Hannah Kaplun walked along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with 44 other high school students from the East Coast, stopping at various monuments before arriving at the Lincoln Memorial for Havdalah.
Kaplun, 16, was amazed by the fact that they could have a Jewish gathering signifying the end of Shabbat right there in front of the 99-foot-tall monument. She had visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum the day before, a juxtaposition in the context of Jewish history. “Our people have overcome so much, and it was really special to think about where we were to where we have come: showing our Jewish pride and not being afraid,” Kaplun told Chabad.org.
She recognized the importance of being able to pray in a public space without fear of persecution in part because of the work of “Eternal Flame,” a fellowship program sponsored by Valley Chabad in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. Nearly two-dozen teens participated in workshops where they learned about the Holocaust and heard testimony from survivors. Many of them then spent three days in Washington last month on an experiential trip that also included CTeens from chapters in Philadelphia and Long Island, N.Y.
The goal, according to organizers and students, is not only to teach about that horrific chapter of Jewish history, but to encourage students to think about the place of Jews in the world today, as well as the need to remain vigilant in the fight against anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment.
“We came up with the name ‘Eternal Flame’ because the goal is not just Holocaust education—the kids study that in school,” said Rabbi Yosef Orenstein, director of the Chabad’s Teen Initiative. (In New Jersey, Holocaust education is mandated by state law.) “We were looking for something where our teens become ambassadors of light and goodness in the world as they grow up.”
‘As Real as It Gets’
Chabad started the fellowship four years ago with funding from the George & Martha Rich Foundation. Martha Rich, who survived Auschwitz, and her husband, George, were prominently involved in a number of different Jewish causes.
Martha’s son Michael Leob, who oversees the foundation, said he hopes the fellowship helps prepare high school students for anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias they may experience in college. “I have never seen anti-Semitism so rampant at universities as it is today,” said Leob, 65. “We need to inform our young people that they need to speak out—that they shouldn’t be ashamed or quiet.”
During the workshops leading up to the trip, students heard from speakers such as Seymour Kaplan, a U.S. World War II veteran who served as a Yiddish translator during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.
“He said he has PTSD from the experience, and that he usually doesn’t speak to people under 18 because it reminds him of [the liberation],” explained Kaplun, who is one of the few Jewish students in her high school class of 430 in Bergen County, N.J. “He told us that he has no idea how long he was in Dachau; it could have been a day or a week.”
On the trip, participants heard from Holocaust survivors like Henry Greenbaum, who was born in Poland and survived Auschwitz, but lost his mother and five sisters.
Jake Snedeker, 15, never got to meet his great-grandfather, Otto Snyder, a tailor who survived the war in Vienna, where he was forced to sew Nazi propaganda and flags; he died in the late 1990s. So meeting survivors face to face solidified what he knew about his family. “That’s as real as it gets; they were there,” said Snedeker. “And to hear their stories, it hurts.”
Snedeker, also from Bergen County, noted that he, too, is one of the only Jewish students in his class of more than 60.
Reflecting on the fellowship, the 15-year-old summed up: “To know that we were forced to go through that because of who we are, it kills, but we bounced back and are stronger now than ever.”
Orenstein said “it is remarkable for me to see the teens’ experience on the fellowship and the impacts it makes on them. The students leave empowered, energized—more Jewishly committed to stand up for our heritage, people and the land of Israel.”
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