From Cheerleader to Youth Leader
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What could possibly compel a contented teenager from Overland Park, KS (a suburb of Kansas City) to give up her blue jeans, class parties, and the cheerleading squad to become a shomer Shabbat, strictly kosher yeshiva girl? NCSY, the international youth program of the Orthodox Union, enthusiastically takes the blame, and has enjoyed working in partnership with Sarah Jampolsky, 17, in her position as NCSY’s 2007-2008 International President.
Growing up in Kansas, Sarah thought that being Jewish meant getting to leave school early on Tuesdays to go to Hebrew school – something she didn’t particularly look forward to. She felt Jewishly identified, attended shul, went to the “JCC” everyday after school, celebrated holidays with friends and family, but never thought much about what it all meant. “I thought it was just something one is born into,” says Sarah. Then when she was eleven her family decided to attend the local OU affiliated shul (Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner – BIAV for short) for Rosh Hashanah. Sarah was very impressed by the warm and welcoming atmosphere. “The Yiddishkeit was amazing”! Sarah then asked her mother if she could begin attending the Shul regularly and have her Bat Mitzvah there. Sarah’s mother agreed and it was soon after this that they became active members. Throughout that year, Sarah began getting more involved at BIAV and started to participate in the Shul’s youth group, NCSY. Her first Junior NCSY Shabbaton was in Des Moines. Sarah thought the Shabbaton sounded like fun so she decided to go. “It was a totally new world for me,” she says. “I knew from my brief exposure at BIAV that Torah observant Jews existed, but living with them and learning side by side was new to me.”
According to Sarah, once she saw and actively participated side-by-side with more and more observant Jews, she started asking questions. Mostly though, she watched and liked what she saw. “The thing that interested me the most about the religious lifestyle was how observant Jews lived their lives,” says Sarah. She connected with an NCSY advisor, but remained uncertain as to whether all this applied to her life.
Her uncertainty didn’t last long. The summer before Sarah’s ninth grade year, she applied and was accepted to attend along with several other KC youth to TJJ (The Jerusalem Journey), an NCSY trip to Israel for public school and community day school students interested in exploring their Jewish roots. The group of high schoolers spent one week touring Prague and then four weeks in Israel. For Sarah, it was a life-changing summer; she was smitten with Yiddishkeit. “It was so inspiring seeing how passionate the advisors were about Torah, and the kavannah (spiritual focus) they had while davening (praying),” she says. “I hadn’t thought this was something within my reach. I realized I could do it too.”
Upon her return home, Sarah became a key board member of the NCSY chapter in Kansas City, a position she would hold in ninth and tenth grades. She also asked her mother if it would be okay if she stayed at her observant friend’s house for Shabbos. She asked again the next Shabbos, and the next. “My mother knew I would be gone every weekend,” says Sarah. “After a few weeks of this, we put our house up on the market and decided to look for a house closer to the Orthodox synagogue. I’m very fortunate that my mother wanted to accommodate and support my decision. I know others that have had to struggle with acceptance, I am very fortunate that I had the support!”
Another change after her return from her first trip to Israel, Sarah became strictly kosher and began dressing and behaving more modestly. These changes came with inevitable and sometimes uncomfortable questions. “The things I was doing were different then others, yet living and experiencing while I was learning Torah and being more exposed to a Torah lifestyle was important to me.”
In the middle of Sarah’s tenth grade year, the family had the opportunity for a new job in Chicago. A decision had to be made; allow Sarah to complete high school in KC or move Sarah to a new school in Chicago. Knowing her daughter’s increasing desire to attend an in-depth Torah learning school, Sarah’s mother agreed to explore other options. It was determined that a smaller school would be the “best fit” for Sarah and she was excitedly sent to attend Block Yeshiva High School for Girls in St. Louis where she is in her last semester and currently dorms. “This was a very difficult decision for my mom!” “I love my school,” says Sarah. “We have the most amazing rebbeim. Every day, I’m learning Chumash, Navi, and many other Judaic classes. It was hard catching up, but at least I feel like I’m getting there.”
Sarah promptly brought her infectious enthusiasm for Judaism to the board of the NCSY chapter in St. Louis, where she organized onegs, chesed projects, and Shabbatons. Rabbi Steven Burg, international director of NCSY, reports that Shabbaton attendance rose dramatically due to her involvement. In eleventh grade, she moved on to the Midwest regional board, assuming programmatic responsibility for the area’s surrounding states.
According to Rabbi Burg and Todd Cohn, Kansas City chapter advisor, Sarah has most definitely arrived – as an actively committed Jew and a sterling role model. Thrilled that she accepted the position as International President, they both agree that NCSY has profoundly benefited under her tutelage. “Sarah is extremely passionate about her Judaism and dedicated to her personal growth,” says Rabbi Burg, who first met Sarah at that fateful TJJ summer tour. “She’s a real leader and showed that in her chapter in Kansas City.” Her chapter advisor concurs. “Sarah’s love for Judaism and for life is contagious,” he says. “She approached her growth in observance in a healthy, strategic way; she had a goal in mind, and continued to strive step by step.
Sarah says she’s happy to have the opportunity to give back to NCSY. “I don’t know where I’d be without them,” says Sarah. “I cannot express how important NCSY is to Jewish teenagers across the U.S.” After her tenure as president, Sarah intends to continue her Torah learning for one year at Darchei Binah, a seminary in Israel and then attend Lander College for Women, a Division of Touro College in New York. Todd Cohn was right about her strategic side; Sarah already knows what she intends to do upon her return to the States. “I have no doubt in my mind that I want to be an NCSY advisor,” she says. “I would like to have an impact on NCSYers the way my advisors had on me, to give Jewish teenagers the opportunity to really see what a Torah life is and to nurture that.” She also aspires to build a Jewish home and “raise a family of bnei Torah.”
Sarah feels forever grateful for the support, encouragement and passion of the entire NCSY organization, Block Yeshiva High School, the St. Louis and KC Jewish communities, her family and friends. “They’ve been with me through it all and they helped me answer the pivotal question concerning the observant life I lead today, “Why not me?”