The Charlotte Jewish News -March 1999 - Page 11
Youth Visions
Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish
Ninth Grade CHS Retreat
By Sue Littauer, Director
On Janu^ 23 and 24, 1999,
fifty-four ninth grade students at
the Consolidated High School of
Jewish Studies gathered together
to explore the topic, “Funny, You
Don’t Look Jewish.” The Retreat,
which is co-sponsored by the
Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte and the Consolidated
High School, was a wonderful
learning experience for students
and teachers alike.
We started out in Gorelick Hall
with a Havdalah service, and
immediately afterwards had stu
dents make a poster and write a
paragraph about what the typical
Jew looks like. The posters were
marvelous as were the students
explanations of the stereotypes
they chose. Each group drew not
only a man but a woman - the
women looked like “bubbes,”
some Orthodox, some were young
girls with perfect make-up, nails,
clothes from Abercrombie and
Fitch, armed with credit cards, and
shopping bags from Bloomies.
The men were generally rabbinic
types from the Old Country.
After a short but rousing singa-
long led by Mary Jean Kushner, an
International Dinner followed
(with one food on the buffet from
each country we would be study
ing);
Rice Pudding from Cuba
Vegetable Barley Stew from
Ethiopia
Sopa (com soup bread) from
Argentina
Hummus and Pita Bread from
Yemen
Chai (spiced tea) from India
Egg rolls from China
Portuguese Salad from Portugal
The students really enjoyed the
beautiful buffet prepared by Cathy
Surratt.
The last segment for Saturday
night was for students to meet in
their groups to begin studying
Magical Mystery Bus Ride!
Liberty Temple Beth El Senior Youth Group
Students visiting China examine their “fortunes" as they munch cook
ies, while teacher Roz Cooper guides them in their exploration of the
Jews in CHina.
about the Jews in one of the above
named countries. Every group had
a video to watch, and each did a
variety of activities. As a point of
interest, when Arthur Kramer was
previewing his video “Havana
Nagila, The Jews of Cuba,” he
noticed Hardy Spatz as a young
man in the video. Hardy was
happy to join us on Saturday night
to speak to Arthur’s group about
the nineteen years he spent there.
On Sunday, students regrouped
at Temple Beth El and began
working on their countries to pre
pare for our Around the World
Tour. In Yemen, students in Guy
Pearlman’s group made kafias
(Arab headgear) for all occasions.
While sipping Chinese tea in Roz
Cooper’s country of China, stu
dents read fortunes stuffed into
cookies - the fortunes were actu
ally facts and questions about
Jewish life there. Susan Jacobs’
group wrote letters to the
Argentinean government to send
the remaining Nazi war criminals
residing there to Israel. Arthur
Kramer and David Lash had their
groups make game boards to teach
facts about their respective coun
tries of Cuba and Ethiopia. Marc
Titlebaum’s group learned about
Sephardic Jewry in Portugal and
Spain; and Nicki Fisher’s group
learned about Jewish life in India.
Elliot Kessler and Adam Freiberg put
finishing touches on a display poster
fpr the country of Yemen.
Each of the seven groups made
excellent display boards which
were used as educational tools for
the group as a whole.
In the afternoon segment, stu
dents were asked to establish a
Jewish Community on Mars in the
year 2014. What people, items,
mitzvot and slogans would they
use as a basis for their communi
ty? The answers were compiled in
the following list.
The people they would take:
A 65 year old rabbi, who is an
expert on Judaism
A 25 year old rabbinic student
(Continued on page 13)
The Difference Between Ordinary and
Extraordinary is That Little Extra
By Dana Gottheim
Throughout January and
February, Chai Chaverim has put
forth that little extra that sets them
apart, and they will continue to do
so into March and the remainder
of the year. Chai Chaverim excels
not only because of the quantity of
its members (70 girls!), but
because of the quality. Each and
every girl has something diverse
and wonderful to offer to the chap
ter. Chai Chaverim undoubtedly
benefits from the attributes of all
girls, whether freshmen or seniors.
In January, Chai Chaverim par
ticipated in a successful summer
programs program to encourage
all members to take up the amaz
ing opportunity of a BBYO sum
mer attendance of past programs.
They shared their experiences
with BBYO members and their
parents. Chai Chaverim was espe
cially successful in conducting
their annual BBG Business
Meeting, for all girls to better
understand BBG rituals and pix>-
cedures, and to elect a 1999 Beau
from Mickey Barak Abcrman. The
lucky man was Andrew Coen, a
junior from MBA AZA. We are
very excited ^x)ut his el*ction!
BBG also participated in volun-
frcrinf at Room in the hm and
The 1999-2000 Sweetheart A Beau
Dana Gottheim and Andrew Coen
continued their col
lection of pennies for
social action to bene
fit the community.
February brought a
cornucopia of pro
gramming and fun.
There was night of
swing dancing to f>rc-
pare for the Swingin’
Sweetheart Beau
1999, coordinated by
Rebecca Frucht and
Mitchell (jartner. Evayone had a
wonderful time learning all the
right moves to show off on the
dance floor the following
^ahinJay SWB 1909 was a rAging
success with great attendance,
beautiful decorations, the debut of
a professional photographer, and
plenty of dancing. The rest of
February brought the chance for
programming by chapter chair
women, from sisterhood bonding
to education on our minds, bodies,
and attitudes. The board held a
meeting to plan the rest of the pro
gramming year, and the entire
chapter had a great showing at
Judaism Institute held in
Reidsville, NC. This event was
coordinated by Alana Brock of
■j4 ^
Lauren Rattch, Sarah Passe, and Becca Frucht are
edl smiles during a presentation by Camp Shalom.
Wilmington, Ben Leshin of
Winston-Salem, Allison Goodman
of Virginia Beach, and Matt
Hurwitz of Richmond.
{Ccmtinmd on page 15)
It was an event full of mystery...
no one knew where they were
going! And the advisors were not
about to tell anyone. Everyone
was excited but at the same time
apprehensive about what was
going to happen. The journey was
n’t that bad as we arrived at the
Charlotte Coliseum. TTie Charlotte
Hornets weren’t playing! The con
cert which we said we were going
to was not on! But were we really
going to a concert? (The plot
thickened.) The only concert that
was on at the Coliseum was the
Little Mermaid and unfortunately
it would not have been very excit
ing or even magical for the group
of 8-12 graders who had waited so
long for this mystery tour to hap-
pen.
We were once again on the road,
this time to Charlotte Douglas
Airport where the adventure
began. The kids split into three
groups and they were handed a set
of clues and a Polaroid camera.
They were now competing against
each other in the most creative and
unusual scavenger hunt possible.
Creativity was certainly earned by
all teams. Who would ever think
that when asked to get a photo
graph of a pilot they would sit in
the cockpit right next to the pilot?
How did they get in the plane? Or
how did they manage to get into
the VIP Lounge of US Airways?
They had the photos to prove it!
And we had no complaints.
Everyone was certainly convinc
ing. We returned to the Temple for
dinner and a count up of points to
see which team won. I think it was
the team who managed to get 32
boarding passes that won!
Everyone had a great time.
NFTY-Mar events coming up:
Thevent, March 12-14 in
Rockville, Maryland; A Color War
of the regions: Northern, Central
and the South!
Mitzvah Corps, April 2-4 in
Havre de Grace, Maryland;
Through magic and working
together come and see what can
magically appear with a little hard
work.
Spring Kallah, April 15-18 in
Washington D.C. Elections, party
and more! NFTY-MAR welcomes
you.
Our trip to NFTY Convention
1999, Los Angeles, California will
be told in the next issue of The
Charlotte Jewish News.
Mickey Barak Aberman
AZA
By Jordan Klemons, MBA
Sopher
For several months,
MBA AZA and the girls
have been working very
hard on planning a great
Sweetheart Beau. This
dance brings in people
from all over the state, and
even Virginia, and also
served as a large fund raiser for us.
It’s a dance and a great time. We
even had a co-ed program to learn
how to swing dance, swing being
the theme of the dance, about a
week before the dance. Sweetheart
Beau was a great success and a lot
of fun for everyone who went.
Also, we had a Super Bowl
party in January. First we played
our own football game, and then
we went to the house of Stuart
Miller where we ordered pizza and
watched the Super Bowl. When
that Sweetheart Beau was over, we
headed up to Judaism Institute and
concentrated on programming on
our Jewish heritage. This conven-
MFTS take a break from their swing dancing
lesson for a quick hug.
tion is greatly-looked forward to
because its only biannual, where
as most are annual. O
Emily Rotberg and Jacob Pinion show
everyone how swing dancing is done.
BE A BBVO BACKER!
Support Chaiiotte*s BBVO
Scholarship Fund
by making a donation in honor of:
^ your favorite teen.
^ in memory of a loved one.
^ and any other SPECIAL occasion!!
(Minimum donatkxi is $5.00 and an acknowtedgement card wil be sent)
^ Please send donations to:
BBYO • Ellen Goldstein
5007 Providence Rd., Chartotte, NC 28210
Vn—til ^ m ^
I ivUlIl i/l^gOBUlQO