Caldwell United Synagogue Youth earned the Chapter of the Year Award at the Conservative youth movement’s international convention in December, held in Anaheim, Calif. With Caldwell USY adviser Gary Berger are Lauren Rabner, left, who served as president during the winning year, and Rachel Lissak, current chapter president.
January 10, 2008
Caldwell’s United Synagogue Youth chapter won the international Chapter of the Year Award for 2006-07 at the Conservative youth movement’s international convention, held in December in Anaheim, Calif.The award singles out one of USY’s 400 chapters on the basis of the originality and variety of its programming, participation, publicity, and membership.
The Caldwell chapter, which meets at Congregation Agudath Israel of West Essex, boasts 80 members, up from 50 in previous years. Regular attendance at chapter and regional events hovers around 50 teens. The group raised over $3,000 for tzedaka last year.
Of New Jersey’s 40 chapters, only two others have won the title of best international chapter: Livingston USY in 1999-2000 and Toms River in 1989-90.
“We had a great year, and with such a large presence [at events], we became known as a great chapter,” said Gary Berger, Caldwell USY adviser. (Berger is also chair of guidance and student services at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston.)
“I was very excited, shocked, and speechless” at the news, said Lauren Rabner, 18, who served as president of the chapter during the winning year.
Rabner is currently in her first year at the University of Delaware; the award was accepted by chapter officers Sarah Roth and Ben Roth at the convention.
NJ regional USY director Michelle Rich called the award a “huge” honor. “I’m still dumbfounded,” she said last week. “We have great chapters and we’re a wonderful region, but we don’t get recognized for it too often.”
Berger and Rabner attributed the bestowal of the award to significant increases over previous years in membership, regular attendance at local and regional events, social action projects, the amount of money raised for tzedaka, and the number of programs related to Israel awareness and religious education. Among the activities that drew praise were the chapter’s programs on Israel awareness, divrei Torah, and drug and alcohol awareness and its weekly Shabbat teen shmooze.
But in addition to these substantial programming achievements, Rabner said, she and her friends also appreciate the social aspects of the youth movement.
“I also love the food Olympics,” she said. “We have different competitions to see who can stuff the most marshmallows in their mouth, or who can eat a lemon the fastest. They’re silly games with food,” she said.
Another favorite is the make-your-own-music-video event.
Such events helped lift the Caldwell chapter out of the doldrums. In 1999, the year Berger took the helm of the youth group, just 12 kids were involved.
Berger, Agudath Israel’s Elbaum youth adviser, is responsible for directing other educational and informal programs for the congregation’s teens. “I’d always be at the shul,” he said. “So the kids would see me every time I was there. If they got dragged to synagogue by their parents, they’d come and hang out with me. Then they’d say, ‘Hey this is pretty cool.’ From there, they’d come to USY.”
Rabner, the daughter of Howard and Hilary Rabner of West Caldwell, said she followed her friends into USY as soon as she hit ninth grade.
“It’s all they talked about,” she said. In addition, “I’ve known Gary Berger for a long time through the synagogue. USY is all he talked about. It wasn’t something I thought about. I just knew I’d join.”
In congratulating the chapter, Susan Werk, Agudath Israel’s educational director, said, “The USYers are a wonderful group of energetic, committed, and creative teens. They bring their love of Israel, Yiddishkeit, and dedication to tikun olam to our whole community. They are the best role models for all the youngsters as well as the adults in our community. Our buttons are bursting over this amazing achievement.”
Teens from the Caldwell chapter of United Synagogue Youth took part in a make-your-own-music-video night last year. The chapter won the Chapter of the Year Award at the Conservative youth movement’s international convention in December. Photos courtesy Gary Berger
Berger has made one significant change in the USY schedule. To accommodate the heavy commitments of today’s teens, he moved USY meetings from Sundays to Wednesday evenings, right after the congregation’s Chai/Prozdor high school program.
“Now it’s a once-a-week commitment to being Jewish teenagers,” he said.
By 2006-07, he said, “the chapter had become a social scene and a large presence in the region.”