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Bellmore-Merrick Jewish teen group promotes community service
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Andrew Vardakis/Herald
Rabbi Shimon Kramer and CTeen coordinator Itty Barber, far left, smile with local teens at the Bellmore-Merrick CTeen kickoff event.
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While some teens mingled over light snacks, others showed off their basketball skills, and still others took part in a raucous game of dodgeball at the kickoff for the Bellmore-Merrick chapter of CTeen last Thursday.
CTeen, an acronym for the Chabad Teen Network, is a national network for Jewish teenagers, with chapters around the globe. Among the fastest-growing Jewish teen networks in the world, Cteen accepts teens from various temples and communities.
The Bellmore-Merrick chapter of Cteen, which held its kickoff at Baseball Plus in Freeport, was organized by Cteen coordinator Itty Barber and Rabbi Shimon Kramer, a Merrick resident and head of the Bellmore-Merrick Chabad Center for Jewish Life. Roughly 30 teenagers from Bellmore, Merrick and other parts of Nassau County turned out for the kickoff. CTeen's purpose is to get more Jewish teens involved in the community, and to help them maintain their Jewish ties as they progress toward adulthood.
"When kids are younger, they go to school and learn about their Jewish heritage," said Barber. "Then they have their bar mitzvah, but after that, they go to college and suddenly disconnect from Judaism because they start to forget about it."
With CTeen, participants socialize with other Jewish kids in the community. "Teenage years are hard years," said Barber. "There's peer pressure, homework and a lot of other things going on in their life. So they don't even focus on religion, and that's how they lose the connection. With this teen group, we're able to fill that gap and keep the connection."
A resident of Crown Heights, Brooklyn — where CTeen's headquarters are located — Barber has been associated with the organization for two years, and has run different organizations around New York. Recently, she received a call from Kramer requesting to bring a CTeen chapter to Bellmore-Merrick.
"I had requests from many, many families since I moved [to Merrick] about three and a half years ago," said Kramer, "They asked for a teen program because they felt that teens are the ones that fall through the cracks. With CTeen, they can socialize and have a good time together, and will learn the importance of giving to others."
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Cteen focuses on the social aspect of religion. This, Barber believes, is what appeals more to the younger generation. "It's really just for fun," she said. "It's not like Hebrew School where they're sitting and learning. We try to deliver the messages through different activities."
But it isn't all fun and games. There is also a strong humanitarian aspect to CTeen. The kids will participate in different community-service activities, such as visiting hospitals, holding toy drives and writing letters to soldiers.
"It'll make them feel good about themselves," said Kramer. "They will learn about who they are, and make them feel like they have a purpose in this world. Also, by seeing what others are going through, they can appreciate the fact that they are well and that they don't need any help."
By volunteering, the kids will be able to fill community-service hours required for school. They will also be honored with certificates for their service at dinners held by CTeen.
At the kickoff, the teens congregated and chatted over free food and drinks, supplied by CTeen. After a quick icebreaker game in which they learned one another's names, they dispersed to the batting cages and basketball courts to play.
"CTeen is a place that I feel will let me join with other Jewish kids and let me keep in touch with them," said Jordan Fessler, a 13-year-old south Merrick resident. "I can talk to them about how I feel in both my normal life and my Jewish life."
The Bellmore-Merrick CTeen chapter will hold its next meeting at the end of September to celebrate Sukkot.
“We want to give every Jewish teen a chance to have a good time, learn more, grow spiritually, and become more involved in the greater Jewish community," Kramer said.
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