On May 4, nine teenage members of CTeen France visited the official residence of United States Ambassador to France Charles Kushner on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris.
Kushner, the grandson of Holocaust survivors and a longtime supporter of Jewish causes in his native New Jersey and around the world, had extended the invitation to the Jewish teens, wanting to hear directly from them about the state of Jewish life in France for their peer group.
For two hours, the ambassador and his wife, Seryl, sat with the teens, ranging in age from 14 to 18, who represented CTeen chapters from around the country.
When Kushner asked them about being Jewish students in French public schools, the teenagers shared that they have been navigating antisemitism in their classrooms for years, and experienced a significant increase in hostility since the Palestinian attacks on Israel of October 7, 2023.
Salomé, from Orléans, about 90 minutes south of Paris, told Kushner that before CTeen opened a chapter in her city, she did not believe there were any other Jewish teenagers there. She had thought she was alone. Now, she knows she is not.
“She told the ambassador that all week long in school, she waits to see her Jewish friends,” reported Rabbi Mendy Mottal, who directs CTeen France with his wife Chaya and accompanied the group to the residence. “It gives her strength.”
Orléans is the same city where, in March 2025, the local Chabad rabbi was assaulted in an antisemitic hate crime while walking home from synagogue with his nine-year-old son.
“These are teens regularly expeirencing antisemitism on the front line,” Mottal said. “The ambassador was very moved by them and how they spoke. Frankly, so was I.”
CTeen France, launched in 2014 under Mottal’s direction, now operates more than 120 chapters across the country, serving a significant share of the estimated 30,000 Jewish teenagers living in France. The network, part of CTeen International, the world’s largest Jewish teen network, connects young people through weekly programming, leadership training, retreats, and flagship experiences including the annual CTeen International Shabbaton in New York, which drew 4,500 participants from 60 countries this past February.
“These are teens who walk into their public school every morning knowing they may be the only Jew in their classroom,” said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, chairman of CTeen International. “What CTeen gives them is a place to belong, and the courage to lead.”
Before the teens left, Seryl Kushner led them on a personal tour of the residence, and the ambassador presented each teenager with a kippah custom-made for the embassy and an embassy medal.
Hours later, Ambassador Kusher posted on X: “I love seeing motivated young leaders! CTeen is developing youth across France and focusing, like me, on countering antisemitism by combatting all forms of hatred in our communities.”
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