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Batter Up!!!
AS OF 5/11 AT 2:00 P.M. (EST) CURRENT BID IS $475!
To mark the start of America's favorite pastime, USY60 is auctioning an official MLB Players Choice Signature Series baseball jersey. But my friends, this no ordinary jersey. Boston Red Sox (Yankee fans, hold thy tongues) player Kevin Youkilis designed and signed this one-of-a-kind jersey.
Youkilis grew up in a Conservative synagogue in Cincinnati, Ohio and over the past three years, has been ranked by Sporting News as one of the top 50 greatest current baseball players.
The auction will be live from Thursday, May 10th at 9:00 a.m. EST until Thursday, May 24th at 5:00 p.m. EST. The opening bid is $180 with minimum bidding increments of $20. To participate in the auction, please email your bid to usy60@uscj.org. For bidding updates, visit the USY60 website (www.usy60.org), which will be updated as bids are placed. Proceeds from the auction will be allocated to the Jules Gutin Leadership Fund. The winner will be announced on Friday, May 25th at 10:00 a.m.
For questions or comments, please reach us at usy60@uscj.org. Don't wait for the ninth inning, start your bidding right away!!
A Celebration of Our Youth:
CHUSY Region USY & Kadima, honoring Lisa Alter Krule
We often talk about how USY changes people, affects lives, connects people to the Jewish community when they are young and keeps them connected throughout their lives. Because that is true, there are many people who model it. One of the models – an extraordinary, exemplary model – is our own Lisa Alter Krule.
Lisa was honored on March 11 by USY’s CHUSY region and by United Synagogue’s Central district. Nothing could have been more perfect. Lisa grew up there, beginning her connection to Conservative Judaism at Northwest Suburban Jewish Congregation in Morton Grove, Illinois. As soon as she was old enough, she joined Kadima there. The story she tells is one that we hear often. She didn’t much want to go, but her parents convinced her to try it. No, let’s be more realistic – they bribed her. They were right – she jokes that later they considered bribing her to stop, because USY became her life. Lisa was president of her Kadima chapter – and then she aged out of it and into B’nai Chai USY. She was president of that too, and then she joined the regional board.
Lisa had been so touched and shaped by USY that it informed the rest of her professional life. She joined the staff at her synagogue and the local JCC, and she was promoted to become director of its children’s and family services department. She taught Hebrew school, she developed and ran programs, and she became youth director of her old USY chapter. And then, for 13 wonderful years, she was CHUSY’s regional youth director, using her warmth, love, deeply felt connection to Jewish life and to teenagers to create the conditions that allowed other USYers to flourish. It is a testament to her skill and care and love that she did not impose a pattern on the teenagers, but allowed each one to grow into the person he or she was meant to be.
Since then, Lisa has gone on to become United Synagogue’s Midwest regional director and its first director of young adult outreach, a position that she is defining. She also supervises half of USY’s regional youth directors. Her job is huge.
More than 450 people came to the concert that honored Lisa. It also is USY’s 60th anniversary – the youth group’s oldest alumni are now longer youths. In fact, their children aren’t youths anymore either, and even their grandchildren are pushing that barrier. It is an enormous tribute to USY’s strength that it genuinely does link generations, taking the clichés of Jewish life – l’dor v’dor, from strength to strength – and showing that under schmaltz lies absolute truth.
The evening began with a dinner that honored USY chapter officers. The concert’s opening act was the Josh Experience, a duo formed by CHUSY alumni Josh Warshawsky and Josh Sacks; they were followed by the a capella group Six13. The energy, excitement, nostalgia, hope, joy, and love generated by USYers, former USYers, and their families, friends, and supporters, with Lisa at the glowing center, were a tribute to her, to CHUSY, and to USY.
We are all so very proud of Lisa, and of her life’s work for USY and for all the rest of us.
To view photos from the evening, please check our "Media & Memories" section.
USY'S Founders - Twin Cities Celebration
Date: FALL 2012
Location: Beth El Synagogue
5224 West 26th Street
St. Louis Park, Minnesota 55416
Contact: Wendy Glick at 646-519-9260
PLEASE NOTE, THE EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED UNTIL FALL 2012. UPDATED INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
This fund honors four Conservative synagogues in Minnesota’s Twin Cities – USY’s founding congregations, Adath Jeshurun Congregation, Beth El Synagogue, B’nai Emet Synagogue, and Temple of Aaron – and their rabbis. Rabbi Kassel Abelson, Rabbi Emeritus of Beth El and past International President of the Rabbinical Assembly, will represent his colleagues in launching this initiative. We will also celebrate the future by recognizing Beth Jacob Congregation of Mendota Heights, and their Rabbi Morris Allen. By honoring our past and celebrating our future, this fund will give teens the opportunity to participate in USY’s transformative programs, including regional conventions, summer programs such as USY on Wheels and Israel Pilgrimage, and Nativ, a yearlong program in Israel for recent high school graduates.
To purchase tickets, place a journal ad or make a donation, click here.
An Official USY60 Salute!
What a thrill to listen to General Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, speak during the closing ceremony at IC! As a proud USY alumnus, he addressed the importance of public service, leadership, inspiring others and derech eretz (Jewish ethics). General Schwartz said USY played a valuable & strong role during his own formative years. One of my favorite sound bites: “It is easier to motivate people to accomplish a mission when others are treated with dignity & respect.” He added that leaders accomplish more than a mission - - they also take care of their people. His personal message to USYers was to continue their studies, develop leadership skills, put lessons learned into practice. The roar & excitement of the crowd as they jumped to their feet was fantastic! We salute you!
To read General Schwartz’s full remarks click here.
Stay tuned for our 2012 events coming up across North America!
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Join our efforts and help us reach our goal so we can continue to
change the future of Conservative Judaism...one soul at a time.
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Hot off the press! To read the May issue of the USY60 e-newsletter click here.
USY Great Memory Hunt! We at USY60 headquarters are on the hunt for photos & videos depicting USYers & alumni over the years caught in the act of participating in USY. Send photos or videos to usy60@uscj.org.
Calling all USY lovebirds! Did you marry or plan to marry a USY sweetheart? How did you meet? What role did USY play in your romance? Are your children involved in USY today? In honor of USY's 60th anniversary, let's find out how many marriages and new USYers were produced. Please send stories to usy60@uscj.org.
How has USY changed your life? Was it the friendships made? Places visited on Wheels? Greater appreciation for Judaism? Where did your USY journey lead you? To post your story on the Facebook group click here.
Read all news stories
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