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AAUSY

The AAUSY ‘Roo

April/May 2010
Edition
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Edited By: The 2009-2010 AAUSY Communications VP Drew Lieberman

The AAUSY ‘Roo

April/May 2010
Table of Contents:
Welcome to USY!...............................................................3
Upcoming Events……………………………………………..4
Advisory………………………………………………………..5
A Word from the President ………………………………….5
REC Rules ………………………………………..…………..6
Kadima Krazed…...............................................................6
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Israel Update………………………………………………….7
Reachin’ OUT…………………………………………………7
That’s So SATO………………………………………………8
Fresh Rep……………………………………………………..8
Pictures…………………..…………………………………....9
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Welcome to USY!
What is USY?
USY stands for United Synagogue Youth. It is the official youth branch of the
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. The Agudas Achim Synagogue chapter,
AAUSY, belongs to the Southwest USY Region known as SWUSY, which
encompasses all USY chapters in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana.

What do we do in AAUSY?

Our local Austin chapter of USY, AAUSY, usually has events twice a month.
Programming ranges anywhere from fun social events, like a Chinese New Year
Party or broomball, to religious events, like a Sukkot gathering or USY Shabbat
services, to community service projects and exciting Israel programs. In addition,
the SWUSY Region hosts 3 regional conventions throughout the school year that
bring together Jewish teenagers from all over the Southwestern United States
for several days of fun-filled activities, making new friends, and of course,
davening (that means praying) SWUSY-style!

How can I stay informed about AAUSY?

There are several ways to ensure that you are up-to-date on all things USY!
Firstly, make sure that both your personal e-mail address and one of your parents’
e-mail addresses are part of the listserve! Listserve is a helpful tool that we use
to send e-mails to everyone in AAUSY at once. To have your e-mail added to the
listserve, send an e-mail to Sarah Laves at sarah_laves@yahoo.com.

Is AAUSY on Facebook?

Absolutely! In fact, one of the very best ways to stay up-to-date on AAUSY
is to join both the AAUSY facebook group, and the SWUSY facebook group.
Joining both will ensure that you receive online invitations (and can RSVP online) to
all chapter and regional events. We also recently have added a facebook page so
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you can become a fan of AAUSY and hear about upcoming events. And AAUSY is on
twitter as well.

Who is in charge of AAUSY?

AAUSY is led by our two advisors, Samantha Tugentman and Maury Jacobs,
who are both former students at the University of Texas at Austin. AAUSY is also
run by a seven member chapter executive board, which is elected in May of each
year. The board positions are President, Religious Education and Culture VP, Israel
Affairs VP, Membership/Kadima VP, Social Action/Tikkun Olam VP, Communications
VP, and Outreach VP. There is also a chapter general board, which is chosen at the
beginning of each school year by the chapter executive board.

Upcoming Events

AAUSY will be hosting its election for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year
for its executive board May 16th 2010 at the Synagogue. There are 7 spots for
board, President,Mem/Kad,SATO,Israel,REC, Outreach, and by far the best of
them all Communications VP. If you are interested in running for any position or
have any questions please contact Maury, Sam or Sarah and if you are running
please return the necessary pages by May 10th.
On May 23rd AAUSY will be having its installation banquet for brunch. There
will be a slideshow, awards, food and installation of the new board (Duh!). It is
going to be a lot of fun, and was a very good event last year.
Finally AAUSY will be going to SWUSY Regional Convention ( The 50th
Regional Convention) in Austin Texas June 6th-9th. It will be at the Austin Airport
Hilton, but even so price should not be a problem as there are scholarships
available as well as a lot of fun to be had. There will be food, ruach, friends, and
elections for the new REB, for which several AAUSYites will be running for. It is
going to be a lot of fun, and are out at http://www.swusy.com/conventions.html.
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A word from the president
Shalom!
As the school year begins to
wind down, so does this AAUSY
year. We're down to chapter
elections, which will be on May
16th, and it should be an
interesting one! We have some
new people, and some oldies
coming back to run for chapter
elections, so the competition will
be fierce! Then, we'll formally
install the winners onto chapter
board on May 23rd, with a nice
ceremony and a slideshow of
pictures from throughout the
year. Our last thing for the year,
before we begin planning the
summer, will be Regional
Convention, right here in Austin!
All of SWUSY will come down to
visit, and we'll have a few days
full of fun! It'll be June 6-9 at the
Hilton hotel by the airport, and
because Regionals isn't over
Shabbat, it's usually a more calm
and relaxed convention. We had
the canceled campout weekend
here in Austin also, but that was
a pretty crazy trip, as we got to
explore downtown Austin during
South by Southwest. Crazy, and
fun! The late night doughnuts we
got afterwards were delicious, as
they were gourmet doughnuts
from a little stand downtown.
Rec Rules!!!!
Advisory
As another successful and exciting year in
AAUSY comes to a close, we are thrilled
about our last upcoming events for the
year.
First, we encourage all of our young leaders
to participate in elections for the 2010-
2011 year taking place May 16 at the
synagogue. Being part of the leadership in
AAUSY is a very rewarding and fun part of
our chapter. Without our dedicated and
creative leaders, we would not be able to
plan awesome events like mystery tours,
iron chef, and Shabbatons where we get to
walk around 6th street! Applications are
due May 10--ask us for more details!
Second, AAUSY is so lucky to have SWUSY's
50th Regional Convention in AUSTIN June 6-
9 this year!! This convention is where the
region elects a new regional board, have an
awesomely fancy Banquet, and stay in a
hotel for three nights! And...we get to
celebrate the 50th birthday of our
wonderful region! USY has provided Jewish
youth a social, educational, and passionate
outlet in the Southwest for 50 years, and
it's definitely something to celebrate. So
come party with us June 6-9! Applications
will be out shortly.
Enjoy the rest of your school year,
Sam and Maury
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Magnificent May

Hey everyone! I know everyone here is absolutely excited for finals, well not really,
but there is some good news. We are now entering the month of May; practically
everyone here including me thinks of this as the
finish line, the end of the year is so close. But there
are also all of the exciting Jewish traditions during
this month. “Shavu'ot, the Festival of Weeks, is
the second of the three major festivals with both
historical and agricultural significance (the other
two are Passover and Sukkot). Agriculturally,
it commemorates the time when the
first fruits were harvested and brought to the
Temple, and is known as Hag ha-Bikkurim (the
Festival of the First Fruits). Historically, it celebrates
the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and is also
known as Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the
Giving of Our Torah).” Shavu’ot takes place on
th th
Thursday the 20 or the 7 day of Sivan in the Jewish calendar. So while you are
beginning that maddening rush to your study groups and flipping through your
notes take a little time and celebrate, all work and no play…

Ari Dimston 2009-2010 AAUSY Religious Education Culture VP

Kadima Krazed
this month was an amazing month in Kadima! Kadimaccabiah took place on the weekend of April
16th! The Blue Team, Green Team, Yellow Team and Red Team all dueled for the Kadimaccabiah Cup.
Every Kadimanick competed in several events. Ranging from chugging a soda, to capture the flag! In
the end the Green team prevailed and won Kadimaccabiah 2010 with a total of 33 points. We saw a
spectacular one man show called Jordy Pordy, performed by Jordan Herskowitz, who's brother Richie
was a previous member of USY. The show gave many life lessons that everyone there was able to take
home with them. It was an amazing weekend and every kadimanick had a great time. I hope to see
every USYer at Regionals on June 6th-9th.

All my love,
Elijah Price your 2009-2010 AAUSY Membership/Kadima V.P.

AAUSY!
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Sadly this is the last time I will be writing you as your chapter IA VP. As
much as everyone hates clichés, the end is only the beginning. If you have been
following my monthly article this year then you probably have realized that I LOVE
Israel and I am also fulfilling my long dream of spending a year there by going on
Nativ next school year. What makes me look even more forward to next year, is the
fact that embarking on this journey, I wont be alone, but with some of my many
friends that I have met through my four years in USY, as well as my best friend,
Debra Goss, who has been my friend since before I can remember.

As my weeks until the middle of August dwindle I get random messages from
these friends saying “NATIV!!!!” or “WE’RE GOING TO BE IN ISRAEL NEXT YEAR!”
These random messages remind me of remind me that these are the kind of people
who will probably be with me for the rest of my life, just like my best friends I have
met in SWUSY.

I feel as if all of this hard work of being on chapter board, planning

conventions and programs has all be worth it. I hope that others will receive the
same satisfaction that I have and will take it upon themselves to give back by
volunteering or taking up other initiatives in the chapter, region and international
USY.

I wish all the best to AAUSY and my peers. Thanks for this year and the past!

B’ahava,

Aimée Rochelle Kanter

REACHIN’ OUT
The Top 5 Best Things about April!

5. Flowers: That's right, now that Spring is in full bloom, the flowers are popping up
all over the place and leaving a wonderfully aromatic smell with some beautiful
colors.

4. Eeyore's Birthday: A bit on the mature side, but Eeyore's Birthday is still an
amazing annual fundraiser for many local non-profit organizations.

3. April Fool's Day: The annual Prankster's Holiday, April Fool's Day always brings
me twinges of excitement to pull out my old joy-buzzers and Book of Pranks.

2. Passover: Sure, technically this year it started in March, but Passover always
seems to fluctuate around April. Probably the best thing about it? The charoset.

1. Tax Day: Yes, I know, it's rough getting all those forms filed out and returned by
April 15, but look at it this way: At least you won't have to do it again for a whole
another year.
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In All Sincerity
Louie Lutes, Outreach VP

That’s So SATO
Hey AAUSY!
This past week has been amazing for SATO's across the chapter, region and globe. Last
wednesday, April 21st, was the 40th Earth Day. Not only was it a salute to mother nature, but a
wake-up call to the recent changes that will both help and hurt our globe. Recycling, renewable
energy, many things have made progress in our society's awareness of the effects of what
humans have done and will continue to do in the future. Earth Day celebrates our thriving planet
and the incredible nature it holds. Not only was Earth Day a step to saving Earth, but Sunday the
25th was a day of helping save the local Austin community. This year, the 5th annual J-Serve,
once again, exceeded expectations for helping Austin in a positive way. Over a hundred and fifty
Jewish teens joined together at four separate sites to work on different projects. At the ECP
Village, teens created and built garden boxes and painted a mural for the early childhood
program at the Jewish preschool. J-servers removed cedar, did trail maintenance and garden
work at Candlelight Right, an outdoor retreat program for disabled children. At Art City Austin,
teens ran activities in the children's area and served artists in the hospitality tents. The final site,
the Texas School for the Deaf, provided community servers landscaped, gardened, and ate a
picnic lunch with the current students. This elaborate service project benefitted not only four
worthy causes, but benefitted the Jewish community as well. So, as always, I have another
challenge for you: In the next week or month, find some time- ten minutes, an hour, a day- to
give back. Help tutor a younger neighbor, clean up a park or just lend a hand. Do something to
show you care.
Love,
Maya
AAUSY Social Action/Tikkun Olam VP '09-'10
Fresh Rep
Hey guys! On April 25th we had J-SERVE! An awesome way for jewish teens hang out with friends while
helping others with community service! We all had a great time while making a huge difference. I
participated at the Texas School for the Deaf where there were also Home Depot volunteers who were
very kind also. There were things to do from disassembling robots to cleaning walls. And coming up in
June is REGIONALS! The greatest and funnest convention of the year! I hope to see you all there!
Moshe Krumholz

AAUSY Freshman Rep

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Pictures