CTeenConnection

By Tzviki Danesh

Last Monday, CTeeners from all over Southern California came together in Irvine to welcome the summer season. They met at Boomers, an amusement park of the sort that has rides, arcades, and mini-golf. Of particular note was the laser-tag attraction. Twenty three of the teens split into two teams and engaged in what can only be called glorious phaser warfare. The green Judean People’s Front emerged victorious in both of the two engagements, and was led by Rabbi Mendy and mostly the CTeeners of the Conejo. That is not to say, however, that the red People’s Front of Judea did not fight valiantly. Indeed, who could forget the brave offensive charge led by Tahor, the colossus of sci-fi combat? Or the courageous co-ops performed by the Sapochkinsky brothers?
After leaving the park, the CTeeners enjoyed a barbecue at the local Hebrew Academy. There they listened to a speech by one of the local rabbis about modern miracles. He told a story about how the detailed requirements for a kosher matzah led to the saving of countless Israeli lives from a terrorist attack. These terrorists had dug a tunnel leading out into a vast field of grain, under which they could take cover from surveillance aircraft. But the grain was being grown for Pesach matzahs, and had to be cut at a specific time in order to avoid rain. Three days after the harvest, the terrorists tried their attack, and emerged from the tunnel in an open field. The threat was easily eliminated, and the tunnel destroyed.
The CTeen mission is to bring Jewish teens together and help them learn more about their faith and heritage. By doing this, the CTeeners are participating in God’s greatest modern miracle: the survival of the Jewish people and their customs in the midst of exile.