Benji (Nicolet ‘21) says his time in CTeen helped him “stay connected to the Jewish community and establish relationships with my closest friends.” As a high school student, Benji was active in several clubs, including Basketball and Track, but “felt something inside that was looking for connection. I didn’t really agree with the whole modern orthodox style of Judaism, but the thing about Chabad is that they’re super accepting of anybody. They’ll literally let anybody in the door. They don’t judge, they just want you to be connected. I like that.”
CTeen was “a great way to become friends with Jewish people all over,” according to Benji, who loved coming to chagim and lunches at the house, but said he feels he missed out on some of the big events like the NYC Shabbatons. Still, he credits Rabbi Avremi with pushing him to spend a semester abroad in Israel his freshman year, where he studied at Bar-Ilan University, opening up his worldview. He decided to return to University of Minnesota to “get serious” about his career, and graduated this past year. That career is off and running already, currently working as a Junior Trading Specialist at Taiber, Kosmala and Associates.
The older brother of current CTeen senior Shir Posner and CTeen alum Ellie Posner, Benji currently lives in Chicago - we hope to see him visit the CTeen House soon!
