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August 1, 2003/Av 3 5763, Vol. 55, No. 49
Summer yeshiva
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
Mel Isaac learns Torah with student camper Shmuel Kievman during Chabad of Arizona's Yeshivas Kayitz summer program. The camp offers a community learning program 8-8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Photo courtesy of Shlomy Levertov
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Rabbi Zalman Levertov, director of Chabad of Arizona, has a full house this summer.
Levertov's son Shlomy - and seven classmates from his Brooklyn high school - are staying in Phoenix to participate in Yeshivas Kayitz, a six-week Chabad summer learning program that is also held in Israel, Italy, South Africa and several other countries. This is Phoenix's first year of the Camp Gan Israel program for boys entering the 10th grade. Three of the 11 student campers are locals.
Although the yeshiva's schedule primarily focuses on studying, there are also activities each day, such as basketball, baseball and bowling, Levertov says. Each Sunday the group takes a trip; the boys have visited the Grand Canyon and Sunset Crater.
"It's a great balance" between studying and activities, says Yitzchak Barber, 14, of Brooklyn. He says his summer studies will help prepare him for the material he will be learning in the upcoming school year.
The yeshiva's two counselors, Mendy Yarmush and Zalman Zaltzman, are both from Toronto but study in New York. Along with Rabbi Laibel Blotner of Chabad of Arizona, they teach the students subjects such as Jewish mysticism, Hasidic philosophy, Talmud and the weekly Torah portion.
The students study 7:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, with a break for services and breakfast, Levertov says. Then they have lunch and activities and study again from 5:30-8:30 p.m., with a break for dinner and services. All meals are prepared by Chabad member Tzvia Halilyan who cooks for the staff members and campers of both Yeshivas Kaiyitz and the 65 children in Camp Gan Israel, which also meets at Chabad of Arizona.
On Fridays, from 2:30-4:30 p.m., the yeshiva counselors and campers visit the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale to ask members and guests if they would like to don tefillin.
In addition, the counselors and campers learn with community members in a yeshiva atmosphere 8-8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Those interested in studying with the campers are welcome to drop in, Levertov says. The program ends Aug. 18.
Chabad of Arizona is located at 2110 E. Lincoln Drive, Phoenix. Call 602-944-2753.
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