Thousands of Jewish teens gathered in Times Square in an uplifting display of Jewish pride and unity, featuring a special Havdalah ceremony, meaningful inspiration, and an exhilarating concert.
Teens converged on Crown Heights, from all corners of the globe, from countries like Iceland to Costa Rica, Australia, Nigeria, and Singapore. Large groups of teens are traveling long distances to participate, including a contingent of 200 teens from South America, 300 from Israel, and 500 from France. The influx of participants can be attributed to it being a Hakhel year, with CTeen Shluchim encouraging teens months in advance to participate in this tremendous demonstration of Jewish unity and gathering.
Many of the 3,000 teens attending hail from locations with a small Jewish population, some of them being the only Jewish teen in their school. The Shabbaton is an opportunity to make new friends and see themselves as part of the diverse global Jewish community.
“The CTeen Shabbaton is an incredible opportunity for Jewish teens from all over the world to visit the Rebbe’s kever, and it wouldn’t be possible without the incredible hospitality of the Crown Heights community,” said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch and Chairman of CTeen International, “This Hakhel year, the unprecedented amount of teens participating are being hosted by the Crown Heights community once again. Their warm welcome to the thousands of teens is remarkable and inspiring, and we are truly grateful.”
An emotional moment was when singer Berel Zucker led the teens in a powerful rendition of Ani Maamin, followed by Hasidic Black Rapper Nissim Black, who concluded the event with an incredible performance of his greatest hits and classic CTeen songs, as the teens joined in around the stage.
“I’m proud to be a Jew,” said Landon Katz, a 9th grader from Hunterdon County, NJ, “I never knew how fun it can be to be a Jew, and this event gave me that. I’m only a freshman, so I have three more Shabbaton years to join and I am excited!”
Over 3,000 Jewish teenagers from around the world are here in New York City this weekend on a CTeen shabbaton. Last night they stood together in Times Square, Jewish and proud. #AmYisraelChai
Video: @bentzisasson pic.twitter.com/n1j3OjvcAw— Humans of Judaism (@HumansOfJudaism) February 26, 2023
Happening now: 3000 Jewish teens from CTeen in Times Square. Thank you NYPD and the Times Square Alliance. pic.twitter.com/UUjDlJ14PA
— Yaacov Behrman (@ChabadLubavitch) February 26, 2023
היינט מוצאי שבת אין טיימס סקווער מאנהעטען pic.twitter.com/G7CQEv3Kxe
— Hasidic_3 (@Hasidic_3) February 27, 2022
