Dafna Shochat says she “gets the jitters” when she talks about her experiences on the annual CTeen International Shabbaton.
“I love talking about it and telling my friends about it,” says the 18-year-old from Cherry Hill, N.J., who has been on the Shabbaton twice already, and is going back again at the end of the month. “It’s amazing to hear people’s stories—to hear how keeping Shabbat has changed their lives.”
“Every weekend, my parents are pushing me to do my homework, but they understand that this weekend is special to me,” she continues. “They let me go and enjoy without the stress of having to do this homework and that assignment.”
Shochat’s special weekend is fast approaching. The 2015 Chabad Teen International Shabbaton will be held from Friday, Feb. 27, through Sunday, March 1, in New York City. Nearly 1,500 teenagers will gather for a weekend filled with social and educational activities, including touring famous New York landmarks, shopping, workshops and discussions about Judaism, Shabbat observance and more.
And, of course, they experience a traditional Shabbat—some for the very first time. For kids who are used to being on call every moment in a world focused around electronics, phones, social media and texting, that can be a huge challenge, but certainly a rewarding one.
“I feel like you get away from everything,” declares Shochat. “It’s a weekend where Judaism is at its fullest.”
Last year, nearly 1,000 Jewish teens from 110 communities around the world attended the annual three-day program.
“When Chabad started its teen programming more than 50 years ago, society dismissed the teenage years as ones of meaningless rebellion,” notes Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, executive director of strategic development at Chabad headquarters. “The Lubavitcher Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of rightous memory] saw it very differently: that teens possess a deep level of passion and energy that when channeled in a positive way can create unbelievable change in the world.”
Kotlarsky notes that the CTeen network was launched five years ago to bring extra focus to activities undertaken by the younger set at Chabad centers around the world, and “to harness this incredible power of youth towards a better world.”
Many of the high school students come in from all parts of the United States, with a global contingent as well, drawing participants from as far away as Australia, Brazil and Europe, including a contingent this year of 100 students from France.
‘A Real Part of Their Lives’
A group of six teens from Singapore are attending the conference this year, representing a first-time presence from this small but vibrant community. Rabbi Mordechai and Simcha Abergel have been serving the Jewish community in Singapore as Chabad emissaries since 1994. They were joined by Rabbi Netanel and Odelia Rivni in 2007.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind experience. Many have attended Jewish camps and big Jewish teen events, but not one with total focus on Yiddishkeit,” says Abergel. “I think that the magnitude of the event alone will have a tremendous impact on them, and they will hopefully come out of the experience with the feeling that their Jewishness is about something bigger than themselves, about Achdus Yisrael”—a love of their fellow Jews.
One participant, a local student, is a fifth-generation Singaporean of Sephardi Iraqi origins, notes the rabbi. The other five are Israelis who reside in Singapore because of their parents’ employment.
“The students who go on the CTeen Shabbaton gain a feeling of Jewish pride and empowerment in knowing that there are so many other Jewish teens living in so many different places,” says Rabbi Yitzchok Kahan, youth director of Chabad Lubavitch of Camden & Burlington Counties in New Jersey, who is leading the delegation that will include Shochet and her friends.
Adds CTeen administrative assistant Rikki Gurewicz: “It’s nice for them to see that they are part of a global network of Jewish kids—that they are all one. While each chapter stays with their own group, they get to mingle with other groups a lot. It helps them make connections so they will always remember what Judaism means to them.”
The real benefit, organizers say, can be seen once the teens return home.
“We are committed to providing teens with unfiltered Judaism, and have seen time and again that teens recognize it, embrace it and make it a real part of their own lives,” says Kotlarsky.
Kahan agrees: “They realize they can have Jewish pride wherever they go, even if they are not surrounded by a Jewish environment. A lot of them will get involved with Jewish programs that we offer or that others offer, and some have even gone to Israel to study for a year, connecting with their heritage even more.”
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