After weeks of well organized meetings and preparations, a group of Jewish teens representing youth movements from all over Winnipeg put together a memorable Shabbat dinner.  Myself, Gaston Lopez, Max Palay, Evan Cantor, Josh Goldstein, Maya Pollock, Baillie Shuster, Julia Elbaze, Yona Lazar and Tiffany Reider made up this awesome teen committee which spent many hours putting this terrific Shabbat together. The committee was broken down into sub-committees which were in charge of Rituals, Entertainment, Décor, Marketing and Tzedakah respectively. The committee’s hard work, collaboration and team spirit made the successful event possible. 
 
The community-wide event invited Jewish teens from all over the city to participate in a Shabbat experience and meet other teens. The team transformed the multi purpose room at the Rady Jewish Community Centre with various decorations and a massive banner. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming and the mood was very laid back. Teens arrived with gifts of toys and children’s books for the Chesed (kindness in Hebrew) project. The idea of this project was to give holiday gifts to less fortunate children in Winnipeg; a young group giving to a young group. All gifts were donated to the Christmas Cheer Board who were overjoyed and extremely thankful for the wonderful donation.
 
While many brought presents, the organizers of the event also had other gifts in store for the many guests at the Shabbat dinner. After the meal, the teens enjoyed various games and activities about Chanukah and Shabbat itself. Prizes were handed out after the games and a series of discussions followed. Teens were engaged through interesting topics about Judaism and life in general. Various opinions emerged and friendly debates followed. Many of the committee members and other participants led most of the singing which included Shabbat and Chanukah songs loved by everyone. The famous Maccabeats song was wholeheartedly sung by all teens alike! Even though Chanukah was over, the spirit and the joy of the chag (holiday) was still present that evening.
 
Leah Hornstein, Rady JCC's Youth Coordinator/ BBYO Director, spearheaded the committee and made sure this event came to life the way everyone envisioned it would--although not without the help of her fellow professional committee members: Tamar Barr, Rady JCC; Avi Posen and Dov Shlenger, Machon Madrichim; Brenda Tessler, BB Camp; Danial Sprintz, Camp Massad; Leslie Emery, Shaarey Zedek and Lina Streltsov, Etz Chayim.  The Teen Shabbat was sponsored by the Rady JCC with support from the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, Machon Madrichim, Congregation Etz Chayim and Congregation Shaarey Zedek.