Teens Experience Shabbat in Crown Heights

The North of Boston Jew Crew headed to New York City between March 31 and April 3 for Jew Crew Takes Manhattan III, the focus of which is the opportunity to observe Shabbat in Crown Heights, a religious Jewish community in Brooklyn.

Now in its third year, for many, this trip is a very new and eye-opening experience. Among the traveling crew of 30 teens were about 10 Swampscott teens including Sasha Matusevich and Eli Bakal.

The Jew Crew also got an authentic look into the different sights and sounds of one of the biggest and most active cities in the world. On Friday they visited with SpazeCraft One, an urban hip-hop and graffiti artist who gave the Jew Crew a tour of his studio and led an interactive art project with the teens.

The project also caught the attention of local media and art publications that came to photograph and video document the experience. After the art studio, the Jew Crew headed to Flatbush for some kosher pizza, Judaica shopping in one of the biggest Judaica stores in the world, and of course, some kosher pickles at “The Pickle Guys” store.

Then it was time to return to their host families in Crown Heights to get ready for Shabbat, which began with a lively, spirited and emotionally charged Kaballat Shabbat service.

Jew Crew’s presence inspired over half an hour of dancing and singing that had the entire congregation on their feet and bringing in Shabbat with a sense of renewed and newfound excitement for one of Judaism’s most central and longest standing traditions.

Services were followed by a beautiful Shabbat dinner, with over 50 people, and hosted selflessly by one of the host families. The teens went around sharing their most memorable Jewish experiences and managed to inspire even the adults present at the meal.

Trevor Brown, an 8th grader at Georgetown Middle School, and also a newcomer to Jew Crew Takes Manhattan, shared his thoughts on the trip, which for him was already his most memorable Jewish moment.

“Jew Crew Takes Manhattan is the first time I have ever been around so many Jewish teens at once,” said Trevor. “I’ve been on other trips, mostly with non-Jewish friends, and the bus rides are usually really quiet.

“What my friend Jake and I noticed immediately was soon after getting on this bus full of Jewish teens, these kids that we have never seen in our life were already introducing themselves to us, and by the end of the bus ride there, practically everyone knew who we were.”

For many teens, this is the atmosphere that makes them want to keep coming to Jew Crew events.

Shabbat day began with shul hopping around town, including a visit to 770, which has become world famous as the place where the Lubavitcher Rebbe held his office.

The Jew Crew had the honor of running into Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the current leader of the Chabad movement, who was voted as the #1 Rabbi in America by Newsweek, earlier in the year.

After a few inspiring words to the teens, the Jew Crew headed to lunch, which was also hosted very generously by a local family.

The teens were asked to share their favorite moments of the trip so far, and Liz Leykin, a Freshman at Marblehead High School, and also a first timer on the trip, had this to say: “This time in Crown Heights has been one of the most inspiring and amazing times I have ever experienced.”

She continued, “This is the first shabbat I have ever observed, and I am more than happy to be spending it here.”

Shabbat was brought to a close with a musical Havdallah service led by Rabbi Yossi, and then the coach bus came to take the Jew Crew into Manhattan for two tours in Times Square followed by a midnight jaunt to Kosher Delight, a kosher burger joint a few blocks away from Times Square.

On Sunday it was back to Boston, and a return to “normal” life.

It was Charlene Swain’s first trip to NY with North of Boston Jew Crew, a senior at Peabody High School, and when asked about her experience she said, “It really inspired me to become a more generous person. If someone can open their home up to over thirty teens for lunch, I could give up an afternoon to help someone.”

She continued, “I will treasure the friendships that I made on the trip for a long time, and coming home I had a feeling of peace and happiness that I have not felt since I traveled to Israel. I feel like a fresh new person with a better outlook on life.”

Coming up soon on the North of Boston Jew Crew calendar, is a talk by Alan Veingrad on Sunday, May 15.

Veingrad is a Super Bowl champion from the NFL who played for five years with the Green Bay Packers and then won a Super Bowl title with the 1992 Dallas Cowboys.

After retiring from the NFL, Veingrad began to learn more about his faith, and has since become an observant Jew, as well as a leader in business.