From ICE to Fire

Posted on September 18, 2014

By: Batya Rosner

Yosef Tropper returned from ICE Israel on fire, and his flame grew to inspire West Coast and Valley NCSY.

Yosef grew up in an Orthodox home in Los Angeles where observing Shabbat and kashrut were central parts of his upbringing. However, Yosef struggled with forging a deeper connection to Judaism, and by high school he found himself estranged from his religion. Unhappy both socially and with the material he was learning in his Jewish high school, Yosef took the California High School Proficiency Examination and left school after his sophomore year to begin working with his father.

Worried for her son both spiritually and socially, Yosef’s mother Shonney urged him to attend NCSY’s Camp Sports that summer. Yosef agreed, and after the summer, his mother convinced him to attend a Dinner & Learning program at the home of Sara Leah and Derek Gormin, city directors of Valley NCSY.

“He wore a kippah to the event to please his parents, but took it off when they left,” recalled Sara Leah Gormin. “He would sit at the table, but that was it. He was very shy. He ran into friends from Camp Sports who encouraged him to come back next week.”

He did return, though he was just as quiet.

Yosef (left) and his friends from NCSY's JOLT overlooking the holy city of Jerusalem.

Yosef (left) and his friends from NCSY’s JOLT overlooking the holy city of Jerusalem.


Yosef remembers his first program at the Gormin’s house with a different perspective. “I thought I’d know no one, and the second I stepped into their house the Gormins introduced themselves and made me feel welcomed, not judged,” said Yosef. “The people of NCSY — the staff and the advisors — they all genuinely care so much.”

With extra time and no homework to do, Yosef began attending Latte & Learning, in addition to Dinner & Learning. After a few weeks, he started going to Shabbat dinners at the Gormin’s house and then to Shabbatons. He reconnected with friends from junior high and Camp Sports, and made new friends as well. Slowly, he started coming out of his shell and began speaking up at events. Yosef soon became a regular at Valley NCSY programs and at the Gormin home.

Shonney periodically called the Gormin’s house, exclaiming, “I don’t know what is happening, but my son is so much happier — thank you!” By the end of the year, Yosef had even signed up to participate in NCSY’s ICE Israel summer program.

The summer in Israel with NCSY crystallized the new person Yosef was becoming.

He returned from ICE Israel newly inspired. He joined the student leadership board of Valley NCSY, attended monthly board meetings, came early for Shabbatons and events, made posters and hung signs. “He was always the first person at an event, willing to help and excited,” Sara Leah noted.

Yosef also started wearing his tzitzit and kippah again.

Yosef discovered a passion for Judaism and decided to start a special project with Derek Gormin, who had become a close friend and mentor. Yosef had never managed to finish a Jewish book before, but he set a goal to learn the entire Tractate of Berachot. As motivation to finish, Yosef requested permission to make a siyum celebrating the sefer’s completion at the NCSY Spring Regional.

The plan was approved. “Derek and I learned together every single week, without fail — it was huge,” Yosef said. “In the past, every time I started something, like guitar lessons, I would stop. I wanted to finish this and say ‘Wow, I did that!’”

In front of 300 participants from across the West Coast NCSY region, his immediate family and his grandparents, Yosef made his siyum at the closing of Spring Regional. Yosef’s father, Mendel Tropper, spoke as well. He discussed how people struggle with their Judaism, but finding the right friends and mentors can change everything for a person and allow them to experience Judaism as beautifully as Yosef did. Mendel then surprised everyone by announcing a scholarship created in Yosef’s honor to be awarded every year to a high school senior to study in Israel after high school.

“Half of the participants were public school students who didn’t understand what was going on, but Yosef was so into the moment, so emotional, that everyone around him was moved by his dedication to learning,” Sara Leah shared. “You think teens don’t understand what’s happening, but they see. They realized they witnessed a great thing.”

Yosef went on NCSY JOLT last summer and stayed in Israel to study for the year at Yeshivat Torat Shraga in Bayit VeGan. He plans to attend Yeshiva University when he returns.

Before he left for Israel, fellow Valley NCSY board members weren’t ready to say goodbye to Yosef and insisted that they drive him to the airport as a group. “You’ll have to take that up with his parents,” Sara Leah informed them.

With members of his fan club cheering him on at the airport, Yosef boarded the plane for the next chapter of his journey. 