International Chapter of the Year Award Application Region: EMTZA Chapter: Beth El Rishon USY (BERUSY) Please list the following: Total USY Membership as of June 30 th 2012: 44 Total USY Membership as of June 30 th 2013: 45 How many 6 th graders are in your synagogue religious school? 38 How many 6 th graders from your synagogue are in Jewish Day schools? 15 Total Tikun Olam monies raised between July 1 st 2011 and June 30 th 2012: $180 donated to USY Tikun Olam. An additional $150 was donated to local charities. Total Tikun Olam monies raised between July 1 st 2012 and June 30 th 2013: $300 donated directly to USY Tikun Olam. An additional $1500 was raised and donated to local charities, in addition to several donation drives. Per Capita Tikun Olam Total between July 1 st 2012 and June 30 th 2013: Approximately $4/member was donated to USY Tikun Olam and $7.50/member of overall monies was raised and donated. Per Capita Tikun Olam Total between July 1 st 2012 and June 30 th 2013: Approximately $40/member was raised for charitable donations, $5/member was donated directly to USY Tikun Olam, and the rest was given to local charities. Did your chapter allocate its Tikun Olam money? Yes, the $300 donated directly to USY Tikun Olam was allocated to Ilan in Jerusalem. Chapter Board 1. List and describe in 1 sentence all Executive Board positions. a. The President oversees the board and works closely with the Youth Director. b. The Programming VP helps program chairs plan their events and tie in educational themes. c. The Israel Affairs VP is responsible for planning at least one Israel-oriented program each month. d. The Religion/Education VP is responsible for planning at least one religion/education-oriented program each month.
e. The Social Action/Tikkun Olam VP is responsible for planning at least one social action program each month and overseeing the SATO General Board. f. The Membership VP is responsible for reaching out to new attendees at programs and growing the chapter through outreach. g. The Kadima VP is responsible for helping to plan all Kadima programs during the year and working with the Kadima Leadership Council. h. The Communications Secretary is responsible for making sure all event information is on Facebook and social media, creating board calling lists, and overseeing the Calling and Outreach General Board Committee. i. The 9th Grade Representatives are responsible for connecting with 9th graders about programs, helping the board create program that will appeal to this age group, and overseeing the 9th Grade General Board Committee. 2. Does your chapter have a General Board or any yearlong committees? Yes, we have a General Board that is made up of a Calling and Outreach Committee, a SA/TO Committee, and a Freshmen Committee 3. List an approximate number of board meetings held per year. There is an executive board meeting every other week, and every other one of these includes the general board. This works out to about 4. Is your Youth Director/Advisor full time or part time? She is full time. 5. Are there any other staff members in addition to your Youth Director/Advisor? No Chapter Activity and Programming List 15 chapter programs held in the past year with a 1-sentence description of each program. 1. Carb Attack Lounge Night. Right before Pesach, we got together to get in a last round of carbs packaged with an educational trivia game/ song session about the upcoming holiday. 2. Cool Down Lounge Night. Amidst the stress of Finals week in January, our chapter came together for a candlelit night of tea, yoga and meditation to de-stress. 3. The Great American Lounge Night In honor of Abraham Lincoln s birthday, BERUSY brought their pennies and spare change for SA/TO, made birthday cupcakes, and played dodgeball with the Confederacy vs. USA. 4. Iggy Azalea Lounge Night. By focusing on a rap singer, we discussed what qualities of celebrities we should try to emulate and which we should avoid. 5. Ladies Night Out: 1950s Night. The ladies in BERUSY watched Grease, made milkshakes, and had a meaningful discussion about how the media portrays women and how girls change their behavior/appearance for boys.
6. Ladies Night Out: British Edition. Female BERUSYers discussed respect from a female perspective (being respected by boys and respecting female friends) while drinking tea, eating finger sandwiches, and speaking in British accents. 7. Keep Calm and Carry On Lounge Night. Along with another Minnesota USY chapter, we did various minute-to-win-it style activities to see who could compete the best under pressure. 8. Male Time: The Domino Effect. Beth El USY men got together to bond and discuss the Domino Effect, or the theory that every choice we make and every action we make has an equal reaction and must be well thought out. 9. Male Time: Gender Bender Night. The males of the chapter engaged in a discussion about gender roles in society and why it is that boys are pressured into hiding their feelings, followed by a screening of The Notebook. 10. MLK Mitzvah Day. Along with another Minnesota USY chapter, we met on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to hear a soldier in the National Guard speak and fill care packages to send to Minnesotan troops in the National Guard. 11. People Serving People. Our Heschel chapter made cupcakes and played Thanksgiving themed games with young children experiencing homelessness around Thanksgiving time. 12. 2 nd Annual Primp My Lounge Night. BERUSYers brought their artistic side out as we filled the white walls of the youth lounge with original, colorful paintings representing each USYer in the chapter. 13. Night at the Sculpture Garden. For our first weekend program of the year, we bundled up for an unusually cold fall night and headed to Minneapolis s iconic Sculpture Garden to play a variety of night games and picnic in the park. 14. Speed Dating. For our opening lounge night, we got to know each other by speed dating in which we all had organized discussions with each other and played fun icebreaker games while live-tweeting the program all the while. 15. Tie, Thai, Tye Night. Everyone came wearing neckties, we ate kosher thai food, and made tie blankets to donate to a hospital. 1. List the average number of attendance at each chapter program. The average attendance for chapter programs was 25. 2. List approximate number of programs or events per month. There were approximately 6 programs per month. 3. List the number of Regional Conventions held per year and attendance from your chapter. There are 5 regional conventions held per year. Attendance at the 2-12-2013 conventions was as follows: LTI: 12 (70% increase in participation from previous year) Kinnus: 36 (60% increase in participation from previous year) Winter Shabbaton: 20 (tripled attendance from previous year)
Spring Kallah: 16 (tripled attendance from previous year) Kadima Kinnus: 25 (50% increase in attendance from previous year) In 200 words or less per topic, please describe your best: Israel Program: Yom Haatzmaut (David s Army Night) On Yom Ha atzmaut, BERUSY came together to celebrate Israel s independence. Our Israel Affairs Representative organized an IDF boot camp, in which USYers overcame physical obstacles that may or may not be similar to those Israeli soldiers participate in while they prepare for their service. We also immersed ourselves in Israeli culture. We made an effort to serve delicious Israeli food. In addition to serving pita and hummus we also served falafel, marking the first time some BERUSYers have ever eaten the Israeli delicacy. As the program drew to a close, our Israel Affairs Representative led us once again, this time in an Israel-themed trivia game. USYers had such a blast with the friendly competition, they hardly realized the game gave them an excellent opportunity to learn and discover new things about Israel. Overall, this program was a perfect combination of celebrating Israel s independence, learning about the countries history, army, and culture, and having fun on Israel s birthday. Rel/Ed Program: LNO: Mean Girls The goal of Ladies Night Out (LNO) is to provide a safe space for female BERUSYers to talk about difficult topics through a Jewish educational lens. At this LNO, we watched selected scenes from the movie Mean Girls and then discussed what Judaism teaches us about those themes. For example, after watching the scene where Cady, the main character, goes to the school lunch room for the first time and feels excluded, we discussed how Judaism stresses welcoming the stranger and what situations make doing so more difficult. We also talked about the negative effects of gossip, using the Jewish midrash that gossip is a three-pronged sword (it hurts the person who speaks it, the person who hears it, and the person who it is about) as an illustration. After watching the scene where teens are partying, we discussed the effects of peer pressure to fit in. BERUSYers shared personal examples of times they found it difficult to fit in because they were Jewish such as football games or dances on Shabbat. Overall, this program was highly successful in stimulating conversation about how Jewish teachings and principles can help inform us when facing difficult situations. Social Action Program: Cookie Cart As part of our effort to partake in Social Action projects in the Minneapolis area, we volunteered at a cookie shop called the Cookie Cart that employs teens from a lowincome neighborhood. The organization s mission is to provide at-risk teens with a safe place to spend the afternoon, job skills for the future, and self-confidence. We helped scoop dough, prepare trays for baking, and box cookies for sale. The cookies we prepared were sold by the Cookie Cart, which helps their company stay in business and provide
services to local teenagers. By working side by side with the teens in the Cookie Cart s program, we came to appreciate how similar we were regardless of family background. Tikun Olam Program: Mall Scavenger Hunt Minnesota plays host not only to America s largest indoor shopping mall, but also its first. Thus, it was fitting that we take our Christmas shopping for Tikun Olam to an indoor shopping mall. BERUSY went to Ridgedale mall for an evening filled with fun and mitzvot. The overall structure of the program was to find certain things within the mall and take pictures with them. It was a photo scavenger hunt of sorts. Built into this program was a creative Tikun Olam component. Each group of four or five was tasked with finding and purchasing an item to be donated to a program called Hag Sameach which donates holiday gifts to local families in need. Groups were encouraged to look for cold weather items, such as hats, gloves, and scarves since families need them in order to survive Minnesota s harsh winter. USYers were very energetic and creative, making the program both a blast and a great Tikun Olam initiative. Social Program: Midnight Madness In 2013, we were brainstorming ways to increase attendance at our board elections. Rather than doing it on a weeknight, we decided to have a program around town, an overnight in the youth lounge, and elections in the morning. Our program featured a visit to Minneapolis iconic Foshay Tower for a view of the metro area from high above the streets. We also visited a frozen yogurt bar at the University of Minnesota campus before returning to Beth El. At the synagogue we played games in the hallway before settling in to go to sleep. Our plan for increased attendance at elections proved successful; we had 45 USYers in attendance. The program was a great way to end the year.` Kadima Involvement with the USY Chapter 1. Do you have a Kadima Chapter? yes 2. Kadima Advisor? no 3. Kadima Board? yes 4. If yes, what positions? general council Describe in 200 words or less the relationship between your USY and Kadima Chapters.(If you do not have a Kadima Chapter, please write No Kadima Chapter ) It is no secret within USY that a strong Kadima chapter today makes for a strong USY chapter tomorrow. BERUSY holds this value close to heart as we do our best to ensure our Kadima chapter s success through a strong relationship with USYers. This relationship starts with our chapter s Kadima Representative who oversees the Kadima
Council. He or she takes the feedback from these Kadimanicks and writes successful Kadima programs. When implementing these programs, the Kadima Representative and other USYers come as staff to ensure they interact with the Kadimanicks. The guidance by USYers for Kadima programs ensures success on both ends, and gives Kadimanicks role models in USY. Additionally, toward the end of the year our Kadimanicks and USYers combine for joint programming in order to ensure freshman participation the next fall. This initiative has proven quite successful, as BERUSY s freshman participation is a large and important part of our chapter s success. BERUSY s interactions between its Kadima and USY chapters focuses on a close relationship and role modeling from the beginning of 7th grade, and picking up towards the end of 8th. These measures have been cause for great growth and success in the chapter. Communication Describe in 300 words or less your chapter s means of communications. (For example, USY Chapter Yellow Pages, Chapter Newsletters, Chapter Webpage, listserv, phone calls, etc.) In 2010, board members were required to make calls each week. Now what, make calls meant was not necessarily very clear. This is why in 2011, a small committee formed to improve the communication means of BERUSY. The Calling and Outreach Committee (COC) was an idea put forward by USYers who, at the time, held no position on board, but had a dream of BERUSY becoming a great and influential chapter and home for Jewish teens. These USYers worked to form a standard list of teens who would be systematically called to bring upcoming programs to their attention, and form a connection with USY. The Calling and Outreach Committee is now a part of the general board, and works under the leadership of the Communications Vice President. They are responsible for organizing and assigning executive and general board members to up to five calls a week. The Communications Vice President along with the COC are responsible for the majority of BERUSY s communication. Facebook events are made over a week in advance, statuses are posted, programs tweeted about, and calls made, consistently and systematically. BERUSY also mails out a monthly postcard newsletter called The Shmoozer, to the homes of Jewish teens, which highlights and details upcoming programs and events. Within our application, you may view a screen shot of the BERUSY homepage, two program fliers, and one of our monthly postcard newsletter.
Optional: Is there anything else we should know? (Please limit to one page, 12 point font, Times New Roman). BERUSY has a very strong foundation. It was the first USY chapter in existence (hence its name, Beth El Rishon USY, the first), and still today has an ever-present role in our involved and supportive community at Beth El Synagogue. The annual USY Play and Purim Carnival began attracting synagogue members young and old but was not, however, enough for the teens at our synagogue to find a home or a strong USY culture to be a part of. In 2009, Beth El hosted its first Youth Outreach Weekend (YOW), a free educational weekend for USYers. YOW was funded by a family of a deceased teenage boy who committed suicide. The family believes that if their son had had an environment or community where he was accepted and welcome, his life may have turned out differently. These are the sole purposes of YOW: to create a safe, inviting environment wherein Jewish teens can learn, have fun, and create friendships. YOW was a turning point for BERUSY; it has since attracted almost 50 teens each year. We still felt that a weekend-long convention was not enough to offer teens the USY experience we wanted them to have. We wanted to make USY a culture, so we reinstated weekly lounge nights. Rain or shine, at 7:15 on a Tuesday night, the youth lounge is buzzing with BERUSYers. Once we had begun a rhythm, we wanted to create more meaningful and educational programs, therefore we introduced gender-separated programming once a month. Our Ladies Nights Out and Male Time programs give us the chance to create forums in which USYers can truly open up and feel comfortable connecting with their peers. These programs have created a close-knit community between USYers as they share their thoughts and strengthen their Jewish identities. As our programming develops and improves, our membership continues to grow. Our membership has expanded from solely board members to a community of teens who feel at home with USY. Teens want to be involved; not because their family or peers have pushed them to, but because they themselves feel drawn to the community that USY provides. Not only has the number of active members risen, but the number of people looking for leadership roles have increased as well. In 2011, seven candidates ran for seven board positions. Since then, three positions have been added to our executive board and we have created an entirely new general board to allow as much chapter involvement as possible. In 2010, at our second YOW, we prayed on the shores of the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa, the same river that flows through our home city of Minneapolis. We were a chapter looking for a new start; a chapter rebuilding itself, with its heart set on creating a strong USY culture. Today, preparing for our excursion to New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi, we are reestablishing BERUSY as a successful chapter, ready to show our members, our synagogue, and our community what we ve become. Author Chris Rose issued a quote about the culture of Mardi Gras that pertains to our chapter when tweaked: [Beth El Rishon] is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once. We are proud to say that we founded a unique, eclectic culture here in Minneapolis that serves as a home for the teens of Beth El Synagogue.
Letters of Recommendation from the 2012-2013 Chapter Co-Presidents, Youth Director, and Rabbi: Dear International USY Executive Board, Thank you so much for taking the time to consider BERUSY for the annual chapter awards. We appreciate all of the hard work that you put into this process as well as throughout the year to make our organization so successful. We know that International USY is full of remarkable chapters, but we hope that, through the information provided and our other chapter materials, you will see why we believe that our chapter is truly exceptional. One of our largest strengths over the 2012-2013 year was our significant gains in program and convention attendance. As compared to the 2011-2012 year, we doubled our average attendance for weekly, Tuesday night, programs. Our attendance for LTI, Kinnus, and Kadima Kinnus all increased by over 50% and our Winter Shabbaton attendance approximately tripled. We believe this shows how passionately involved our chapter is. In addition to these large attendance increases, during this past year, BERUSY jump-started a new commitment to meaningful educational programs. Some of these new programming groups included a version of the Abraham Joshua Heschel Honor Society at the chapter level, where BERUSY members had the opportunity to discuss Israeli history and current events with Rabbi Avi Olitzky as well as the opportunity to hear luminaries such as CIA agent Tony Mendez and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak speak at Beth El Synagogue. Other educational groups within our chapter include Ladies Night Out and Male Time programs, where participants are split by gender for valuable discussion on relevant gender-related issues. A third BERUSY strength is the presence of truly innovative programs and events. Our chapter, during the 2012-2013 year, reinstated weekly, Tuesday night, Lounge Night, programs. Each of these programs had a unique theme, with some highlights including The Great American Lounge Night with American and birthday-themed activities in honor of President Lincoln s birthday as well as Primp My Lounge, where participants painted their own designs and pictures onto our Youth Lounge brick walls. All of these regular programs helped us to build a consistent, active, group of USYers within our larger chapter. Finally, our chapter continued our fifth annual Youth Outreach Weekend (YOW), a completely free retreat weekend for BERUSY members, paid for by a donor in our community. YOW, year after year, serves as a great way for us to introduce new participants to all that BERUSY has to offer, and in doing so, increasing our participation in other programming for the subsequent year. Over the years, YOW has had an extraordinary impact on our chapter, helping us to continue our recent pattern of positive growth as well as to cultivate a new batch of future chapter leaders.
So, there are many aspects of BERUSY that make it a special chapter, and thus worthy of its status as 2012-2013 Emtza Region Chapter of the Year. On an international scale, we know that we may not have the most members or donate the most money to tzedakah, but we hope you consider that USY success to not be measured statistically, but instead, in the impact that chapters have on their members. We hope that you can see the positive impacts BERUSY has on its members, creating a strong community for the years ahead. Again, thank you for your consideration during this chapter awards process. Sincerely, Caleb Hausman and Sophia Temkin BERUSY Co-Presidents, 2012-2013
Dear Voters, It is without hesitation that I recommend Beth El Rishon USY (BERUSY) for International Chapter of the Year. I write this letter while beginning my third year as BERUSY s Youth Director. When I started as Youth Director in 2011, BERUSY had fallen on hard times. There were vacant positions on board, lounge nights had ceased due to lack of interest, it was a struggle to get 10 USYers at a program, and we brought a delegation of only 20 to Kinnus. Since that time, BERUSY has had a resurgence, illustrating the impact that a small group of dedicated USYers can make. Although the Chapter was on hard times, the up and coming BERUSYers refused to accept a sub-par USY experience, and they have worked incredibly hard for success. Starting with elections for the 2012-13 board, it was clear that a new era for the Chapter was beginning. Rather than having vacant positions as in previous years, there was an abundance of interest in USY leadership roles, leading to the creation of general board committees to help with promotion and outreach during the year. Once elected, the 2012-13 BERUSY Board made a commitment to creating meaningful and significant programs throughout the year. The board set a standard for themselves: think big. Any expectations about what that standard meant were surpassed as the ingenuity of programs began to draw more and more USYers to the Chapter. Lounge nights - which had been cancelled due to lack of attendance - resumed every Tuesday night with an average attendance of 25. Regional convention attendance grew dramatically (70% increase at LTI, 60% increase at Kinnus, tripled Winter Shabbaton attendance). More importantly, the growth within BERUSY was about much more than numbers. Board members made it a priority to make education and Judaism a significant part of programming. They felt that USY is not only for hanging out with friends but it is also an opportunity to strengthen Jewish identity and community. With this goal in mind, BERUSY programs included monthly chesed projects, bi-monthly gender bonding programs with a Jewish educational theme, and the creation of a Heschel Honor Society group at the synagogue. The Heschel group met once a month to study together and also participated in gemilut chasidim together. BERUSY also became more visible within the wider community, hosting a MLK, Jr. Mitzvah Day to benefit troops in Afghanistan and and helping to initiate a Prom for Jewish teens that raised $1500 for local charities. BERUSY s programming commitment to education and strengthening Jewish identity ultimately led to BERUSY winnging EMTZA Region Best Educational Program, Best Social Action Program, Best Tikun Olam Fundraiser, Best Kadima Program, Best Ruach Program, and EMTZA Region Chapter of the Year.
I could not be more proud to have worked with the BERUSY Board and members over the 2012-13 year. The success of the Chapter - from participation to community impact to commitment to education - is impressive on its own. Considering how far the Chapter had to come to reach that level (and that they did so within the course of a year) is truly remarkable. I wholeheartedly endorse Beth El Rishon USY for International Chapter of the Year as an honor-worthy example of perseverance and commitment to Jewish learning and engagement. B Shalom, Mollie Feldman Youth Director
To whom it may concern: It is my esteemed pleasure to recommend Beth El Rishon USY, here at Beth El Synagogue, for International Chapter of the Year. No doubt, I say that with pride as a past Regional President, International Mem/Kad VP, Youth Director and Educator-and as someone who once sat on the committee to select the honored chapter. However, the purest pride comes as a rabbi watching the rebirth of this hallowed chapter. Beth El Rishon - where USY really began under the tutelage of Rabbi Kassel Abelson - fell into disrepair at some point in the early 2000s. Attendance and membership alike dwindled-we had reached an era when even the parents of our teenagers were unfamiliar with USY. Over the past five years, all of that has changed. Buttressed by the hiring of exceptional Youth Director Mollie Feldman, our chapter has risen to unparalleled new heights. Our chapter is known throughout the country foremost for its strengths in creative and meaningful programming. We are not BBYO and we are not Young Judaea. We have lounge nights with meaning and build connections between teens and each other, their synagogue, their Judaism, and their community. We offer identity building programs with opportunities like Ladies Night Out and Male Time. We have unmatched fully subsidized outreach shabbatonim (Youth Outreach Weekend - YOW), when 50 teens come together to learn about leadership, esteem and engagement. We have teens rededicated to Jewish activism and learning, with the rebranding and rebooting of the Abraham Joshua Heschel Honor Society on the micro-level. On one hand, on an economy of scale, there's no way we can compete with other regions as to overall quantitative membership and TO contributions. However, several years ago, if you looked across all of USY, only Emtza had a rise in membership numbers, every other region was down. And within Emtza, there was one chapter on the uptick. Only one - the first: Beth El Rishon. Our quality is finally influencing our quantity-but most important, it is changing lives on a daily basis. No matter the reason you decide, Beth El Rishon has finally restored its former glory. Recognition as International Chapter of the Year will continue to help BERUSY serve a greater impact on the macro-level-inspiring other teens, synagogues, regions and hopefully leaders, just the same.
Respectfully submitted, Rabbi Avi S. Olitzky Beth El Synagogue
Signature Page I hereby submit this chapter for consideration for the International Chapter of the Year Award. By signing this document, I agree that all information provided in this application is true to the best of my knowledge and understand that the application is subject to removal at the digression of the International Executive Board if false information is found. I testify that this document and its contents was compiled and completed only by the USYers of this chapter. Chapter President: Chapter Youth Director/Advisor: Synagogue Youth Chair: Regional Youth Director: Synagogue Rabbi: