Jewish Teens in Skokie, Ill., Respond to Hate With Celebration
by Menachem Posner – chabad.org
Seneca Park is a lovely patch of green shielded from the busy Dempster Street by the tan-bricked Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie, Ill. Seated around satin-topped tables in the park and hearing dozens of teens singing, “I’m a Jew and I’m proud,” it’s hard to imagine that it’s within sight of where pro-Palestinian marchers rode just a week before, blaring threatening, anti-Semitic slogans.
“This is our answer to hate,” says Yona Posner, who together with her husband, Rabbi Yochanan Posner, co-directs Skokie CTeen, whose May 25 outdoor gala honored teen leaders and volunteers who have contributed to the community over the course of the past year. “These people came from miles away just to tell us that they want us to disappear and make us cower in fear. Our teens are out in force tonight, sending a strong and positive message of Jewish pride and resilience.”
According to Yochanan Posner, the anti-Jewish parade was more disturbing than dangerous as the demonstrators were under heavy police watch. Yet he, like others, was unsettled when a window was broken at the nearby Persian Hebrew Congregation on May 16 by a pair of perpetrators who left a Palestinian flag and a pro-Palestine sign on the building. In response, nearly 600 Jews and non-Jews joined in a peaceful protest.
Skokie, an otherwise nondescript suburb just north of Chicago, has had its fair share of anti-Jewish hatemongers wishing to sow strife on its quiet streets. In 1977, Skokie’s efforts to block neo-Nazis from marching there was stymied by the ACLU, which successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that to do so would be an infringement of the demonstrators’ rights to free speech.
At that time, one in every six residents of the Chicago suburb was either a Holocaust survivor or a relative of one. While most of the survivors have since passed, Skokie still has a lively Jewish community and is home to dozens of synagogues, Jewish day schools, kosher restaurants and other communal organizations.
Now, the community gathered together once again to face potential intimidation. But this time, instead of focusing on external threats, the vibe was celebratory, and the mood uplifting and joyous.
In addition to teens and their families, attendees included Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen, well-wishers and supporters—many of whom seemed openly giddy about attending a communal event after more than a year of isolation at home due to the coronavirus.
A Welcome Breath of Fresh Air for Teens
According to Jac Copeland, a senior at Niles North High School who was installed as incoming president of Skokie CTeen, the gala was a welcomed breath of fresh air after a year of Zoom meetings and small, socially distanced events.
“CTeen has grown a lot this year,” says Copeland, one of the few students to wear a kippah at his high school, which has an enrollment of more than 2,000. “We have been able to adapt early on, and having an in-person event of this size shows that we’re resilient and thriving. We have made it work until now, and we are not daunted by violence or vandalism. We will stand up and not let it get to us.”
Copeland says that a major source of support for him and other CTeeners at Niles North has been the Association of Jewish Students, a Jewish club they founded in the wake of another instance of anti-Semitism: teachers being offered a course titled “Teaching Palestine” with a decidedly anti-Jewish, anti-Israel slant.
The class was canceled following a public outcry, but seeing the gaping ignorance about Jewish people galvanized students. Working together with the Posners, they founded the club—dubbed “Jew Crew”—as a vehicle through which they could share their Jewish identity with their friends in an accessible way.
Speaking at the gala, Anne Zavell, the faculty advisor for “Jew Crew,” spoke about the challenges staff and students were facing in an environment where anti-Semitism is on the rise. She called on students and parents alike to join her in building bridges and sharing knowledge.
“We respond to attacks and anti-Semitism,” says Copeland, “by showing that Jews are people; we are not foreign or strange. One of the best ways to address that is for people to know Jews. We are good people, honest and friendly, and we are not about to disappear. That philosophy and sentiment culminated tonight.”
