The Misinformed Antisemite

Hope everyone had lots of cheese cake! (If not I have some still in my fridge, it's chocolate)

So I don't actually have a topic in mind to write about today but I really did want to write something after not being able to because of Shavuot for two days. But as it does one I am bored(or feel like procrastinating) once again StumbleUpon comes to the rescue. I stumbled on an article about 2 minutes ago about antisemitism in San Francisco.

To read the article go here-http://newsbeyondnews.com/jew-hatred-envy/

I thought it was kinda of interesting but I am not going to write about circumcision(topic of article if you didn't read it but it is good so you should read it). Instead I think I will talk more about antisemitism. For those of you who do not know I spent the first nine years of my schooling at a Jewish day school, clearly sheltered against antisemitism.

At the begging of Freshman year I quickly found out I was in for a very different experience. Cara told me at the towards the start of school not to be too openly Jewish. I soon heard this from a few other people. I decided that I wasn't going to hide my religion from anyone though. I always wore(and still do wear) my necklace I got in Israel from Hodia, with a Hebrew verse written on it. I took the necessary days of school for all the holidays.

Within a week or two from the start of school a few kids started coming up to me and telling me that they are Jewish or half-Jewish. They all seemed excited to share their customs with me, but did so in a rather secretive manner. These types of people are sometimes described as "closet" Jewish, they usually are just afraid of other peoples reaction to their religion.

My first major incident with antisemitism happened when I got a formspring account(don't get one). At first it was fun me and my friends would write inside jokes and things to each other. But soon after I started the account the "questions" I was getting became mean, this is one of them-

By automatically believing what your parents told you was true even though it directly contradicts science (flood geology, radioactive dating, evolution etc etc) you are being a "wasp."

I got many things like this based on my religion. My reaction varied from post to post, some were worst then others. This one above I almost laughed at because whoever had written it is so misinformed. First off my parents don't tell me that science isn't right. I learned about evolution in school just like everyone else. And it really frustrates me when these people told me what I be levied in because it was NEVER true. Hands down the best part of this in all its stupidity was calling me a WASP. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. I mean REALLY? Are they seriously this stupid? First harass me for being Jewish that call me a WASP? And this was only one of many messages I received from stupid people trying to tell me what I believed in and the problems with it(what they thought I believed in. This what I was dealing with, I now realized why there were "closet" Jews at my school. 

I am going to do a follow up post on this tomorrow that will incorporate USY but I am to tired for now.

USY Handbook: Tips for a Chapter President

So after two years of being chapter president I sat down to write a letter to my successor, a bitter sweet moment. It got me thinking of my terms as chapter president. Even though I think I did a fairly good job considering I started with nothing. Knowing what I know now there are about a billion-gazillion things I wish I had done or would of done differently though. So I came up with a list of things I wish someone had told me two years ago.

1.       It’s ok to be harsh on your board members, you can’t always tell them it will be alright, so don’t baby them it will only hurt the chapter.

2.       It’s ok to give board members jobs that may not be exactly under their job description, delegation is key, as long as you don’t delegate things because you don’t want to do them.

3.       Don’t try to do everything, you are not superman and no one expects you to be, again delegate, you are only one person.

4.       Make sure you know all details of an event at least two weeks prior to the date that way you have enough time to patch up a hole in the plan if there is any.

5.       If you have a problem with someone not doing their work on time move deadlines up for that person by two weeks, that way you have time to do it without rushing.

6.       Schedule in at least two hours a week just for USY, I find it most useful to be at the synagogue on Sundays during Hebrew school and just work on USY.

7.       Checklists are amazing things, that way you can keep track of everything you need to do and what has already been done.

8.       ORGANIZATION is vital, have a system and stick to it.

There are many more but I think these are the top eight. If you have any to add please feel free to comment. Also comment if there is something you would like me to cover in a post. I hope everyone has a nice Shavuot.

Annie's Videos

So Annie just told me what her YouTube channel is so here are a few more videos of her singing.
Here is her audition video:

Here is a video of her from open mic nigh at Coal House Pizza which she was supposed to tell me about (and will tell me about if she does it again so I can be her groupie). Sorry there is so much back round noise:

This one is Annie singing a song named Mr. Shadow Man, she wrote and composed it her self, it really is amazing:

So thats it for now, I guess this is sort of groupie-ish, it will have to suffice for now anyway. Too bad I can't go to Israel to be her groupie there.

Yay New Board!!Yay BFF!!!

So I have to things I would like to cover in this post. First I would like to congratulate the new BENY USY board on their elections:

President-Dina
Rel/ed- Max
SA/TO- Sydney
Mem/kad- Emily (my sister is my chapter counterpart!!)
Com- Melissa
Good Luck on board I hope you all have a great year.

Second one of my best friends (we are actually 3rd generations friends too because we are just that cool)/ fellow USYer, Annie, is one of the 30 finalist in the Hallelujah- Global Jewish Singing Contest. So a huge congratulations to her on being amazing and all. She is going to get to go to Israel for 3 weeks as part of it, I am really excited for her as she had to miss our 8th grade trip.

Yesterday who ever was in NYC for the Salute to Israel Day Parade might have seen her singing on a float.

Annie on float singing One Day, by Matisyahu

I could not upload the video of her at the parade because Facebook does not let you save videos on to your computer, but on YouTube I found an old video that has her singing. This is from when we were in 6th grade she is sining a song from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Annie is the second girl who sings she is wearing a black and white striped top.

So if you go to the Hallelujah concert in Israel root for her!!!!!

The Last Night

Here I sit writing my last post as chapter president while listening to a mixture of Israeli music and 90s music. I can't believe this is it my last few hours left as chapter president not a lot left to do. Just double check the files for the next president. Write a letter to them. And then its over done. This "chapter" in my life is closing(like the pun?). Two years over. I feel like I have accomplished so much and yet nothing at all, it is a weird feeling. I have laid out a lot of ground work for the next president which is good, but I feel that I did not do enough in the present because I was so focused on preparing the chapter for the future. Only time will tell if I made the right decision I really hope I did.

So its time to let my chapter stand on it's own feet. I don't even know if that is a metaphor that applies here but I will make it because my chapter is my baby. So in the spirit of that I think this is an appropriate song for tomorrow.

Hebrew Lyrics

UF GOZAL 

Hagozalim sheli azvu et haken
parsu knafayim ve'afu
Va'ani tzipor zkena nisharti baken
mekave me'od shehakol yihe beseder
Tamid yadati sheyavo hayom
shebo tzarich lehipared
Aval achsahv ze ba li kacha pit'om
az ma hapele she'ani ktzat do'eg
Chorus:
Uf gozal chatoch et hashamyim
tus le'an sheba lecha
Rak al tishkach yesh nesher bashamyim
gur lecha
Achshav nisharnu levadenu baken
aval anachnu beyachad
Chabki oti chazak tagidi li ken
al tid'agi beyachad kef lehizdaken
Uf gozal….
Ani yode'a shekacha ze bateva
vegam ani azavti ken
Aval achshav ksheba harega az
machnik ktzat bagron
Uf gozal….

English Translation

FLY AWAY YOUNG CHICK

My chicks left the nest
spread their wings and flew away
I am an old bird left in the nest
I hope that all will be well
I always knew the day will come
to say good bye
But now when it is here
no wonder I am worried

Chorus:
Fly away chick cut the sky
Fly where ever you want to
Just don't forget there is an eagle in the sky
be aware

Now it is only us in the nest
but we are together
Hug me tight say yes
don't worry it is fun getting old together

Uf gozal….

I know it is the way of nature
I left a nest as well
But now when the time comes
I feel a lump in my throat

Uf gozal….

I just want to end by wishing good luck to all candidates in tomorrow's election.

USY Handbook: Chapter Election Process

So here is a post about the election process that goes on in my chapter. This does vary from chapter to chapter and region so it may be different from yours. I am tired so this is just the instructions I gave to each of my board members to help them conduct the elections for their board position. Note it is also missing a few steps sorry really want to go to sleep.

1.      Ask for nominations
2.      Once there is a nomination ask for someone to second it
3.      Repeat step 1-2 until no nominations are left
4.      Call candidates in alphabetical order for speeches (2 minutes for VP candidates 4 minutes for presidential candidates.
5.      If only one candidate go to step 6, if more skip to step 8
6.      Call for a vote be acclimation if no one opposes announce the winner and finish
7.      If someone opposes vote by a closed ballot where people vote either “in favor”, “opposed”, or “abstain” then see step 9
8.      Have a closed ballot where people write the names of the candidate they are voting for
9.      For a candidate to win they must possess 50% of all votes
10.  If a candidate wins announce if not move to step 11
11.  If only one candidate was running no one will assume office at given time, if more than one candidate was running then move to step 12
12.  Eliminate the person who received the least amount of votes and repeat steps 8-10(run-off election)

Bomb Threats and Such

I am really tired and had actually planned another very USY related post, but I will save that for tomorrow. I figured this would be fast and entertaining.


Robot games+ teteris in German class= awesome and entertaining

Trigonometry+lack of oxygen = nurse's office

Bomb threat=30 minutes in the hot out doors+ possible having to stay at school late to make up missed class time

Picture of people going back in after it was over, Picture from Wilton Villager 

So those are a few of the interesting things in my day.

Just to end on a more USY related note-

Save the date for Quad Regional Encampment, August 16th-21st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!