Dear Father and Mother,

We’ve had a swell couple days here on NCSY Euro Ice. On Monday we went to the Schonnbrunn palace in Austria. The palace was magnificent and the gardens behind the palace were incredible. After the gardens, the palace, and a few scrumptious meals, we headed to the Austrian symphony. We witnessed an amazing show including some of the classics from Mozart and Bach. Tuesday was a fast day, so Rabbi Lashak graciously gifted us with a chill day. We headed to the Seegrotte tunnels, where we took a boat ride through the tunnel and witnessed where the original Three Musketeers was filmed. We then headed to Salzburg, where the famous film “The Sound of Music” was shot. We walked around and toured the beautiful city. The following day we went to a mountain in Salzburg and tobogganed down the high slopes. In addition to the adventurous thrills, we had a beautiful view of Salzburg and the various towns located near it. Thursday we left Salzburg and headed to the Czech Republic. We went rafting down a river with beautiful views of the country. Afterwards we headed to Prague, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Shortly after dinner, Rabbi Lashak explained to us the story of the Golem. He explained to us what was true about the legend and what was not. Afterwards we walked to our hotel and went to sleep after a tiring day.

Love,
Hillel Stadlan

Dear Mom and Dad,
I had the most amazing weekend in Budapest, Hungary. On Friday night we had Kabbalat Shabbat at the Sasz-Chevra shul in Budapest. From there we were treated to a wonderful dinner. Saturday, we prayed, had wonderful meals, and got to spend time shooting questions at the Rabbi. Later that day, as we ebbed Shabbos away, Rabbi Lashak told a story that left me in awe. He told the story of a runner from Ethiopia, Abebe Bikila, who won an Olympic Marathon with a removed appendix, and no shoes. While people only focused on his wealth and success on the field, people did not realize that he adopted a ton of children in Africa and took care of them. The lesson is that we need to choose our heroes based on the good they do in the world, not on how much money they have. Sunday was awesome. We had breakfast in Hungary, lunch in Slovakia, and dinner in Austria. We had the opportunity to visit the grave of the Chatam Sofer. This past Shabbos was the most inspiring Shabbos I have ever  experienced!

Sincerely,
Noah Fleeter

Dear Mommy and Tatty,

We have arrived!! We arrived in Budapest yesterday after a long 7 hour flight from JFK. We had a short layover in Switzerland and then we landed in Budapest in the afternoon. Although we were exhausted, we fought the jet lag and started our touring! We went on a river cruise down the Danube and saw beautiful buildings. We saw all kinds of buildings, from the parliament, to hotels and restaurants. We got back to the hotel around 9:30 or 10:00 and got to sleep! The next morning we got up bright and early and went to an adventure park called Kalandpayla. Kalandpayla has a big collection of ropes courses ranging from very easy to very hard. We also took a tour of the Dohany Shul. The Dohany Shul is a world famous shul with almost 3000 seats. Every little intricate detail made the shul jaw-dropping. We heard stories about people in the ghettos who would try to come to the shul, and stories about Theodore Hertzl and his life. To end off this amazing day we watched an amazing folk dance performance. There were two violins and a chelloist and a cimbalom player. The first two days were already unbelievable!

Love your daughter,
Shayna Roberts

Rabbi Israel Lashak was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He attended high school in Baltimore Ner Yisroel Yeshiva where he also received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Talmudic Law. He has an additional Masters degree in administrative science from Johns Hopkins University. In 1992, Rabbi Lashak received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Yochanan Zwieg in Miami, Florida. Rabbi Lashak began his career with NCSY over 20 years ago and became the Regional Director of the Southwest region in 1996. Along the way, Rabbi Lashak has had an immense impact on Klal Yisroel. From founding a school to running Birthright Israel trips, Rabbi Lashak has left no stone unturned in his quest to inspire all Jews of the Dallas community. Of course, his greatest impact has been on the Jewish teens of Dallas, and those from around the country, who have come to thousands of Latte & Learning programs and Shabbatonim or traveled to Europe and Israel on NCSY Summer Programs. He is also a co-founder of NCSY in Latin America and has spent countless hours teaching Spanish-speaking students of all ages, all over North and South America. Rabbi Lashak is also known as a passionate and dynamic public speaker who has thrilled audiences of all sizes and all ages in English, Spanish and Hebrew in twenty-seven different countries.

Hi all, my name is Yisrael Katz from beautiful Denver, CO where I run Denver NCSY throughout the year. I love spaghetti and meatballs and any of the big three sports. If you can tell me what IR7DJ2 means on the first day of Euro Ice, I’ll buy you ice cream. I’m looking forward to spending time with everyone this summer in Europe and Israel but also looking forward to having my beautiful wife and daughter join us as well.

Hey y’all!! My name is Elana Penn and I’m an advisor on Euro ICE this summer! I’m from Los Angeles, California but I currently live in NYC and attend Stern College. I’m a psych major and a huge history nerd. When I am not in school or doing NCSY you can find me either volunteering at a pet shelter (I love people but I like cats a little more), enjoying a psychological thriller, debating politics, on the tennis court, or on the phone with my triplet counterparts.

I am super excited to be a part of Euro ICE this summer and cant wait to meet you all!

Hello chevra!
My name is Sammy Katz and I can’t wait to go to Europe for the first time this summer. I just started YU so my life is taking a downhill spiral from here on out… except euro ICE of course! I am from Teaneck NJ the most Jewish of places and I can’t wait to explore more amazing places this summer. I love Israel and I love America too and golfing. Super excited to meet you all! Sammy 

Hi guys!! My name is Sam Hanover (I’m the one on the right). I’m the great great great granddaughter of the founder of Hanover pretzels and my second cousin twice removed is the owner of the Hanover frozen vegetable line. I hail from the great, but very small, Springfield NJ and have the privilege of living three doors away from the Simpsons. I don’t usually take pictures with donkeys but, this one asked me really nicely. I’m SUPER pumped to meet each and every one of you in 14 days and have the best summer ever !!!

Hi I’m Tali Bean, and made very poor fashion choices as a 7 year old!! Don’t worry, I’ve ditched the glasses/belt/khaki skirt/giant white sneakers look (thanks Mom). As you can tell by my shirt, I’m clearly an out of towner – I’m from Denver, CO, so by default I love to ski and eat granola. Not sure I ❤️ NY but I’ve been living there for the past three years, and just graduated Stern College with a Biology major. Next year I’ll be going to Rutgers dental school, so if anyone is scared of the dentist, I’m really scary. My dream is to visit the giant bean statue in Chicago (look it up) and take a Bean family photo, but I guess going to Vienna, Prague and Budapest with the EURO ICE Ohana will have to do instead! Can’t wait to meet all of you in 16 days!! Get ready for the best summer ever!

Dear Mom and Dad,

We spent this past shabbos at kibbutz lavi and had an amazing time! The food was awesome and there were so many diffrent options. On Friday night I spoke at dinner and on Saturday my friend  Rashi Pachino spoke. For me this was an extra special Shabbat because it was the 2 month anniversary of me becoming shomer Shabbat. I feel so blessed to have celebrated this accomplishment with such an incredible group of people! We ended off Shabbat with havdallah and an emotional and strong speech by Rabbi Lashak. We then spent the rest of the night getting ready to go to Jerusalem. We are all excited to finally see the holy city of Jerusalem!

All the best,

Rachel