Each time I finish reading the last page of Ignite Magazine, I am reminded yet again of how I would not be the person I am today without NCSY. This is a thought that surprisingly often wafts its way into
my mind as I sing Shabbos zemiros with my children, stand in front a classroom to teach, or stare at the reflection of a modestly-clad woman in the mirror. But when I read about the current work of NCSY, inspiration is ignited once again. The stories are so familiar, so personal, so mine. I, too, am a product of NCSY.
My father converted to Judaism when I was 12. I embraced our lifestyle change and was eager to make new friends and switch to a Jewish day school. This was Atlanta, Georgia in the ’90s and the community was still growing. By the time I reached high school, my small group of friends and I were the Orthodox kids on the block. And as a newbie to observant Judaism, I was pretty ignorant of the big Jewish world out there. My exposure to other observant Jewish kids was limited and I didn’t even know it, until NCSY came into my life.
Read the rest of this article at The Jewish Press.