Aussie Jews join CTeen in Times Square

(TIMES OF ISRAEL) Former Hamas hostage Segev Kalfon led thousands of Jews at Times Square in New York in the Shema prayer on Saturday night, alongside former hostages Ilana Gritzewsky and Matan Zangauker, as Jewish teens from Australia watched on in the crowd.

It was one of a series of events for teenagers sponsored by the Chabad Hasidic movement.

The events, called the CTeen International Shabbaton, brought together more than 4500 youths from around 60 countries.

Saturday night’s event highlighted Chabad’s global reach, as well as the trauma inflicted on Jews by anti-Zionist violence thousands of kilometres apart.

Watching the former hostages lead the prayer were teens from Bondi Beach, where two gunmen slaughtered 15 people at a Chanukah event in December.