What I Learned in South Africa

By a camper of Yeshivas Kayitz South Africa

It was about six weeks ago that I left JFK international airport in New York, on my way to spend (what I only know now) the most awesome summer of my life in Yeshivas Kayitz South Africa.

I left not knowing what to expect, but what I did experience was the best summer of my life.

We enjoyed trips from Kruger National Park to Cape Town and everything in between, together with that came staying in a resort along the way, having great barbeques and kumzits Farbrengens, going on the most amazing hikes, getting a good view of the Atlantic Ocean and climbing up a mountain called Lions Head, going sandboarding, surfing, ostrich riding, visiting seal island and penguin island, and taking a trip to Lion Park.

We even went to a town called Soweto, one of the poorest towns of South Africa, where we were educated on how to give to our fellow who is in need.

A highlight of the trip was the biggest bungee in the world, a prize for learning a big part of melukat gimmel (and agreeing to complete the rest) and skydiving for learning most of Masechet Berachot (and agreeing to complete the rest).

But most importantly, I feel like my Yiddishkeit and Chasidishkiet (I say this even though I’m not the type to say these things) had an aliya, really.

I learned more than I ever learned in my life in such a short period of time, which also gave me a whole new perspective on learning, and I realized how much more I will be able to learn throughout the upcoming year.

A special thanks to Rabbi Wagner and to all the amazing staff who gave their time to learn, farbreng and play sports with us.