Scottsdale teen speaks in New York’s Times Square to thousands of young Jews

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

Following Shabbat in late February, roughly 4,000 Jewish teenagers from across the country and around the globe gathered in Times Square, the heart of New York City, for CTeen’s “Meant2B” event. The annual international Shabbaton and celebration of Jewish pride saw teens jumping, dancing, singing and cheering for the speakers, the musicians and the love of being Jewish.

Elie Wichansky was chosen from hundreds of applicants to lead the crowd during Havdalah. The choice was a bit outside the box considering that Wichansky is 19 and graduated from high school last year, which makes her unusual but not completely unique.

“I was definitely one of the older ones there,” she told Jewish News.

When the Shabbaton’s director called Rabbi Tzvi Rimler, director of CTeen Phoenix, to ask him to submit a video of anyone who would be brave enough to speak in front of so many people, he didn’t hesitate to suggest Wichansky.

“Elie’s not shy and I knew she would be perfect,” Rimler told Jewish News. “This was my sixth year at the Shabbaton and Elie was far beyond the best speaker they’ve had. She was perfect. She was on fire!”

When Wichansky got Rimler’s call, she was in California at a doctor’s appointment. The rabbi told her to make a video — “Bring your energy and show them what you got!” he told her. She made the video in her hotel room and a week later she received a text offering her the gig.

Wichansky is no stranger to doctor’s appointments. At 12, she was diagnosed with chronic and severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease in which abnormal reactions of the immune system cause inflammation and ulcers on the inner lining of the large intestine.

Over the course of two successive surgeries, doctors removed most of her colon, rectum and appendix. A third surgery “put everything back together” and created a J-pouch with part of her small intestine to replace a temporary colostomy bag.

Ashkenazi Jews are four times more likely to develop the disease than non-Jews living in the same country, according to research from University College London.

Wichansky calls it “an invisible illness,” given that she is often sick even when she doesn’t look it. For the rest of her life, she must be very diligent about her diet, excluding dairy, gluten and sugar, to avoid developing Crohn’s disease.

Her illness was the reason she missed last year’s Shabbaton. This year, her younger sister, also a CTeen Phoenix member, convinced her to go. She is very close with her two younger sisters and when the youngest is old enough, the three plan to have a joint bat mitzvah in Israel.

Wichansky missed out on a lot more in middle school than her bat mitzvah because of her illness.

“I didn’t get a middle school experience. I was just so embarrassed and kept asking myself, ‘Why me?’” she said. Wichansky struggled to accept her body, which had become “skin and bones.” She had a total of five blood transfusions and was bullied and teased for looking anorexic. It became so challenging for her socially that she turned to homeschooling. But as she felt better, her mother encouraged her to get back to school and get involved in some social activities.

Eventually, she found a group of friends and, maybe more significantly, she found the theater. She started acting and singing on stage and entering talent shows.

“I was such a theater kid. It changed my life and brought me out of my shell. As soon as I got on stage, I took over and felt like I could be myself,” she said. Her facility in front of an audience helped her in New York.

“I was so excited and just kept practicing,” she said. The night went by so quickly that she didn’t have any real time to be nervous before getting on stage with the microphone in her hand. She started talking, energizing the crowd, surrounded by the lights of Times Squares’ famous giant billboards, flashing Hebrew words and Jewish trivia.

“Look around CTeen,” she shouted into the microphone. “We’re standing on one of the brightest spots in the world. But it’s not the lights of Times Square that are blinding me — it’s the lights of all of you!”

She explained the tradition of lighting the Havdalah candle and what it means to be together during a Hakhel year, when Jews would gather in Jerusalem’s Temple before its destruction to listen to the king read from the Torah every seven years.

“On our own, we’re a flame on the wind but together, we’re a mighty fire,” she told the crowd before reminding them why they traveled to New York. “You came to connect to Torah, to Hashem, to each other. We’re like this candle — united we have the power to light up the world!”

Rimler, who had brought 27 kids from Phoenix, was proud to watch her.

“She was full of energy and really got the crowd going,” he said.

Five teens from CTeen Gilbert and five from CTeen North Phoenix also were at the Shabbaton, Feb. 23-26. Every year the teens see the famous secular tourist sites of New York and visit Jewish heritage and religious sites as well, Rimler said.

“They get to see what our mission is here in Phoenix. We’re not just going through the motions. We’re part of an amazing community that comes from all over the world,” he said.

He enjoys the entire trip, but his favorite moment is always visiting 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement.

Many CTeen members don’t come from a religious background, making the time spent in the synagogue there extra special, he said. The teens crowd in together, sing songs, learn about Jewish texts and pray the evening service.

“Thousands of teens stand together arm in arm, singing timeless songs. To experience Shabbat like that is incredible,” he said.

Wichansky was equally sanguine about her Jewish experience at the Shabbaton. She’s generally apprehensive about letting people know she’s Jewish because “the world is scary and so many people are antisemitic,” she said.

But during that weekend, she rejoiced in her Jewish identity. After her appearance on stage, people took pictures of her walking through the crowd.

“I felt like a celebrity! I’ve never been surrounded by so many Jews in my life. It was incredible,” she said. JN

For more information, visit cteenphoenix.com.