My wife, Rosalie, and I went on an eight day B'nai B'rith International mission to Cuba in early December. It was an amazing and enlightening trip to say the least. Our primary goal was to meet with the tiny Cuban-Jewish community and to provide them with medicine, personal clothing, comfort items, Chanukah and other religious items. The group brought 1,100 pounds of goods with us.

Cuba has a population of about 11 million. There are only an estimated 1,500 Jews left in Cuba, a far cry from the 15,000 in 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power. There are five synagogues on the island: three in Havana, one in Santiago and one in Guantanamo. Throughout our week in Cuba, we visited all five and met with their leaders and members.

From what we could see, there seems to be minimal anti-Semitism in Cuba and there is a memorial to the Holocaust in the center of Havana.  
    
I encourage you to consider joining a mission and see Cuba for yourself.

Bob Kaufman

Earlier this year I helped staff a community wide day of service for Jewish teens.  Hundreds of teens came together with mentors from all different Jewish organizations to volunteer their time in our city.  When I arrived at the event I introduced myself to the teen leader who was going to the same project site as me.  I said to her “hello my name is Rachel and I'm with BBYO, whats your name and what grade are you in?”  She went on to reply, “my name is Sarah and I'm a Senior, what grade are you in?”

It is moments like these (that happen from time to time) that bring me back to the fact that not too long ago I too was a teenage girl.  And much like teens today I had a lot on my mind.  I was amazing, or at least I felt like I was supposed to be “great”…I was constantly thinking about being skinny, skinny, skinny, but felt fat…I had lots of “friends” but often felt alone and misunderstood…and I wanted more time to just talk and hang out…I was totally over-scheduled and in a hurry.

I was lucky enough to find a place where I could let this all go…that for me was youth group.  Having an environment where I felt safe and needed allowed me to be who I wanted to be, not what others in school labeled me as, and grow into a confident individual.  This not so distant feeling of being part of a group of people who cared about me and what I had to offer as a young adult drew me to becoming a BBYO advisor.

For the past five years I have spent numerous weekends at the David Bittker center staffing chapter retreats and perfecting my ability to tune out 24/7 blaring loud music.  I have attended more chapter functions than one can come up with including movie nights, ice skating events, sisterhood shabbats, and days of never ending chapter elections.  I have been to cedar point, slept in the cabins at Camp Tamarack, and gone to Fleischman to volunteer.  My girls all know I am the most active member in our chapter…someone has to staff these functions!  But the rest is really up to them and their desire to have these experiences with other Jewish teens.

I know that for most of the teens, everywhere else in their lives they are being told what to do and when to do it, BBYO is a chance for them to take risks and become decision makers, while being valued for what they offer.  Feeling valued is a crucial part of development; teens need to believe that they matter to adults.  I know, it’s the simple stuff that counts: eye contact, being asked for their opinions, being invited to contribute, being noticed, and receiving praise – even being reprimanded, when it’s done with respect. It is amazing to be a part of the process of empowering a teen to take charge and plan a function, while they know I am there to help them and support them along the way. 

I decided to become an advisor because I wanted to give back to my community, giving teens the environment outside of school that allowed me to become a leader.  And now, years later, it is the community I have developed in BBYO that has kept me in Michigan.  When I was seriously considering moving to a warmer climate, so much so that I went to visit and see what it was like before I moved, I reconsidered because of a gut feeling that I didn’t want to leave my girls.

Advising is not about the functions I attend and supervise, it is about the relationships I am building and developing every time I interact with my teens.  These sustained relationships are what have turned volunteering as an advisor into something that I just do because it is a part of me.  When I find myself attending a Shiva for the grandfather of a sophomore in my chapter and get to see her sister who was once also a part of my chapter and now in college, that is what makes it so meaningful and real to me.  During their most recent break from school I had lunch with my very first chapter president, who is now a senior in college, yet still finds the time to stay in touch.

From my own experiences as a teen I know that nothing has more impact on the life of a teen than positive relationships.  BBYO has successfully created an environment where teens can feel heard and have the power to affect change and make a difference in their world.  Volunteering my time with this organization has helped me realize the strength of our Jewish community.  The fact that one in four Jewish teens in the area is a part of BBYO, and that this is the only growing Jewish teen organization, means we are doing something right. 

I have been attending the B’nai B’rith GATA dinner with my dad since I was 10 years old, the age I was old enough to sit through a bunch of speeches before I could eat, and have over the years watched him stand up here before you.  It is the example my parents have set for me, showing me the importance of giving back to our Jewish community, that I now find myself setting for teens today.  Each one of us has the ability to offer some sort of support to teens, I do it through BBYO, and we all have the capacity to raise happier, healthier and more successful Jewish youth who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

From the acceptance speech Harold Shulman gave when he received the B’nai B’rith Banking and Finance Unit’s Distinguished Achievement Award on October 24, 2012, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York.

Let me take a few moments to talk about B’nai B’rith.  As you all know by now, B’nai B’rith has obviously played a major role in my life and as some of you know on various occasions I have been asked why I chose B’nai B’rith and though there are many answers to that question I thought I could sum it up for you tonight by paraphrasing some of the words of Edmund Fleg, a French Jew, who left Judaism and then returned in 1927 when he learned of the coming birth of his grandchild.  He wrote an essay to that grandson entitled “I Am a Jew Because.”  I believe that if I paraphrase those words to read “I am a Ben B'rith Because” you will understand what motivates me and what B’nai B’rith is all about.  So let me begin.

• I am a Ben B’rith because B’nai B’rith demands no abdication of the mind.
• I am a Ben B’rith because whenever there are tears and suffering the Ben B’rith weeps.
• I am a Ben B’rith because whenever the cry of despair is heard the Ben B’rith hopes.
• I am a Ben B’rith because for B’nai B’rith the world is not finished, human beings will complete it.
• I am a Ben B’rith because for B’nai B’rith humanity is not finished; we are still creating humanity.
• I am a Ben B’rith because B’nai B’rith places human dignity above all things, even religion itself.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is because of those guiding principles that through B’nai B’rith, I have helped feed the indigent on Passover and Chanukah, I have helped distribute medicines and provide housing to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and I have helped our senior citizens live a more secure and productive life through our senior housing program.

I have seen my eldest grandson learn to appreciate his Judaism more through the activities of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization.
 
I have fought the ills of anti-Semitism and finally, I have advocated for the welfare of the only democracy in the Middle East, the State of Israel.

So tonight, I want to thank B’nai B’rith for this award, but most of all I want to thank B’nai B’rith for making my life a more productive and meaningful one by allowing me to take part in tikkun olam, helping to repair the world.