Margate Bedrocks USY

Carly Dworkin- Senior

USY is like the great cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants: it’s porous, absorbent, and yellow. Ok, I know what you’re thinking. Yellow? How is it yellow? Well when you think of the color yellow, what is one thing that comes to mind? The Sun. The Sun: Earth’s main source of energy and light. Well, for all of the USYers internationally, the USY is their source of energy, and it absorbs you as soon as you’re exposed to it.

Now just as there are several lessons to be learned from Spongebob Squarepants… maybe… there are even more things that USY teaches you. Sure, it acts as a catalyst to the friend-making process of high school and it brings you closer to Judaism, but it also shapes you as a person. I know it certainly has done that for me.  USY has taught me three important things. Well, actually it’s taught me more, but I’m going to focus on three. The first is responsibility. It takes a lot to have a successful chapter, board, region, and just a successful organization as a whole. Ultimately though, it is up to each individual USYer to help their chapter. The whole is only as great as the sum of its parts, and for me, I gain a lot of satisfaction knowing that I am a part of such an amazing chapter, board, region and organization. I have learned from my successes in my involvement, and from my failures, both making me stronger as an individual, which makes me an even dedicated part of the organization. When you are a part of something that you care enough about, you take both pride and responsibility in it.

The second thing is so simple a politically correct caveperson could do it. Goof off. Have fun. The purpose of USY is to have fun. Sure, we have to plan programs, learn Torah portions, and deal with other responsibilities, but in the end, the ultimate goal is to have fun. There are plenty of sources of stress in the life of a teenager with school, college, scholarships, sports, and so on and so forth. USY is the time to forget all of that and have some true enjoyable time.

Probably the most important thing that USY has taught me is to just try. Try new things. Try to meet new people. That’s what USY is all about. So you don’t know that group of kids over there? Try talking to them. So you don’t know how to lead services? Try to learn them. There is no harm in trying, and besides, what do you have to lose?

That last lesson is one that I hold of utmost importance. I have tried so many different things in USY: chapter board, chair positions, and I even spent my summer with USY on Poland Israel Pilgrimage. Participating in these programs and serving on these boards has taught me that the first step is the most important: the initiative. You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t put one foot out in front of the other and try something. The way it has been with me is that the majority of the time, there will be something to gain, and really nothing to lose.

So going back to my good friend Spongebob, if you need to ever find me, I’ll probably be in our pineapple under the sea, better known as our youth center, absorbed in the world that is USY.

Marisa Gottesman- Senior
My name is Marisa Gottesman and I am not only a proud second semester senior, but the Executive Vice President of the Margate Bedrocks. I am here to not only talk about what USY and this chapter has done for me personally, but to talk to you about the importance of being a part of a Jewish youth group, or the importance of enrolling your child in this youth group. While taking you through my journey, I will provide my personal insight on the opportunities and programs available for all ages.  
 
Let's play Jewish Geography- this Temple is a part of the Conservative movement, under the Conservative movement is the youth movement of USY- United Synagogue Youth. USY is an international organization broken down by regions, subregions, and chapters. We are the Margate Bedrocks chapter, a part of the South Florida sub-region of Arvot, and a part of the region of Hanegev. While all of this seems extremely detailed, the average USYer is capable of naming all the chapters in the sub region, all seven states of the region, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North and 
South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and the names of all seventeen regions, but don't worry, I won't bore you with all of those.  

As you can see, I am an extremely involved member and have been around the system a while. There is never a time too soon or too late to become involved. My story starts at birth really. I was named on this bima by Rabbi Plotkin, I attended preschool at the Early Childhood Center, enrolled in Hebrew school for the primary years, and started Chalutzim in third grade. Immediately, I was hooked. My parents were lucky, they never had to force me to go to Hebrew school or youth group. I have always had a strong ingratiated passion for learning and expanding my knowledge. Back then we did a lot of traveling trips from the Jungle Queen tour to the zoo. Nowadays, Chalutzim has developed a Sunday Fun-day program playing tons of ga-ga, Wii, and interactive games. For kids it is a way to release a lot of energy after sitting in Hebrew school, and it teaches them to associate fun and friends as well as learning with being Jewish. The transformation from the definition of being Jewish meaning waking up early to learn bible stories to a social environment takes place from being involved in a youth group.  
 
 Upon entering middle school, I started Kadima. Middle school is the toughest years for kids to endure socially. On top of school, hormones are flowing, kids are developing their individuality and place as a stereotype such as prep, jock, goth, punk, etc., and since we are Jewish there is the milestone of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah. I attended Margate Middle School,not the easiest place for a Jewish girl to adapt or make friends compared to Westglades or Sawgrass Springs. Kadima became a place where I could hang out with kids like me. The youth center became my safe haven. Being a part of the Bedrocks was and still is my home away from home. Whenever I had a rough day or just wanted to get out of the house I had Kadima to look forward to. The summer going into seventh grade we got a new youth director, Zoe I was one of the first kids to meet her because after landing from Canada we were aboard a bus heading to Camp Ramah for a USY leadership program called LTI. Zoe and I immediately bonded and started a friendship that has only grown stronger through the years. After a week of intense leadership training and fun I walked away with Jewish friends all over the region and new ideas for my chapter. After a year I realized that being just a member wasn’t enough. I decided to run for chapter board. I served as the Programming Vice President. In between I met the kids I babysit for here at Temple Beth Am. I was their LIT at Kamp Ketonim, and ever since then I have been a part of their family. My eighth grade year, Kadima was the strongest it has ever been. We had an all girl board filled with determination and the goal of success. USY also developed a new idea my eighth grade year called Gesher convention. In Hebrew, Gesher means bridge. This convention bridged eighth graders into the world of USY through leadership and outreach of the region. It was by-far the best convention I ever attended, and got me so pumped for USY. Today, our all girl legacy has morphed into a Kadima chapter of boys who love to get down and dirty playing ga ga and basketball all the time. Kadima opens a window for middle schoolers, for the first time they are able to hold leadership positions, experience the accomplishments of teamwork, and socially outreach to other Jewish teens. When kids get involved in middle school, they get addicted, and look forward to being a big, bad USYer.  
 
The day finally came for me four years ago I was nervous to start high school at Pompano Beach High School where I knew absolutely no one, but I knew I had my USY friends. I met my best friend in this chapter, and although she is two years older and two feet taller, we immediately clicked I was the first freshman to hold a board position other than ninth grade representative, I was Religion/Education VP. It was tough being one of the youngest with such a high position, but I managed to create creative services for high holidays, lead Shabbat discussions, and plan educational speakers. Sophomore year I was the Programming VP and our chapter shone with one of its best years ever. Last year, I was a junior, in my hardest year of school with AP classes, standardized tests every weekend, and babysiting, but I still found time to be the Membership/Kadima VP. I graced your presence on the bima giving out the dues, attended 
all Kadima programs, and made sure we had as many members as we could possibly have. The summer going into Senior year, the Temple awarded me the Ahavat Yisroel scholarship to go on USY’s Poland Israel Pilgrimage trip. It was a life-changing experience that I will be forever grateful for. No words can truly explain how I felt during that trip and after it, unless you caught my speech during the last youth takeover  
 
Finally, this year, senior year came. I am the Executive VP currently planning an incredible Kinnus, our own Chapter retreat, which everyone should come to I will be picking what college I will attend in under two weeks, and taking all the lessons I have learned with me. I now will have to decide how to continue my life Jewishly. Thanks to the institution of this Temple and its components of the ECC, Hebrew school, Hebrew High, Confirmation class, and especially USY I have the tools I need to continue a Jewish life. It is up to me and my generation to keep the traditions alive. So if you or your child is not excited by Hebrew school or involved in youth group, they should be. The Jewish religion is in our hands, my hands. If we aren’t taught now, it will be too late. I wouldn’t consider myself religious and I still have a lot to learn, but being Jewish is a huge part of who20I am today thanks to this synagogue. I hope you understand the importance of what I got out of Temple Beth Am and all I have put in. My blood, sweat, and tears, plenty of them, have gone into this chapter and this Temple. I have gained everything and lost nothing from being involved. I have gained friends, leadership skills, a Jewish education, and a sense of where I stand in the world. I would be crazy to tell you that I am not nervous to leave. This place is my comfort zone, not having something to plan for USY every thirty seconds will feel bizarre. Not seeing the same familiar faces or walking into Zoe’s office will be hard. Please get involved or stay involved, I just know how exciting it will feel when I visit and see the youth group flourishing even more. Allow me to leave a legacy to be upheld strongly. Thank you for letting me share what is my life story thus far with you and I hope that all of you have the opportunity to hold something as passionately as I hold USY.