Teenager Becomes a Leader

By COLlive staff

One mitzvah leads to another, and another!

That teaching from the Mishna is what Lilah Kleban, recipient of this year’s JLI Teen Award at the National Jewish Retreat, not only believes, but practices.

After attending an inspiring learning series at her local Chabad, Lilah’s enthusiasm and passion for doing good has influenced other teens to join her in doing mitzvot, like bringing challahs – and smiles – to hospital patients and nursing home residents.

The 16-year-old, honored for her leadership and initiative, is a resident of Wilmington, Delaware, where she encountered Rabbi Motti and Rochel Flikshtein after returning from a trip to the Holy Land ignited in what she calls “Israel fever.”

Lilah had been one of very few Jewish students in her school, and summer experiences were her primary Jewish connection. She came home from Israel sensing that she was part of something much larger than herself, and sought out Chabad.

The Flikshteins introduced Lilah to their JLI Teen series, and seeing her leadership qualities, encouraged her become a JLI Fellow. Lilah helped launch the program in Delaware and bring other teens to the Life on the Line series.

“This experience was completely different from any other Jewish education I’d ever had. We learned about situations that were related to our own lives, real issues instead of just stories from the past.”

After learning about the spiritual and symbolic process of making challah and performing the mitzvah of separating the dough, Lilah began baking challah with her mother each week. She then initiated “Kneading Love” an program that delivers freshly baked challahs to people in nursing homes and hospitals.

In encouraging other teens to get involved with mitzvot, Lilah says it is a flawed assumption to say that young people cannot affect the world. “Small actions can make a bigger difference than we know,” she said at the award ceremony at the Jewish National Retreat.

‘Nothing compares to the face-to-face interaction of giving someone a challah and a blessing, and seeing how happy we’ve made them… It’s common sense,” she said. “Just do it. Why not?”