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March 1, 2002/Adar 17, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 24
Making connectionsSocial action, bonding with friends guide USY
BETH OLSON
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 Members of Beth El Congregation's United Synagogue Youth group prepare dinner for local firefighters at the annual "Feed the Firemen" dinner. Pictured, from left, are Allison Goldberg, Alex Herman, Amy Kaufman and Nicole Durr. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Frankel |
USY - the youth group of the Conservative movement - has three Valley chapters sponsored by Beth El Congregation, Temple Beth Sholom and Har Zion Congregation. Each group is comprised of Kadima, for grades 4-6, Junior USY for grades 7-8, and Senior USY for grades 9-12. Due to the relatively smaller size of Beth Sholom's congregation, the junior and senior groups meet together.
Like most other Jewish youth groups, USY provides a variety of social, educational, religious and community service opportunities for its members. Beth El's weekly lounge night, held every Wednesday evening from 7-9 p.m., addresses these four aspects of the program,
| USY still shaping lives |
During two of the Wednesday lounges per month, the senior youth group members come in to "hang out," says Frankel. While some participants may create flyers for upcoming events, others may be doing homework or simply talking and watching television.
Once a month, the lounge has a themed program - the most recent was an Israel-awareness event and included a visit by Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix Shaliach Eitan Ben Ami.
The fourth Wednesday of each month, the group visits the Westside Food Bank.
"Depending on where they're at with the process of packing food for the shelters, sometimes we're on the assembly lines creating boxes for individual families. Sometimes we're creating pallets of food for shelters. Sometimes we're labeling boxes, moving boxes and getting things ready for upcoming shipments," explains Frankel.
Har Zion holds lounges each month for all three age groups - two per month for Junior and Senior USY and one for Kadima.
"It is just an opportunity for the kids to go and hang out in our youth lounge. The advisor is there," explains Richter, and they "have pizza, schmooze with each other and hang out with their friends."
Judy Missel, youth director at Beth Sholom, says her USY group prefers to stay active.
"Most of the USY groups seem to do OK with the kids coming in and hanging out for a couple of hours, doing homework and whatever, but our kids don't seem to like to do that," she explains.
Instead, activities are planned such as a recent Maccabiah Games that included activities including shaving balloons and relay races.
In addition to the lounge events, and at least one social event each month, there is also involvement in a variety of SATO - social action, tikkun olam (repair of the world) - projects.
Beth El's Junior USY group has Mitzvah Monday once a month, where they learn about a social service agency and then perform a mitzvah project. They most recently created goodie bags out of baked goods for Ronald McDonald House.
Many of Har Zion's Senior USY SATO projects this year have focused on working with Council for Jews with Special Needs, and Junior USY has worked with Kivel Campus of Care.
Of course, not unlike most youth groups, many participants cite regional conventions (kinnusim) as their favorite events. The Far West Region - including Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Hawaii - holds four kinnusim per year, attracting 250-400 kids each. One kinnus is specifically for Kadima, while the other three, for Junior and Senior USY members, are hosted by the congregations on a rotating basis.
Lauren Moskowitz, a member of Beth El's USY and regional convention chairperson, is in her final year of USY. She has been participating since fourth grade.
"It has formulated how my life has been for the last six years. Youth group is a priority in my life. It helps me maintain a Jewish life outside of high school - outside of my secular world," explains Moskowitz. "It's also nice because we learn about Jewish law and different Jewish viewpoints in a Conservative setting."
Moskowitz recently returned from the Senior Shabbaton in San Diego - an opportunity for the graduating seniors to get together and talk about their past and their future. Although this is her last year as a participant, Moskowitz doesn't see this as the end of her connection with USY.
"I want to come back next year and staff some of the events," she says. "I'm going to U of A (University of Arizona) next year and I want to help with (the Tucson) chapter."
Moskowitz graduated last December from Horizon High School, where there is a high Jewish population.
Deborah Missel, a member of Beth Sholom's Junior USY, does not have the same opportunity as Moskowitz to socialize with other Jewish kids at her school, Poston Junior High School in Mesa.
"I'm the only Jew at my school," she explains, but at USY "there are other (Jewish) people I can relate to."
Deborah's brother, Andrew, a junior at Mountain View High School in Mesa, also gains a sense of Jewish identity through USY.
"It's mostly a sense of community," he says. "We're such a minority in this part of town, Mesa especially. It's just knowing that there are other people out there and I have a closer friendship with these people - more so than my non-Jewish friends."
Judy Missel says this bond between Jewish teens is important.
"I think there is so much acceptance because they are a group within a minority. In USY there is an initial level of acceptance. ... You're part of the group from day one and there's an understanding and a comfort level with that," she says.
Directors of all three groups say that they are always welcome to new members - affiliated or not. Currently, Beth El and Har Zion have about 100 members apiece in USY, split nearly evenly between the three age groups. Beth Sholom has 27 members in its joint Junior and Senior USY program.
Contact the writer at beth_olson@jewishaz.com.
Local United Synagogue Youth chaptersBeth El CongregationJeffrey Frankel, 602-944-6534 Har Zion Congregation Fran Richter, 480-991-0720 Temple Beth Sholom Judy Missel, 480-827-8105 |