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From Ghana to Iceland, 3,000 Jewish Teens Revel in New York

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Weekend brings spiritual energy to the often tumultuous life of a teenager

By: Moshe New

Californian Lev Yakov Voskoboynik says he found his Jewish identity through CTeen, as he and more than 3,000 teens and chaperones from as far as Ghana and Iceland gathered in New York for the 15th and largest-ever CTeen Shabbaton to date.

Voskoboynik started his journey to Jewish observance as a 16-year-old at the CTeen Xtreme camp, a travel camp geared for high school students, he tells Chabad.org. His parents, worried about his lack of Jewish interest, enrolled him in the camp to try to spark some feelings for Judaism. Fast-forward a decade, and after graduating high school, attending yeshivahs on the East Coast and receiving rabbinical ordination, Voskoboynik was involved in running a CTeen chapter with his wife, Talia, as part of Chabad of the Rivertowns in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. This year’s Shabbaton is his fourth weekend and his first as a featured speaker on Sunday morning.

The teens were welcomed by representatives from six continents. Photo by Itzik Roitman

“Those two weeks in summer camp were life-changing for me; they opened my eyes to the beauty of Yiddishkeit,” he says. “When I came home, I was so inspired that I started keeping some of the mitzvahs I had learned about in camp.”

An avid tennis player and popular figure in high school, Voskoboynik says he slowly started to understand what Judaism meant to him through his involvement with Rabbi Eli Rivkin, co-director of Chabad of Northridge, Calif., who signed him up to attend the CTeen Shabbaton in New York.

“What got me hooked was the energy and excitement,” he says. “I had friends back home in California, I was a successful athlete and I thought I had it all, but there was a realness that was missing. When I went to the Shabbaton, I realized just how shallow what I had really was, and I made a commitment to increasing my Jewish observance.”

Voskoboynik relates that “people want to feel important, like they’re a big deal, and the only way to really feel that is by letting yourself see G‑d’s hand. How He has a need and mission for everyone in this world, and that G‑d cares about you and wants your success.”

70 New Chapters Represented at Record Turnout

The record turnout of more than 3,000 at this year’s Shabbaton carried added significance as Jewish communities worldwide celebrate the Year of Hakhel, marked by Jewish gatherings focused on unity, Torah learning and practice. The ever-expanding CTeen network added 70 chapters to its ranks this year, and the growth was felt as participants spent their time in Crown Heights making new friends and reconnecting with old ones. In addition to spiritual guidance, rabbis could be seen on Friday morning donning conspicuous tour-guide hats as they traded in their fedoras and led the teens into the subway and out around town for entertaining and educational activities.

In the lead up to the weekend, there were rumblings of a ‘Day of Hate’ organized by white supremacist antisemites to instill fear in Jewish communities nationwide. Oranizers noted that with the Rebbe’s direction of “in a time of increasing darkness, we must respond with an increasing of light,” the program proceeded without a hitch. On the contrary, whatever fear there might have been was washed away by the palpable joy and Jewish pride of the participants.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Meant2B,” which emphasized the importance of staying present and mindful in the often tumultuous life of a teen. The weekend focused on teaching the teens about “Divine Providence,” G‑d’s ever-present role in life, and conveying the message that standing tall in the face of challenges gives them the best opportunity to overcome them and come out the other end stronger and happier.

Shabbat was spent with local hosts and as part of group programs, and culminated with the iconic Havdalah ceremony in Times Square on Saturday night.

“The intersection between the excitement Judaism offers and the empowerment it fosters is where CTeen really shines,” says the young rabbi. “I was hooked and drawn in when I felt the need the world has for me, while still being able to enjoy myself and have fun.”

Times Square ‘Takeover’

The night started with the NYPD organizing two special subway trains for attendees departing from the Kingston Avenue station in Crown Heights with much singing and dancing in anticipation for the festivities ahead. The thousands of teens and chaperones filled Times Square, where their excited faces were mirrored on the many screens around Times Square, completing the “takeover.”

The ever-expanding CTeen network added 70 to its ranks this year, and the growth was felt as participants made new friends and reconnected with old ones. Photo by Itzik Roitman

The teens were welcomed by representatives from six continents, and singer Benny Friedman got proceedings underway with the Havdalah ceremony, where he was joined by the thousands in attendance in his rousing rendition of the prayer. He then began the first of many musical sets, stirring the crowd into joyful dance where the energy was palpable as teens bopped up and down in time with his songs.

Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch—the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch—was welcomed to the stage, where he spoke of the theme of “Meant2B” and announced the affixing of a mezuzah in Times Square, which was installed to much applause.

In an innovative twist, T-shirts were then thrown into the crowd with one of them containing the ‘jackpot’—an all-expense-paid CTeen summer experience for one lucky recipient. A special music video presentation was then aired on one of the big screens where the summer program was announced.

“This is the most fun I’ve had all year!” one teen from Woodcliff Lake, N.J., shouted over the sound of the crowd, holding tight to a friend he had recruited to come along with him this year.

Rabbi Tzvi Dubrawsky of Chabad of Dallas, who brought a group of 20 teens, said, “I’m in awe of the organizers how they could have thought of absolutely everything.”

The event closed with more singing and dancing before the boys took to the subway and the girls took buses back to Crown Heights for a melaveh malkah banquet.

A Year Closes, and the Countdown to Next Year Begins

On Sunday morning, many attendees visited the Ohel in Queens, N.Y—the resting place of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of righteous memory—before the weekend closed with a banquet lunch at Carnesecca arena in Queens.

Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport, rabbi at Chabad at the Shore who is known affectionately as “the TikTok Rabbi,” was master of ceremonies and started the banquet with an interactive game of “Create Your Own Adventure Lab,” where participants were able to choose the course of the journey the characters on the main screen took.

CTeen participant Rosie Grossbaum from Morristown, N.J., who has Cystic fibrosis, a disease that impacts her lungs and immune system, spoke of the challenges and empowerment of her condition. “When I was younger, I thought I would live forever,” she began her speech. “When I got older, I realized my condition was a lot more serious than I thought it was.”

“Yet I wouldn’t want it any other way. This is how G‑d made me. This is how G‑d wants me to be. Everything that happens to us is G‑d’s plan,” she said, echoing the theme of “Meant2B” … that everything happens for a reason.

Joey Edelson from New York’s Upper West Side spoke of finding G‑d after losing his mother a few months ago. “You know that feeling when you love someone so much you say they’re your entire world … well, my mom was my entire world.”

He spoke of the rollercoaster of life and that throughout a person’s story—with all of the characters, settings, plots and twists, whether boring or whether they have you hanging onto your seat—there’s a writer, and that writer “supports me no matter how low I feel. Even when something terrible happens, this power has guided me to the most amazing people.” He then recited a poem he wrote about finding G‑d in his life.

Female leader of the year Hannah Belinkiy spoke of growing up in a town with a small Jewish community and the pride she has in her heritage, religion and culture. Male leader of the year Moshe Rembaum from Panama spoke of the award being for all, and how all the young people gathered there were meant to be leaders.

Shoshana Mann of Portland, Ore., then shared the story of her founding of “Teens Against Antisemitism,” and experiencing purpose and pride in her Judaism. “Whatever darkness we find ourselves in, it’s important to remind ourselves it is part of our journey, and G‑d is there to make sure you’re never alone.”

Rapper/musician Nissim Black rounded out proceedings with an electric performance of some of his greatest hits, with teens gathering around the stage to dance along, capping off a weekend of fun, inspiration and friendship.

(Chabad.org)

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