Chabad’s Teen Club Visits Crown Heights in Brooklyn
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Recently, Chabad’s Boys Teen Club enjoyed a fun-filled and educational visit to the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The group was led by Rabbi Pesach Burston, director of Chabad of Orange County, who grew up in Crown Heights, home of a Chabad community and Chabad Headquarters.
After visiting the childhood home of Rabbi Burston for some morning refreshments of coffee, cheese Danishes and Brooklyn-famous reugalach, the boys visited “770” synagogue at Chabad Headquarters.
“It’s incredible to put on tefilin, which we usually do between ourselves at Teen Club, together with hundreds of people who are doing the same thing!” said Lee Stanton, 13, of Greenwood Lake.
“I even saw a fellow Yankee fan, dressed in a Yankee shirt and cap, from another community come put on tefilin at the synagogue” added Jon Sandow, 17, of Highland Mills, “So we had two things in common: Tefilin and the Yankees!”
(Tefilin, lit. “Phylacteries,” are small black leather cubes containing parchment scrolls inscribed with biblical passages, wrapped on the arm and head of Jewish adult men during weekday morning prayers.)
Next, the boys visited a scribe. “After learning about the Torah, Tefilin and Mezuzah it’s natural to want to see how it is made” Said Alec DeRoss, 16, of Monroe. “It was so cool!” he added. After seeing a demonstration, the boys had the opportunity to ask the scribe various questions, such as - what makes a Torah kosher? Why do scrolls have to be checked every now and then? How long does it take to write a Torah? What happens if a scribe makes a mistake; does the scroll have to be written all over again?
After lunch at a Kosher pizza shop the boys visited a Matzah Bakery to see how Passover matzah (unleavened bread) is made. On Passover it is forbidden to eat leavened bread, therefore Jews eat Matzah. “The entire process of baking a batch of matzah has to be done in less than 18 minutes,” explained Rabbi Burston, “since it takes 18 minutes from when the water and the flour come into contact to begin to rise (and become leavened).
The boys had the opportunity to watch, from beginning to end, how the matzah was formed by hand until it came out of the hearth oven crispy and fresh, which each of the boys were given to taste!
Next on the full day schedule was a visit to the Jewish Children’s Museum, which is full of excitement for all ages. “After learning about Shabbat, the holidays and Jewish life it’s great to see hands-on exhibits that crystallize some of the things we’ve learned,” said Lucas Turso, 13, of Campbell Hall.
Then the boys visited a Rabbinical School; the same one Rabbi Burston had studies at. There, the boys were greeted with familiar faces, yeshiva boys who have been to Orange County volunteering for some of Chabad’s activities.
The day concluded with dinner at a local Kosher deli, followed by dessert at kosher “Nosh World”.
“I am ready for another trip!” Justin Kahn, 13, said when he returned to his home in Highland Mills.
Chabad’s Boys Teen Club is for post Bar-Mitzvah boys who meet with Rabbi Burston on Mondays from 4-5pm for an interactive hour of learning, fun, films, trips and refreshments – for body and soul. “Many boys and girls tend to end their Jewish education after they culminate their bar/bat-mitzvah studies. A bar-mitzvah actually marks the beginning of a lifetime of Jewish education,” says Rabbi Burston. “The Chabad Teen club allows local teenagers to explore their Jewish heritage in a sophisticated way – not because they are preparing for a ceremony, but because this is who they are.” For more information contact Rabbi Pesach Burston at 782-2770 email him at [email protected] or visit www.ChabadOrange.com