This past weekend, 4,000 teens converged on Brooklyn for the annual C-Teen Shabbaton, which is emerging as the world’s largest and greatest gathering of Jewish teens from all around the world.
On Sunday, following a late night in Times Square, they gathered for the “Shine On” Event, a montage of live talks from fellow teens, uplifting Jewish music, and plenty of glitz.
Here, we’ve curated three talks, each from a teen who has stood up to antisemitism and shown the world that a Jew can be proud of his or her identity, ready to share Jewish identity and observance with fellow Jews no matter where.
“My Mom Was Scared. I Am Proud”
Daniel, 17, works at Tampa International Airport. When antisemitism flared up after October 7th, his mom fretted about him going to work with his kippah on his head. Daniel not only went to work as a proud Jew, he even took his tefillin along so he could share his favorite mitzvah with the Jewish travelers he helps. After overcoming his initial shyness, he now does so on a regular basis. Here is his story:
“I Stood Up to Campus Haters”
Eli, a student at UCLA, was minding his own business last April when masked protestors prevented him from going to class because he refused to bow to their hate-filled agenda. His social media post exposed them and their anti-Jewish agenda. Even as hate swirled around, he continued to display his Jewish identity and faith with pride.
The TikTok Superstar Who Found Herself
During the pandemic, Ellie Zeiler started posting on TikTok and soon attracted millions of followers. But she knew that there was more to life than that. After October 7th, she publicly posted in support of her people, even at the expense of some of her fan base. Today, observant of Shabbat and kosher, she shares the beauty of Torah life with her international audience and encourages her followers to do the same.
If that whets your appetite, watch the entire event here:
And once you’ve watched that, check out this amazing video of all 4,000 teens “taking over” Times Square.
