Would you survive 24 hours without being allowed to use your cellphone? Would you believe me if I told you that seven teenagers did this for the first time in their lives last Shabbos? The hardest to reach demographic of the Jewish community, the high schoolers, proved that their Jewish pride and identity is stronger than ever! You should be proud of Palm Beach Gardens' delegation of teens to last week's international Jewish Teen Shabbaton in NYC, where 2000 teens convened from 110 cities across six continents. Between the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and ice skating in New York's beautiful Bryant Park, I asked them if they were willing to take the pledge to try to keep Shabbos last week, and they all unanimously accepted the challenge!
They quickly realized that Shabbos is not just about what we're not allowed to do, but amazingly, about entering into a totally new dimension. Just like one cannot play computer games or eat a burger while swimming, so too we cannot embrace the beauty and majesty of Shabbos while engaged in mundane, weekday activities. Perhaps it was the moving melodies of united song with thousands of Jewish teens at the Friday night Shabbos dinner table. Perhaps it was the "Stump the Rabbi" session that I moderated for 300 eager and inquisitive teens with great questions! Or maybe it was the impromptu debates we had on anything from Jewish women's sheitels to G-d and the Holocaust. For one it was the sanctity of entering the holy office of the saintly Rebbe. For another it was the experience of the end of Shabbos in the Rebbe's shul. Whatever the source of the inspiration, my heart broke when one of our teens toasted a l'chaim, thanking me for "having reignited within her everything she loved about her Judaism and thought she had lost."
As hundreds of excited Jewish teens rode the subway to Times Square last Saturday night they broke into spontaneous song and dance on the train. Most onlookers were cheering us on, but when they were confronted by a Jew who claimed to feel uncomfortable by the public display of Judaism, our young adults stood up for themselves and for their identity in a way that made me beam with nachas! Who would have thought that so many young Jews would be right at home in the heart of Times Square with our pictures emblazoned upon 100 foot tall Jumbotron screens! As we danced at a Jewish rock concert, the power of Jewish unity was palpable and unstoppable in this Shabbat of a lifetime! (Can you find us in the giant selfie Picture below?) At the Gala Banquet, when we prepared to leave to the Rebbe's Ohel (holy resting place) and make our way back home, a special tribute was made to Ezra Schwartz, a Bostonian teen who was murdered this year in Israel for being a Jew. Ezra's best friend came on stage to standing ovation and read a deeply touching letter he wrote to his best friend after he was killed. I cried when it dawned upon me that our teens weren't dying for their Jewish identities, they are living out their Jewish identities! The Talmud points out that Children and Builders share the same exact spelling. Our Children are the Builders of our Future. As 2000 Teens return to their respective cities bursting with Jewish Pride, the impact upon the rest of the city is immeasurable! Our focus on the Teens will build a stronger and better Jewish Future for our community. Let's be inspired by their example!
Can you find us in this Times Square Selfie below?
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