teaching and learning moment with that teacher or Rabbi.

Next step… picture that Torah moment with that Rabbi or advisor and now try to remember what exactly was being discussed with them.

Here is what sometimes happens: You remember the moment and the feelings you have about that person/moment, yet you cannot clearly remember what on earth you were learning about! Happens all the time. You remember the Rabbi, the place, the feelings, and you know it was important. You can see the whole thing except the content of the Torah at that special moment.

Why does this happen? Is this bad news or good news? Why do I have amazing memories and feelings about my favorite Rabbis even though I cannot remember what they were saying at that golden moment? Any thoughts on the matter? Hey guys this is important for you to help me figure out because I find myself on the other side of this sometimes! An NCSYer reminds me about some special Havdalah from 15 years ago and they describe the whole thing and the feelings etc. but they cannot remember what we actually said at that Havdalah!! What does this all mean? Any thoughts?

On December 28, 2010, 200 Jewish teenagers from all over the United States and Canada joined together in Stamford, Connecticut to learn Torah during their winter break. I chose to attend National Yarchei Kallah 2010 to be inspired, make new friends nation-wide, and reunite with other teenagers from my trip to Israel with TJJ Ambassadors (whom I had met this past summer). To my delight, all three of my objectives were accomplished by the beginning of the New Year.

Many of my friends from school exchanged departing words before our winter break, like, “Where are you going for break? I’m going to Cancun/Jamaica/Florida.” I said that I was going to Stamford, Connecticut for a week of inspiration and Jewish learning. As my bus pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, and my friends ran outside to greet me, I instantly knew that I had chosen the best option for spending my winter break. After the first shiur klali, general lecture, I found myself engaged in an analytical discussion with said friends about the content of the class. I was already gaining spiritually from Yarchei Kallah, and I had not even been there for one day! From New York to Los Angeles (and everywhere in between), high school students varying in religious observance and background in Judaism all gained inspiration with peers previously known or newly-befriended.

Staying in the luxurious Stamford Hilton, I joined in a discussion between a teen from New Jersey and Rabbi Yitz Levi of Philadelphia, PA, discussing the validity of Jewish Orthodoxy’s emphasis of the importance of shomer negi’ah and its affect on our lives. Not only was the discussion engaging and captivating, but also it was conducive to the inclusion of those passing by, allowing for opinions varying greatly from one another to be presented. Each person’s opinion was respected and valued, leaving no one feeling that his point was not heard. Interestingly, this talk took place in a hallway, drawing-in vagabond, nocturnal NCSYers at two o’clock in the morning to add their two cents on the matter. At the end of this makeshift shiur, everyone left satisfied with the information he had shared and received from one another.

In our smaller chaburot of five teens, led by an advisor, we discussed excerpts from Torah and our analyses thereof. We were encouraged to challenge, infer, object against, and disagree with one another in the pursuit of furthering our comprehension of the texts and the almost endless ways to interpret each and every sentence in it.

From New York to Los Angeles (and everywhere in between), high school students varying in religious observance and background in Judaism all gained inspiration with peers previously known or newly-befriended. I saw teens in tears during Havdalah, dancing and singing with a shine in their eyes, as their souls were fundamentally touched in a truly beautiful, meaningful, and permanent way that they would never forget. I am grateful to NCSY for the efforts expended in planning and in executing such a wonderful experience, and I realize how fortunate I was to be a part of such a character-building conference. Although we have all returned to our respective homes, it is our responsibility to implement the lessons learned at Yarchei Kallah into our daily lives to keep our flames of Jewish inspiration lit.

Judah Joseph is a Junior at Cherry Hill High School East in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He is a regional board member of Atlantic Seaboard NCSY.

’ועשית את המזבח עצי שטים המש אמות ארך וחמש אמות רחב רבוע יהיה המזבח ושלש אמות קמתו. ועשית קרנתיו על ארבע פנתיו ממחו תהיין קרנתיו וצפית אתו נחשת.’ (שמות כז: א–ב)

“You shall make the Altar of acacia wood, five cubits in length and five cubits in width – the Altar shall be square – and three cubits in height. You shall make horns on its four corners; from it shall its horns be, and you shall cover it in copper” (Shemot 27: 1-2)

We learn from pesukïm like the one above (and others throughout this portion of the Torah) that two mizbachïm were fashioned for the nomadic Jews. One was covered in copper and left in the outer courtyard, and one was enveloped in gold and placed in the inner courtyard. I once learned that the two Altars were symbolic of man; the copper mizbe’ach represented man’s body, and the golden mizbe’ach represented man’s soul. The passing Jew could, at the time of the mishkan, see the copper Altar, but he couldn’t see the golden one, which directly symbolizes how we can see each other’s body but not each other’s soul. Gold is more valuable than copper, as our soul, which serves us in both this world and next, is more important than our physical bodies. This concept serves as another example of the parallelism with man’s body and soul and the copper and gold mizbachïm. Let’s learn a lesson from the Altars and remember that our personal “mizbachïm”, although only partly visible to our fellow man, are both seen by God. Let’s let the radiance of our soul, our golden mizbe’ach, shine through our actions and mannerisms, setting a prime example of what the Jewish people represent!