Chabad Launches New Jewish Teen Club

Chabad Teen Network Group’s Vision: Discover Ourselves and Volunteer for a Greater Cause – Together, We’ll Better the World

Chabad of Orange County has launched the newest teen society in the neighborhood: The CTeen Network. The local chapter of Cteen, which is part of the fastest growing Jewish teen network, compacts exhilarating fun and meaningful projects into a program that’s thrilling and uniting. CTeen demonstrates that educational and service is the pillar of personal growth.

CTeen, which is open to all Jewish teens in the community regardless of affiliation, meets once a month for events including: Icebreakers, teambuilding activities, peer‐to‐peer discussions, educational debate sessions, provoking video presentations, community service activities, exciting recreational trips and Shabbatons.

Teens love to socialize, and they love to network. The CTeen Network takes these skills that teenagers have mastered throughout time, and creatively channels their talents toward making a difference in the community.

“CTeen’s goal is not just to get together and have a good time,” said Rabbi Pesach Burston, director of Chabad of Orange County and head of the local CTeen chapter, “It’s also about encouraging our teens to take a leadership role. Our mission is to provide a nurturing environment where teens can learn about themselves through giving to others, identify with others who share the same faith, and be part of a group that focuses on building core values with an emphasis on character development,” Rabbi Burston explained.

“CTeen events transforms free time into constructive time and blends the perfect opportunity to have fun with friends and have a dynamic Jewish experience, by incorporating volunteer programs, community service events, and recreational projects that raise Jewish awareness, while feeling good about making the world a better place. We are shaped not by what we receive but by what we do,” he added.

It is estimated that only 20% of a teenager’s personal time is actually spent in a structured school environment. CTeen provides the opportunity for teenagers to reassign some free time into meaningful time, constructively spent learning, giving, and interacting with others teens. Studies show that by joining groups that emphasize community service, teens build their self‐esteem, strengthen integrity, and maximize their cognitive development. They benefit from improved academic performance and enhanced life skills.

At the recent kickoff event, the first of many scheduled events for 2010/11, the teens performed “Spiritual Open Heart Surgery.” Teens tackled the difficulties in making decisions, and how life’s hardest battles are fought within ourselves.

Do our hearts have a spiritual “right side” and “left side”? What are they made of? What is the function of the spiritual heart, and how does it affect us? “The heart pulls us in different directions – in both matters that are a big deal as well as little things, like deciding to snooze or not to snooze,” says Rabbi Pesach.

CTeens explored the insides of the spiritual heart, including the concepts of good decision-making and why our souls can’t just “get along.”

“Through a black and white food and décor theme, including decorating black and white cookies, discussions and activities we discovered how discovered what exactly is going on inside us and how to detect the difference between our inner animal and inner angel in a relevant and fun way” said Lee Stanton, 16, of Greenwood Lake, who is president of Chabad’s Cteen and also heads its Facebook page.

For one of the activities, “Stuck Together,” Cteen participants tried to accomplish a goal while being stuck to another person. Each pair of teens were tied by wrists and ankles and had to accomplish the goal of packing gift boxes for women in shelters; in conjunction with Safe Homes of Orange County. The teens, who were very resourceful, felt proud of their accomplishment.

“We got to experience how challenging it is when you have two different dimensions pulling in opposite directions, just like we have inside us” said Amanda Heller, 14, of Chester. “We got to learn how the only way we can accomplish a goal is by working together!”

The next CTeen event will be held on Sunday, November 21, 2010 from 4:00 to 5:30pm, at Chabad’s new Monroe/Chester Location, 1170 Route 17m, Suite 1 (Upper level parking lot), in Chester.

November’s Cteen, “The Friends We Make Along the Way” explores friendship. Do we define our friends or do our friends define us? Find out by participating in innovative discussions on friendship, playing interactive friend games and making a Shabbat meal for friends – complete with chicken soup and gefilte fish that will have your Bubby (grandmother) begging for recipes.

For more information visit www.ChabadOrange.com/Cteen