NCSY (formerly known as the National Conference of Synagogue Youth
) is a
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish youth group under the auspices of the
Orthodox Union. Its operations include Jewish-inspired after-school programs; summer programs in Israel, Europe, and the United States; weekend programming,
shabbaton
The Hebrew term ''shabbaton'' ( he, שבתון) may be translated into English to mean sabbatical. The concept of a sabbatical year (shmita) has a source in several places in the Bible (e.g. Leviticus 25), where there is a commandment to desist fro ...
s, retreats, and regionals; Israel advocacy training; and disaster relief missions known as
chesed
( he, חֶסֶד, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is frequently used in Psalms i ...
(kindness) trips.
[''NCSY Background'', Orthodox Union, 2000](_blank)
NCSY also has an alumni organization on campuses across North America. Over the past several decades, NCSY has been the subject of two child sexual abuse scandals involving chapter advisors and directors. NCSY, and its parent organization, the
Orthodox Union, say that they have taken significant steps to address such abuse from an organizational standpoint.
History
In 1959, NCSY hired Rabbi
Pinchas Stolper
Pinchas Aryeh Stolper (October 22, 1931 – May 25, 2022) was an American Orthodox rabbi and writer, who was a spokesman for Jewish Orthodoxy through his writings and books popularizing Orthodox Judaism.
Biography
Stolper was a disciple of Rabbi ...
as the first National Director in the United States.
During the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, the Orthodox youth of NCSY opposed social change, choosing instead to emphasize religious tradition.
In this period, at least one NCSY chapter took public action on this point, passing a resolution rejecting marijuana and other drugs as a violation of Jewish law.
At the 1971 NCSY international convention, delegates passed resolutions in this vein, calling for members to "forge a social revolution with Torah principles."
According to the Orthodox sociologist Chaim Waxman, there has been an increase in
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
influence on NCSY since 2012. Waxman based this on NCSY's own sociological self-study.
[Nathalie Friedman, Faithful Youth: A Study of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth (New York: National Conference of Synagogue Youth, 1998).]
See also
*
Orthodox Union, the sponsoring organization of NCSY
*
KEDMA, an Orthodox college outreach group
*
United Synagogue Youth
United Synagogue Youth (USY) is the youth movement of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ). It was founded in 1951, under the auspices of the Youth Commission of what was then the United Synagogue of America.
USY operates in the ...
, the youth group of
Conservative Judaism
*
National Federation of Temple Youth
NFTY: The Reform Jewish Youth Movement (formerly known as the North American Federation for Temple Youth, often referred to simply as NFTY, commonly pronounced ''"nifty"'') is the organized youth movement of Reform Judaism in North America. Fun ...
, the youth movement of
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...
*
Young Judaea, the pluralist Zionist
youth movement
The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise.
...
of
Hadassah
*
BBYO, the leading non-denominational Jewish youth movement
*
Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929.
History
B ...
*
Pinchas Stolper
Pinchas Aryeh Stolper (October 22, 1931 – May 25, 2022) was an American Orthodox rabbi and writer, who was a spokesman for Jewish Orthodoxy through his writings and books popularizing Orthodox Judaism.
Biography
Stolper was a disciple of Rabbi ...
*
Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan ( he, אריה משה אליהו קפלן; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator, best known for his Living Torah edition of the Torah. He became well known as ...
References
External links
National Conference of Synagogue Youth Official website
{{Jewish Youth and Student Organisations, state=collapsed
Jewish youth organizations
Modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States
Youth conferences
Orthodox Jewish outreach
Youth organizations based in the United States