The Bunker Of Light

Fifteen years ago, Bunker of Light didn’t have a name.

It was just our home.

From the beginning of our marriage, hosting wasn’t something we planned — it was simply who we were. There was always someone who needed a bed for Shabbos. Someone who didn’t have where to go. Someone who needed a seat at a table, a warm meal, or just a place to feel wanted.

Our door stayed open.

Over time in Lakewood and Ocean County, that open door turned into something bigger than we expected. Almost every Shabbos, the house was full. Teens. Young adults. Travelers. Conversations that lasted late into the night. Real laughter. Real struggles. Real connection.

Eventually, it became clear: this wasn’t just hospitality.

There was a real need.

So we expanded our home — physically and intentionally — with one purpose:

To create a space where teens and young people who don’t feel comfortable anywhere else can feel at home.

What We Do

Bunker of Light is a home-based organization built around real relationships.

• Open Shabbos meals
• A safe place to stay when someone needs it
• A welcoming environment for teens in Lakewood and Ocean County
• Opportunities for spiritual connection, growth, and conversation
• Mentorship without pressure
• Community without judgment
• 
  

Some nights are structured.

Some nights are just sitting around the table talking.

All nights are about belonging.

Why “Bunker of Light”?

Because the world can feel dark.

Because teens today face pressures that are overwhelming and isolating.

Because sometimes what someone needs isn’t a lecture — it’s shelter. A bunker. A place that protects their spark instead of putting it out.

And because even in a bunker, there can be light.

Bright light. Warm light. Hope.

Join the Mission

If you’re a teen looking for a place to feel at home — you belong here.

If you’re a parent searching for a safe, positive environment — we’re here.

If you want to volunteer, mentor, cook, or support the mission — we welcome you.

Yosef & Sarah Shidler

Yosef and Sarah Shidler are baalei teshuvah who don’t speak to people from theory — they speak from lived experience.

Yosef grew up in Denver, Colorado in a Conservative home. As he approached his Bar Mitzvah, he made a decision that changed his entire trajectory: he would take Yiddishkeit seriously and build a life around it. He was the first in his family to take that step, the first to leave for yeshiva, and the first to commit to a more observant path. He later attended high school in Crown Heights and Miami, experiences that shaped both his learning and his ability to connect with Jews from many different backgrounds.

Sarah’s story is the kind that teens instantly recognize as real.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Woodridge, New York (and later Coral Springs, Florida), Sarah’s family began becoming more religious because her father decided they should — even though nobody really knew what that was supposed to look like yet. Sarah was moved from public school into religious school during her middle school years, and it wasn’t smooth. She rebelled hard. When she entered ninth grade in Kfar Chabad, Israel, she considers it the most rebellious year she could possibly have had — fighting the whole thing, resisting anything that felt forced.

But slowly, she found her place. And what began as resistance became something she owned.

Together, Yosef and Sarah built CJ Studios from the ground up — a wedding photography studio that grew into a respected, high-level operation serving clients across many states. (Sarah runs much of the day-to-day today, while Yosef has stepped back from regular photography work as his focus shifted more heavily toward community and nonprofit initiatives.) 

Yosef also spent years as a sixth-grade classroom teacher in Brooklyn, and that experience shows in how he relates to teens: clear, patient, and direct — without judgment or fluff. He’s also the founder/director of DollarDaily.org, a daily-giving platform created to support Chabad shluchim around the world.  Alongside that, he leads IllumiNations, a weekly publication and broader storytelling project spotlighting shluchim and Jewish resilience, which grew into a widely shared newsletter and later a major book project. 

But the most important part isn’t the list of projects.

It’s what those projects say about who they are.

Yosef and Sarah know what it feels like to come in with questions, with a complicated past, with a “not sure where I belong” feeling. They know what it’s like to push back, to rebuild, and to choose growth step by step. That’s why people don’t experience them as “inspiring speakers.”

They experience them as safe mentors — people who can hold space for a teenager exactly as they are, and still believe in where they’re going.