Jewish Weekend Attracts North American Teens

Some 70 teenagers from locales across the United States and Canada descended on New York City for a weekend celebration of Jewish pride and unity, and community service.

The participants of the second-annual extended Shabbat gathering of the Chabad Teen Network – a program with branches at more than 40 Chabad-Lubavitch centers – took a whirlwind tour of Midtown Manhattan, climbed the Empire State Building, packed and delivered lunches to the homeless, prayed with and enjoyed the hospitality of Brooklyn locals, visited the Jewish Children’s Museum and a ritual scribe’s workshop, and embarked on a late-night Hudson River cruise. The high-energy itinerary, explained event organizer Bentzion Treitel, was a natural extension of cTeen gatherings that take place every couple of weeks across North America.

The teenagers agreed.

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“Everything has just been so great during the Shabbaton,” said David Storfer, a resident of Teaneck, N.J., who joined 12 of his friends and Rabbi Michoel Goldin, youth and teen program director at Friends of Lubavitch of Bergen County, for the weekend. “It’s been so inspiring.

“Our Shabbat lunch meal at a Crown Heights family’s home was a highlight for me,” he continued. “Each person has a special [word of Torah] to share with the table.”

Shaina Spector, 14, from Basking Ridge, N.J., echoed Storfer’s assessment.

“My highlight was being able to go to Shabbat dinner with a new family,” she said. “I liked being in a new, friendly environment that made me feel at home.”

Jake Plonskier of Cooper City, Fla., came to the Shabbaton with Rabbi Adi Goodman and six other teenagers from his city. He said he had a blast in New York, pointing out “the added excitement of everyone being together in a way that is really fun, laid back and cool.”

Jewish teenagers visit a ritual scribe’s workshop in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Photo: Boruch Ezagui)

“The Shabbaton is the ultimate version of what we do every month,” he said, “and it’s a way to become closer to the other kids that do it.”

Quebec native Matthew Goyer, who travelled seven hours with Rabbi Zalmen Stiefel from Chabad of Chomedey & Laval, said that climbing the Empire State Building was a highlight of his trip. He added that what made the weekend stand out was meeting people his age from all over.

“It’s all a chance to know other things about people,” he said, “and to know more about Jewish things.”

Said Storfer: “Every kid at the Shabbaton is connected. We’re like one big group of friends now.”