A group of 21 Jewish Russian teenagers from the EnerJew youth movement, joined a global Jewish youth gathering in New York last week and returned home infused with energy. This was the first time teenagers from Russia participated in the event, called C-Teen, which took place for 9th consecutive year.

The three-day gathering brought together over 2,000 youngsters from all over the world, with programs culminating in a high-energy mega-event in Times Square on Saturday night.

“It was great for our teens to meet different Jewish groups from other countries and see how we all come together,’ said Julia Katsva, the group’s mentor. “It’s an experience of a lifetime.”

The trip participants were selected among the most active EnerJew club members, who returned home with even more enthusiasm for spreading the knowledge of Jewish values and traditions among their peers. “My EnerJew friends are always optimistic, energetic and full of positive emotions. Our every meeting or trip brings us closer together and I am very thankful for this,” said Daniel, one of the participants.

“This was a dream come true. I enjoyed the interesting tours of synagogues and museums, but most of all it was great to meet other Jewish teenagers from America, England, France, even Brazil, and see that we have so much in common,” wrote Adam, another participant.

“We returned back to our grey Moscow with a load of energy that will last for a long while!” wrote yet another participant, Natalie, in her feedback on the trip. EnerJew is FJC-inspired Jewish youth movement of the FSU for teenagers aged 13-17, with clubs in 37 cities and seven countries.