[Written by Leora Goldberg, Boca Raton, FL]
We started off our 8th day in LA bright and early with a meaningful Davening, yummy breakfast, and inspiring chaburah. After, we were privileged to hear from Rabbi Micah Greenland, the International Director of NCSY. He spoke to us about taking the amazing opportunities that we are given on this program and taking them home to our communities. We then went on to split up for the day. I had the chance to go to the Midnight Mission, a rehabilitation shelter for the homeless. After a tour and learning about the background and work the mission works for the people of Skid Row, we began to prepare for their lunch service. We were each given a job — filling up trays, helping the handicapped get their food, or working in the kitchen. We saw people from all walks of life coming inside, desperate for food. At the end, we all sat down and shared some of the amazing stories that these unfortunate people told us. We realized that these people were just like us until their lives changed and landed them in these depressing situations. Through our discussion, an uplifting thought was developed. Although we all humans, we have one major difference — we are Jewish. We are part of a unified nation and community that would never let us end up alone. Leaving midnight mission, we felt paralyzed with appreciation for everything that we have. Appreciation for our parents, friends, communities. Appreciation to be on this amazing program, with amazing directors, inspiring advisers, and long lasting friendships. Appreciation for the BEST.SUMMER.EVER.

[Written by Leba Shleifer, Lawrence, NY]
Today I went to the Friendship Circle of Los Angeles and we helped them prepare for their incoming students. We helped cut things for bulletin boards and prepare games. The head of the program made us feel so welcome. She made us feel like we were really helping out and doing chesed even though we weren’t actually interacting with the Friendship Circle students. She told us of how they put up new pictures every year because when the students walk down the hallways it makes them so happy to be able to look at the pictures and see themselves in them. I’m really happy that I got the opportunity to spend my summer doing chesed and giving to other people. There is nothing else that makes you feel more accomplished than doing something for someone else that immediately puts a smile on their face. Thanks Mom for sending me to this amazing summer program. I love you so much!

[Written by Adina Frankel, Woodmere, NY]
This afternoon on GIVE WEST we drove to Rodeo Drive. We got to walk around and explore stores, Coffee Bean, and many cool cars. It was really fun! Someone even met Ty Blue from the popular Disney show, “Shake It Up!” Paul then drove us to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was so cool to see so many different celebrity stars along the ground. I got to take a lot of pictures with my friends! We even stopped in a gift shop along the way and bought some souvenirs. After our time there, we drove to Pizza World and ate yummy delicious Pizza for dinner…and had some free time afterward in The Grove and the Farmers Market. Some girls even got manicures (me included)!!! Our final stop of the night was at the LACMA lights on Wilshire. It was very artsy and we got really cool pictures! Paul drove us back to AJU for night activity…ENDING IN COLOR WAR BREAKOUT! Go Team Red!!!!!

[Written by Atara Benquesus, Toronto, Canada]
After a late wake up this morning, we all made our way to davening and chabburah, where we were taught about the importance of this day. After chabburah, the advisors ran a program teaching us how to prevent hurtful actions towards others in the future. We learned about Sinat Chinam, and how to be nicer to our friends, family, and teachers. Here, on GIVE WEST, we learned a lot about Shiva Asar B’Tammuz, the baseless hatred that resulted in our current exile, and the complete love and acceptance we must display in order to reach our goals, as a nation. This past week and a half has been a truly remarkable experience for the teenagers on this trip. I don’t recall ever feeling as inspired to give and love as I have on this meaningful fast. In the afternoon some of us went to learn from one of the advisers. I was actually surprised with the amount of enthusiasm I had to be there, excited to hear everything she had to say. Following Mincha, our group set off to sit on a beautiful balcony overlooking the breathtaking LA sunset. The view at sunset, with mountains in the distance, is a sight to treasure. We heard from Mrs. Rivkie Greenland about being empowered as Jewish Women in today’s world. We sat in a circle as the fast slowly came to its end, singing in the sunset. For that last hour of the fast I was no longer hungry, I thought of other people and of different times or places. As we listened to these stories I noticed how much I’ve matured this week. I know that when I go home I want to be like that girl Rachel we just learnt about today from Mrs. Greenland, taking initiative of something, even if it’s only a small action. We ended the night working together with girls from our schools to create positive programs to bring back with us to our schools. It was really fun, but also so meaningful. I am so grateful to my parents for giving me this great opportunity to grow and find myself, and to my advisers who have taught me so much in the most interesting ways. I am excited for another day of GIVE WEST!

[Written by Avigayil Greenberg, Hollywood, FL]
This morning on GIVE WEST we woke up to our daily Shacharit around the tree. Davening here always feels extra meaningful because of our beautiful setting and unity. After breakfast and chabburah, lead by our amazing advisors, we boarded the busses and headed for the LA Food Bank. When we first entered the food bank, we were greeted by the staff who instructed us on how to sort the food and package it for distribution. They kept repeating that we should throw away the food if it wasn’t something we wouldn’t eat at home, which is something I really liked. What I learned from today while sorting through the food, looking at the expiration dates and examining the overall quality of the merchandise, I love this aspect of what the food bank does, because I believe that even though they are homeless, they are still people and they deserve the best food just like we do. This organization is unique because they really care a lot about what they are giving out and they treat the needy just like any of us, just because they are poor, doesn’t mean they deserve expired food that could make them sick. After the meaningful chesed experience, we headed for a fun outing at The Grove, a popular outdoor shopping area in LA. We were all given the opportunity to split up and have some free time exploring. I made my necessary stop at Coffee Bean and then went with some friends on a cute trolley around the mall, on the trolley, we saw all the shops and people. The shoppers also enjoyed the outing, lots of people came back with cute new clothes.

[Written by Michal Feder, Teaneck, NJ]
After The Grove, we headed to the Museum of Tolerance. This museum focuses on making sure that the Holocaust is remembered and never forgotten. The tour guide gave us a card that had information about a child that went through the Holocaust. Throughout the tour, there were different stops for us to learn about the child on the card, at the last stop we found out if they survived the Holocaust. It was powerful to see and learn about how people my age had to go through such terrible times during their life. After the museum, we went to Dockweiler Beach, where we were able to hang out, and when the sun set, we had a bonfire and Kumzitz. During the Kumzitz, we sang songs, and the advisors told us inspirational stories that happened throughout their lives. I found tonight very inspirational because leading into Shiva Asar B’Tammuz, it was important to hear about Sinat Chinam and Ahavas Chinam. I am looking forward to a meaningful fast day together.

[Written By Emmy Simon, Phoenix, AZ]
This morning on NCSY GIVE WEST we traveled to San Diego! Our first stop was a gorgeous overlook of the sea — the Tory Pines Glider Ports. There was a fun hike down to the beach, and really great photo opts. After, we went to Balboa Park, and there was biking, a fun train ride outside the Zoo, and The Spanish Village Art Center. The art center was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen in my entire life. We then went to Seaport Village, where we saw lots of cute little shops and a beautiful view of the water. There was a really cool pond there with birds swimming, people hanging around, and lots of tourists. Our last stop in San Diego was La Jolla Cliffs — and we saw more of the stunning beaches and lots and lots of seals! We traveled back to LA, had fun chatting over dinner, and ended the day with a delightful Spa Night! Every day on GVIE WEST is so much fun and I am SO happy to be here!

[Written by Ora Hochberg, Teaneck, New Jersey]
After getting ready for Shabbos, we took beautiful pictures outside of the AJU dorms. Then we went out to a large balcony and davened Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat as the sun was setting over the hills. After davening went inside for the meal, there was a lot of ruach, singing, and dancing. Tiferet Mondrow spoke about what we can learn from the contrast between Avraham and Bilam. After the meal, we had a Question and Answer session with Rabbi Katz from MMY, who answered any question that we had about an array of topics in Judaism, Torah, and Halacha. Then our advisors ran an optional tisch with snacks and singing. Afterward, I continued to speak to Rabbi Katz with some friends. My favorite part of Shabbos was davening outside because I don’t usually get to daven in that setting, and when everyone was dancing around at the meal. Thank you so much, Mommy and Abba for sending me on this program.

[Written by Leora Cohn, Boca Raton, FL]
Shabbos morning began with davening and Parsha Shiur with Rabbi Katz. He gave us a beautiful insight on how to better our relationship with our peers. Following Kiddush, we had free time and lunch. After lunch we had Chabbura with our advisors, they taught us about Rocel and Leah and the importance of Bein Adam L’chaveiro. After the Chabburot, we had a really fun advisor panel, where we got to hear from the advisors about their personal experience through life, we got great advice on how to go through High School with a positive outlook and how to better our relationship with Hashem, our peers, and ourselves. We learned so much about our advisors and got to relate to them on a more personal level. We then had free time, during free time, our director, Leah Moskovich, gave an optional shiur about how we can actually take a message from the game of basketball and the all-star player, LeBron James. She spoke about the different aspects of basketball and how they correspond to Judaism. Optional Beit Medrash time led into a shiur from Rabbi Katz about the Halachot pertaining to the Three Weeks and Nine Days and what we can gain from fasting, not only refraining from eating and drinking but also a more spiritual message. We then had Seudat Shilishit with a nice singing to conclude Shabbat and a great Havdala by Rabbi Katz. Motzei Shabbos was filled with yummy pizza, dancing, an awesome game of PANIC, and we then headed to bed pumped and excited for San Diego!

[Written by Sophie Schanzer, Edison, NJ]
This morning on GIVE WEST was truly incredible. After wake up, davening, breakfast, and chaburah, we headed on the bus to Shalhevet High School to run a carnival for Camp Etta. Camp Etta is a day camp for people of all ages with disabilities. GIVE WEST planned a carnival with 11 booths to have fun with our new friends. We ran the carnival outside in the yard and it was a beautiful day. I ran a booth called the ping pong challenge, where people would take a ping pong ball and try to throw the ball into a cup. They could stand at different spots to make the game challenging. It was an awesome and inspiring experience to hang out and talk with the Camp Etta campers. This carnival was really fun because I was able to make these people happy and put a smile on their faces. In the middle of the carnival, we all broke out into a dance party and sang with the members of Camp Etta. I had such a blast and I hope to continue hanging out and working with these types of kids. Thank you so much mom and dad for giving me this opportunity to go on GIVE WEST, to gain new friendships, grow spiritually, and give back to the community.

[Written by Sarala Kupferstein, West Hempstead, New York]
After the carnival, we went outside and had lunch before heading to 3rd Street Promenade. It was a beautiful outdoor shopping center with a coffee bean where we all got drinks. Afterward, we went to Santa Monica Beach where some of us swam in the ocean. It was my first time in the Pacific Ocean, I was scared to go in at first but then I closed my eyes and ran in any way. I swam with my advisors and had a blast with my friends. We dried off in the sun before getting back on the bus to head to AJU to prepare for Shabbos. Thanks, mom and dad, I’m really enjoying myself and I’m glad you can give me this experience.

[Written by Avigayil Roffe, Hewlett, New York]
After davening, breakfast and an informative, political speech from Dr. David Luchins, we broke up into two groups and headed to our respective chesed activities. I was really nervous when we first walked into Midnight Mission because Skid Row is the second largest homeless community, but then I walked in and all the people were happy and proud of the work they were doing. It was clean and sanitary, not run down and gross. They gave us a tour of the facilities. Showing us the classrooms, mini-hospital, offering them opportunities to help them, and REALLY help them. We served the food to the homeless and helped clean up afterward. I liked how it wasn’t only serving food, they have all different facilities to help these people get their lives together, basketball, yoga, teams, concerts, really doing the extras in addition to the necessities.

[Written by Meira Entin, Miami, Florida]
Today a group of us were privileged to visit the Garden Palms Nursing Home. We pulled up to the building, walked in, split up, and began to meet our new friends. We each spoke to different elderly men and women and shared our experiences. Through talking and hanging out with the residents we all brought smiles and happiness to the residents day, which in turn made us super happy. Aside from just talking to the residents many of them shared inspiring life stories and advice with us. We were even fortunate enough to hear from some Holocaust survivors and get some inspiration from their faith and connection. After an amazing morning spent in the nursing home, we said goodbye to our newfound friends and headed to the bus where we each were able to share our experiences with the rest of the group. Thank you GIVE WEST for an amazing morning!!

[Written by Sarah Hanian, Edison, New Jersey]
After a refreshing afternoon in a neighborhood pool, we came back to AJU to shower, change, and daven Mincha. We then went out to Shnitzely, in Pico, for dinner. After we ate we were able to walk around and most of us went to Munchies, an amazing candy store in the area. After dinner, we came back to AJU and we began our preparation for tomorrow’s carnival at Camp Etta Israel. We made bright and colorful posters relating to our carnival booths. Soon after, Rabbi Katz gave a very informative Shiur on how to protect your and others privacy through social media. We discussed the Halachic and emotional aspects concerning the issues that come up while using social media and learning the right way to use social media to maintain your own privacy as well as others. We can’t wait for another fun-filled day tomorrow!

[Written by Tali Wolff, Paramus, NJ]
Today was another incredible day on GIVE WEST! We woke up early this morning energized and ready to depart Arizona. We headed to davening and breakfast and of course our Chabburas. Following that we cleaned up, said our goodbyes to the hot weather in Phoenix, and began to board the bus for a 7-hour adventure – off to Los Angeles for us! We started off the bus ride with a great Dvar Torah (shoutout to Leba Schleiffer!) There were tons of movies being played, snacks going around and many sefarim being learned. A large group of us learned Perkei Avot on the back of the bus (shout out to Amira Pechet!) After a much needed Walmart stop, and a long but very smooth bus ride (shoutout to Paul, our bus driver!) we finally arrived at our home for the next 10 nights, the American Jewish University. Waiting for us at AJU was Rabbi David Katz, the Rosh Yeshiva at MMY, who flew all the way from Israel to spend a few days with us. We also met Dr. & Mrs. Luchins (Touro/NCSY Summer), Mr. & Mrs. Novak (Ben Zakai Foundation), Mr. Statman (Ben Zakai Foundation), and Mr. & Mrs. Becker (LA NCSY). Dr. Luchins told us fascinating stories and we can’t wait to hear more from him tomorrow! Thank you to Touro College for sponsoring a delicious Texas BBQ and for giving us each a Sefer as a gift…we can’t wait to learn more from them! After dinner, we boarded the busses one more time and we headed to Santa Monica Pier! The crowds of people filled the Pier and the sights were incredible. A group of us decided to go on the Ferris wheel. The first time around it was pretty scary and it was hard to look out but the second time around, and third, and fourth, all I could think was מה רבו מעשיך ה׳ a constant theme on this trip. After exploring the pier and just seeing the sights we came back to AJU. Although many hours were spent getting on and off the bus, there was never a dull moment throughout the entire day (Shoutout to Leah and Gavriela!!) No matter where we are we always have a blast on GIVE WEST!

[Written by Tali Wolff, Paramus, NJ]
Today was another incredible day on GIVE WEST! We woke up early this morning energized and ready to depart Arizona. We headed to davening and breakfast and of course our Chabburas. Following that we cleaned up, said our goodbyes to the hot weather in Phoenix, and began to board the bus for a 7-hour adventure – off to Los Angeles for us! We started off the bus ride with a great Dvar Torah (shoutout to Leba Schleiffer!) There were tons of movies being played, snacks going around and many sefarim being learned. A large group of us learned Perkei Avot on the back of the bus (shout out to Amira Pechet!) After a much needed Walmart stop, and a long but very smooth bus ride (shoutout to Paul, our bus driver!) we finally arrived at our home for the next 10 nights, the American Jewish University. Waiting for us at AJU was Rabbi David Katz, the Rosh Yeshiva at MMY, who flew all the way from Israel to spend a few days with us. We also met Dr. & Mrs. Luchins (Touro/NCSY Summer), Mr. & Mrs. Novak (Ben Zakai Foundation), Mr. Statman (Ben Zakai Foundation), and Mr. & Mrs. Becker (LA NCSY). Dr. Luchins told us fascinating stories and we can’t wait to hear more from him tomorrow! Thank you to Touro College for sponsoring a delicious Texas BBQ and for giving us each a Sefer as a gift…we can’t wait to learn more from them! After dinner, we boarded the busses one more time and we headed to Santa Monica Pier! The crowds of people filled the Pier and the sights were incredible. A group of us decided to go on the Ferris Wheel. The first time around it was pretty scary and it was hard to look out but the second time around, and third, and fourth, all I could think was מה רבו מעשיך ה׳ a constant theme on this trip. After exploring the pier and just seeing the sights we came back to AJU. Although many hours were spent getting on and off the bus, there was never a dull moment throughout the entire day (Shoutout to Leah and Gavriela!!) No matter where we are we always have a blast on GIVE WEST!