NCSY Siblings Reclaim a Radiant Legacy
It all started when Nalini’s cousin told her about some interesting classes she was taking on Sunday mornings at the local shul in their Cleveland neighborhood and asked her to give it a try. She enjoyed the rabbi’s infectious enthusiasm, particularly when he offered some enticing ideas to the group. “Let’s have an oneg, a Shabbaton; how about ice-skating?” Nalini was in.
Climbing the Social/Spiritual Ladder
“The Shabbatonim were a blast,” says Nalini. “I got to meet people from Pittsburgh, Columbus,Cincinnati, and Detroit. It was like having a camp reunion three or four times a year.” She admits to having continued with NCSY primarily for the fun and the ample social opportunities. “I was not really looking for Jewish content at that point in my life at age eleven.”
It’s not that the Aboody home was completely devoid of Judaism. “We kept kosher in the house,” says Josh. “And when my mother’s parents were alive (both survivors of Auschwitz), we had Friday night dinner at their home. We didn’t really observe Shabbos in any other kind of way, but, if and when we went to shul we only went to an Orthodox one.” With each NCSY Shabbaton they filled in more and more of the gaps in their Jewish knowledge.
By the time Nalini reached eighth grade, she realized NCSY’s effect had reached beyond the social aspect of her life. After her grandfather died, she and her cousin decided that they would begin keeping their grandmother company by sleeping over Friday nights. “One Shabbos, we decided: ‘We have fun at Shabbatons; let’s try to keep Shabbos,’” says Nalini. “From then on, I kept Shabbos.” She attributes the smooth transition to the strong network of friends and families she had developed through NCSY.
As the strength of her commitment to Yiddishkeit grew, so did her active involvement in NCSY. She held various chapter board positions and gladly joined other NCSY members volunteering for Yachad, the Orthodox Union’s program providing social and Jewish enrichment activities for Jews with disabilities. “NCSY generated opportunities to look beyond oneself,” she says. “It was something I really looked forward to.”
Senior year in high school marks a time for important life decisions and Nalini had, at least, her summer plans wrapped up; she intended on participating in a program that promised a guided tour of Israel. A determined Rabbi Betzalel (“Tzali”) Freedman, Regional Director of Central East NCSY, had other ideas for Nalini. “He thought I would enjoy Michlelet, NCSY’s summer Torah learning program for girls,” says Nalini. “I didn’t want to be learning; I wanted to be touring. But he spoke to my mother and convinced her that I should go. She convinced me to strive higher.” And her daughter is glad she did. “That was a turning point for me,” she says. “It was the first time I ever spent time learning Jewish texts, and I loved it. I came home changed; I had a deeper understanding of what Judaism is and what it has to offer.” Upon her return, she landed the regional president position for the year and made new NCSY friends around the country. “NCSY provided me [not only] with an observant social network,” says Nalini, “but also, advisors I could look up to and relate to and I thought: “‘I want to be like that one day.’”
And that day just keeps arriving. Nalini, now married and a mother of four, has been educating and inspiring young Jews about their Judaism most of her young adult life. After they were married, Rabbi Reuven Ibragimov and Nalini moved to Israel to advance their Torah learning. Four years later, the couple accepted a position with JLIC (The OU’s Harriet and Heshe Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus), to serve as mentors to the Orthodox student population at Brooklyn College in New York.
Operating out of the Hillel house, the Ibragimovs offered students regular Torah classes, daily minyanim, lively Shabbos and yom tov celebrations, as well as personal counseling. “If they wanted Torah, we were the place to get it,” says Nalini. Their dynamic programs and open home made a lifetime impact on the melting pot of Jewish students on campus, which included immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Syria, and Egypt – both the Torah observant and unaffiliated.
In a classic case of coming full circle, one of those grateful participants at the Ibragimov’s Torah haven on campus went on to become a mover and shaker in NCSY. Michael Albala, at the time a member of Brooklyn College’s Alpha Epsilon Pi, (Jewish fraternity) crossed paths with Rabbi Ibragimov and agreed to learn b’chavrusa with him. Michael went on to learn at Ohr Samayach in Jerusalem and is an observant Jew today working as the Associate Director of Development of New York NCSY.
After five years with JLIC, this powerhouse couple continues to touch Jewish lives with their love for Torah. Rabbi Ibragimov now works for Gateways, a popular outreach program, as director of The Brownstone, its division designed for secular college students. Nalini teaches at Ateres Naava, a Brooklyn seminary for young women. She says she learned the keys to successful kiruv from the experts. “At NCSY, I never felt that I was a project,” says Nalini. Because of her experiences with college-age students, she acknowledges the crucial timing of the NCSY program. “It’s essential to start planting seeds earlier, inculcating a love and excitement of Yiddishkeit,” she says. “For high school students – I think NCSY is the most powerful outreach program.” Her life is certainly a living testimony.
Confessions of a “Shabbos Maniac”
Like his sister, Josh Aboody, 25, initially saw NCSY as “a social thing.” But, inevitably, the Shabbos ruach got to him too. “I loved the energy,” he says. “I loved going to shul, singing zemiros, the kumzitz after Shabbos, and Havdalah; I was a Shabbos maniac.” He says the Shabbatonim turned him on to Shabbos and Shabbos turned him on to everything else. “Everything else” included the Yarchei Kallah programs and, in 1996, the NCSY Summer Kollel in Israel – his first exposure to learning Gemara. “It was a totally novel experience to be in a Beis Medrash with people sitting and learning,” he says. “Kids who wanted to learn and staff totally devoted to making sure we were having the best summer experience possible. It was a phenomenal time of understanding what it means to be living a Torah life.”
According to Josh, the most memorable part of that summer happened the night of Tisha B’Av. “After Eicha, we went into a bomb shelter,” he tells. “It was pitch-black and then we all started singing Shema Kolaynu, Acheinu, and Nachamu Nachamu Ami. A feeling ran through me that this is really something that matters; this is really important; this is real.”
After that summer, he returned to public school wearing a yarmulke and started keeping Shabbos every week. “There was no turning back,” he says. I felt supported by the NCSY people; everyone was guiding me along the path I was taking. I wanted to make sure I was living my life in a sincere kind of way.” He served on NCSY regional board for two years and at the end of his junior year, he ran for national president. “I wanted to be a good example for kids around the country who were in a similar situation as mine – showing them you could be a high school kid and really be sincere about your Judaism.”
As national president, Josh traveled across the U.S., visiting the different regions. “I saw the phenomenal staff NCSY has running programs across America,” he says. It was great to see how teenagers from all over respond to the same things I did – the energy of the Shabbatonim, the music, the people. It was one of the best parts of my senior year.”
By the time graduation rolled around, Josh knew it was a “forgone conclusion” that he was heading for Israel to learn for a year. He stayed for two. After leaving Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim, Josh returned to the states and continued his learning at Yeshivat Ner Israel in Baltimore, MD, where he earned a Bachelors degree in Talmudic Law. In 2006, he married Israeli-born Hilla Alouf, also of Iraqi ancestry. Josh is busy finishing up his final year of law school at the University of Maryland School of Law and fully enjoying his first year of fatherhood.
His NCSY experiences remain a vibrant part of his passion for Judaism. He stays in touch with Rabbi Freedman, “keeping tabs on what’s happening” in his Central East region. “NCSY does a superb job of having the kind of staff that really relates to teens, individuals they can look up to, who have a sense of where they’re coming from, with no strings attached. They are truly interested in the person and maintain a continuous positive connection that allows each individual to develop at his or her own pace. It all makes a difference over time. To this day, I still live for Shabbos.”
Their great great great grandfather is no doubt very proud.
The Ben Ish Chai
Chacham Yosef Chaim, known as the “Ben Ish Chai,” was born in the early 1830’s, in Baghdad, Iraq and became one of Sephardic Jewry's rabbinic luminaries. Descending from an illustrious line of Torah sages, he became the Rav of Baghdad at the age of twenty-five, the year following the death of his father. He went on to become one of the greatest of the modern-day Sephardic poskim (individuals who receive and respond to questions regarding Jewish Law).
For 50 years, the Ben Ish Chai delivered a drasha (Torah message) to the community every morning, consisting of halacha and aggada (non-legal, historical and anecdotal Talmudic material). And every Shabbos, he delivered a mesmerizing three-hour sermon attended by Torah scholars, laborers, women and children. These discourses served as the basis for his most famous work, the Ben Ish Chai, considered the Sephardic Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. However, his approach was eclectic; he considered the opinion of Ashkenazic scholars as well as Sephardic.
The Chacham married Rachel, the daughter of Rav Yehudah Someich, in 1851. They had a daughter and two sons. Although Chacham Yosef Chaim was Iraqi Jewry's uncontested spiritual leader, he did not hesitate to reach out to simple people – greeting everyone who approached him with warmth. Renowned for their hospitality, the Ben Ish Chai and his wife opened their home to the needy and unfortunate; the Chacham himself would personally attend to the needs of his many guests.
Demonstrating his great love of Eretz Yisrael, he supported messengers who came to collect money for its poor and placed a large stone from the Holy Land at the entrance of the synagogue where he delivered his drashos.
On the eighth of Elul, 5669 (1909), the beloved Rav of Baghdad visited the tomb of the prophet Yechezkel (Ezekiel) in Al Kifl, Iraq, became sick shortly thereafter, and died. His body was returned to Baghdad and buried the very same night. Tens of thousands attended his levaya (funeral), both Jews and non-Jews.
Today, Chacham Yosef Chaim – the Ben Ish Chai – lives on through his vast, outstanding works on Torah.