Participants of the first-ever Miami Torah Experience attend a lecture at Congregation Magen David.
MIAMI, FL — Winter breaks aren’t necessarily known for personal discoveries. But in the midst of snorkeling and lounging poolside this year, University of Miami junior Avi Insler did something he had never done before: He kept Shabbat.
Jewish Students Turn to Miami Beach for Self-Discovery
MIAMI, FL — Winter breaks aren’t necessarily known for personal discoveries. But in the midst of snorkeling and lounging poolside this year, University of Miami junior Avi Insler did something he had never done before: He kept Shabbat.
“It was a gratifying experience,” he said during some down time in a packed schedule of classes and activities as part of the first-ever Miami Torah Experience. “I was able to observe Shabbat without carrying or using electronic devices!”
Insler’s story dovetails with the other 20 participants in his program, a joint project between Friends of Lubavitch of Florida and the Chabad on Campus International Foundation. Charlie Carnow, a senior at the University of California at Los Angeles, said that he was so turned on by learning Torah that sleep fell by the wayside.
“This program has given me hands-on experience in learning Torah in its original texts,” explained Carnow. “I’ve been so inspired by the information I’ve learned during the day that I’ve often lost track of time and stayed up in the early hours of the morning learning more.”
Ending on Thursday, the program brought together a group of students from UCLA, Emory University, University of Miami, Florida International University, Stony Brook University, University of Wisconsin, University of Massachusetts, University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley, for 10 days of intensive study and recreational fun in North Miami Beach. From a base of two rental homes, participants attended classes at Congregation Magen David five minutes away and the Landau Yeshiva, a Chabad-Lubavitch educational institution in South Miami Beach.
“There’s constantly a need for programs where students from all over the country can meet other students and have the opportunity to ask questions in a relaxed atmosphere,” said the program’s director, Rabbi Immanuel Storfer, who also directs the Ivy League Torah Study Experience every summer in New York’s Catskill Mountains. “This is for men who may not be ready for full-blown yeshiva, but at the same time want a taste of the traditional texts.”
eric
um as far as i know the picture is in the shul bal harbor
Go Chabad on Campus!
And as far as I know, Charlie Carnow is a senior at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, not the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)…
Fight on Charlie!
Charlie Carnow
Thanks for the correction Go Chabad on Campus! I wonder if I know you.
Many people who know me know I have a problem with time and I can say on this trip I was incredibly motivated to stay up late and get up and get to synagogue as fast as possible to learn more particularly in Bava Kama. Much thanks to Rabbi Storfer (like so many Chabad shulchim a baal mesiras nefesh in what he is willing to do teach Jews their heritage) as well as Rabbis Marlow, Friedman, Lipsker, and all others who taught us during the trip as well as our brothers from Yeshivot- Aharon-Moshe, Choli, “Mazel Tov and Siman Tov” Tziviki (we sung to him often because he is getting married soon baruch hashem),and Yehuda.
And this was an experience shared by everyone.l
Charlie
Aaron
Charlie did NOT go to UCLA. He went to USC. Confusing a Trojan with a Bruin is not only disgusting, it borders on blasphemy. It’s as if the author used g-d’s name in vain.