Young men from YKLA's Revolution 2.0 summer program describe how it shifted their approach to Jewish practice. Participants adopted daily rituals like morning mikvah and Chitas study, and credit the program's community atmosphere for pushing them beyond what they thought possible.
During the summer, bachurim could do what they thought they couldn't have done to begin with. They thought there would never be this person, there never could be this person who does chitas Rambam. It could never be them. They never saw themselves as doing this. But when it comes to the summer, it's a whole other experience. What they thought they could never do, they're doing themselves without even noticing it.
You come to a summer thinking that it's just all about a vacation, you're going to relax.
But now you're actually doing more such things. It's like the Rebbe's vision pushing you to things that you didn't think you would be able to do before.
Personally, because of this year's Mivtzah, I started going to mikvah every morning, and it made me realize that when I go to mikvah in the morning, it helps with my davening, it helps with my concentration, makes me be more in tune with my davening, and it makes davening a lot more enjoyable.
People tend to think summer is time for taking a vacation from mitzvos and Hashem and slacking off on things and saying like it's It's my time, you know, I'll do my thing and, you know, I'll come back to my mixtures and all the things I do during the year. It's the summer, we just have fun. We can miss out on a few things that we usually will tend to think are pretty important. It's a time we usually don't grow, put it that way.
Without the revolution, I would probably be lying in bed sleeping because it's only 2:45 right now. I'd probably wake up and eat and then I'd probably go back to sleep.
The Rebbe comes along and turns everything upside down. He flips it all over. He shows everyone that it's not a time for slacking off. It's not a time for falling in Yiddishkeit. It's a time for growing and building, doing greater, especially in the summer.
It's amazing. You grow immensely. Because of this amazing niftza, I am busy doing the right thing all day, every day. I even go to the park to play sports. With Chayenu, I think the most important part of the Miftah is Kishma L'Mita. I think that it will affect them for their whole life and keep them doing the right thing.
People come to LA and they think about all the attractions, the sights. There's one thing that stands out of everything, which is YKLA. And why does it stand out of everything? Because YKLA has Revolution 2.0. It shows you that if you push yourself a little more, you're able to do much more than you ever thought you were able to. Make falak, kriyshu shalam, mita, like a normal person, like a normal chasid that's meant to do it. Rambam, chitas, it's all on a new level. Revolution 2.0, that's what we're talking about.
You're doing your own thing in the summer. You're not put in a classroom, you're not told what to do over here. And when you do your own thing, it's greater, and you've got more ability as well in the summer.
The Mitzvah changed my summer. Usually during the year you don't see guys checking up on their friends and seeing where they're holding up in Yiddishkeit, but during the summer you see them asking and checking up on their friends about where they're holding, whether they're doing chitas or whether they're doing Rambam or going to mikvah. It was great to see the positive vibe that went around yeshiva.
It's bachurim encouraging one another, so all the bachurim are just like, all the bachurim are just like working on top of each other and they're just pushing each other up. You don't feel like, okay, this is yeshiva, I have to do what I have to do because these people are telling me to do these certain things. It's like, this is the in thing, this is the cool thing, Bachemar tell me to do it, we're happy and achtas and we're doing this together. It's like a happy, positive attitude.
I didn't think that during the summer would be a time when I would really grow in my Yiddishkeit and Yiddishkeit, but thanks to the Rebbe's vision, he foresaw how the summer is really a better time that can help you improve more in your Yiddishkeit. Smifta really helped me improve in saying Kriyas Shema every night. I learned from stories of about Al Pirchas Hesedim, how Kriyas Shema isn't just reading the words, it's really working on yourself, taking in everything you did through the day and learning how to improve it for the next day.
This summer the Shacham created a really awesome minza, which made Baruch Ham really indulge himself in Chitas Rambam. Baruch Ham coming over, did you finish Chitas Rambam yet? Do you want to say it? We'll do it right now. English and Hebrew, English isn't enough. You can't just do it easy, you gotta work for it. And I really think that it made a huge impact on me and it really made me think what I can accomplish even over the summer when there's no official yeshiva program.
This summer has had a big impact on me. It's really got me to do a lot because of all the people around me and see their, their energy and all what they do. They get really involved in it. They're not just approaching it in a cold way. They're really happy what they're doing. You can see that they really think it's the right thing to do. And having fun while living is very important.
My name is Yossi Lasker, and I'm part of the revolution.
My name is Mendel McGolnick, and I'm part of the revolution.
My name is Effie Scheinowitz, and I'm proud to be part of the revolution.
My name is Kastriel Lezak, and I'm part of the revolution.
My name is Mendel Horowitz, and I'm part of the revolution.
