Jewish Gwinnett Teens Celebrate Purim
The youths, as part of Chabad of Gwinnett and CTeen, made Purim gift bags for the community.
Gwinnett is a geographically large and multi-culturally diverse county well known for its Latino and Asian populations. In many cases, a Jewish teen may be the only, or one of just a few Jews in their high school. But more and more Jewish teens who live in Gwinnett County are finding each other as well as a Jewish spiritual home via the CTeen program at Chabad of Gwinnett.
Recently, the teens celebrated Purim by using their weekly Monday evening meeting times to bake traditional Purim hamantaschen cookies and engage in an act of kindness for the greater Jewish community by assembling Purim gift bags (Mishloach Manot) filled with an assortment of treats.
Spearheaded by teen leaders Nava Evans and Mika Kelman, about a dozen teens and their parents finished assembling 450 gift bags containing jars of candy, hamantaschen and a Purim greeting note. The final production party took place on Monday, March 10, at the Peachtree Corners home of Rabbi Mendel Lerman and Rebbetzin Chana Lerman.
“It was such a bright energetic event, and everyone came with their families. Usually [the Monday gatherings] are just the kids, so now all of our parents were meeting each other, and they could see the experience we have every week. Everyone was having so much fun,” said Evans, a ninth grader at Brightmont Academy (in Smyrna).
Evans, who runs the Gwinnett CTeen’s social media efforts, joined the CTeen group last year and deepened her involvement after spending a summer working at the Chabad North Fulton summer camp. “It was the most amazing summer of my life. I got closer to HaShem, and it really made me feel good about what I was doing.” She has since also become involved in a Chabad initiative called the Friendship Circle, a nonprofit for Jewish kids with disabilities.
Evans works closely with Mika Kelman, a junior at Chattahoochee High School, who has been a CTeen leader for three years.
“I love doing it because I love coming up with games and activities,” said Kelman. “It’s really fun to have a group of teens to do it with. We meet with the rabbi every two weeks and plan. I love those meetings and love working with Nava, too. It’s really fun to have a say in what we do each week and decide what experiences we’re going to give people.”
Giving back is a big focus for the Gwinnett Chabad CTeen group, explained Rabbi Lerman, whose parents Rabbi Yossi and Esther Lerman founded Chabad of Gwinnett in 2001. Rabbi Mendel Lerman and his wife, Chana, joined the team in 2022 with their emphasis on community development, especially growing involvement of Jewish youth, young adults, families, and young professionals.
Making 450 gift bags – a new record for the annual Purim project – was not only a good time for the teens but was a way to show the greater Gwinnett Jewish community that someone is caring about them, explained Lerman. The bags were delivered by a team of volunteers to Jewish families all around the county.
Recognizing that, living farther away from Jewish population centers like Toco Hills or Dunwoody/Sandy Springs, the recipients probably have less Jewish involvement generally, Lerman said, “We wanted Jews in Gwinnett to know there are more of them, and they are part of something bigger. Mika and Nava spearheaded this amazing project to gather their friends and other Jewish teens in Gwinnett to go on the offense to share such warmth and friendship and do something so beautiful as giving someone a Purim package with candy and hamantaschen.”
Lerman thinks the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel has affected Jewish teens. “Teens today are reacting in one of two ways,” he said. “One is to get more reserved, like a turtle to go deeper into their own shell, not want to stick out and just hope you’re not the next target of some antisemitic slur or something else. Yet others are actually getting more Jewish and proud about their identity. It’s pushing them to be more curious and have more Jewish experiences.”
For her part, Nava Evans feels the Chabad in Gwinnett provides purpose and comfort for Jewish teens: “Our Purim event from last week was such a small part of what we do with CTeen in that so many kids are feeling discriminated at school because they’re Jewish, or kids that have special needs [who] don’t feel like they have people who love them. We bring a home to them, so they feel included no matter what. Making the gift bags last week was a small example of the things we can do to give back to our community.”
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