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RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
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Because youth group widens their circle of friends
and deepens their Jewish commitment, teen-agers say.
PHOTOS BY BILL GEMMELL
he escalator in Dearborn's Hyatt Regency Hotel
leads to a room which, last week, overflowed with
luggage, boomboxes and pillows. A stash of kosher
frosted donuts stuck out of one bag. Blue jeans pro-
truded from another. The room had all the hap-
hazard.trappings of a U.S. Customs confiscation
office.
But it wasn't.
More than 220 Conservative Jewish teen-agers
descended on the Hyatt March 30 to April 2. They
came for the regional conference of United Syna-
gogue Youth. USY, like its Reform and Orthodox
counterparts, attracts young people for weekends
of fun and Judaism.
Last week, USY's Central Regional Convention
drew youth-groupers from Michigan, Ohio, Illi-
nois, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Kentucky. The
four-day event featured special programs on po-
litical issues, as well as the traditional fare: prayer,
song sessions and a dinner-dance after Shabbat.
Why skip a day of school to attend a youth-group
event? Why miss a weekend of televised sports?
Why hang out with teen-agers who participate in
religious services, who pray before and after meals,
with teen-agers who observe Sabbath and talk
about stuff like Israel, social action and inter-
marriage?
USYers say youth group widens their circle of
friends and deepens their Jewish commitment.
Gabe Wiener from Kalamazoo doesn't take it for
granted. There are five Jews in his public high
school of 1,400 students.
"And there's not really the chance to meet them,"
he says. "Only one or two of them are Conserva-
tive. I find myself coming to Detroit a lot (apart
from formal USY conventions) to see people.
"It's hard. Most of my friends in Kalamazoo are
not Jewish and they just don't understand why I
can't eat cheeseburgers. I just say to myself, 'It
doesn't matter. This is for me.' "
USYers are a diverse bunch. Some dress prep-
py. Some dress grunge. One group, during free
time, plays Meatloaf tunes on the piano. Anoth-
er group listens to folk songs on cassette. Some,
like Gabe, have committed themselves to keeping
kosher. Others haven't.
They come to USY conventions for many dif-
ferent reasons.
Danny Feinberg, "14 going on 15," joined to meet
Jewish girls.
"It's one of the reasons," he says. "I mean, there
are others." .
Like Gabe, Joanna Zarouk of Akron, Ohio, ap-
preciates the fact that her fellow USYers are on a
similar religious wavelength. "If we tell our (USY)
friends that we didn't go to a football game on a
Friday night, they'll understand," she says.
Sure, USY has cliques, says Linda Offenhartz
of Cleveland. But even the cliques are friendly.
"Everyone is here to meet people," she says. "It's
much more open than high school. You can go up
to people and say, 'Hi. I'm Linda.' At school, if you
did that, people would look at you like you are
strange or something."
Seventeen-year-old David Salama of North
Farmington High School chaired the event. "Most
of the kids come here because of the people. The
people make this organization — period," he says.
Sixteen-year-old Jeremy Fogel, an Andover High
School student, also takes a leadership role in USY.
He believes the group's religious component is vi-
tal. "Without religion, it would be like any other
organization," he says.
Last week's function at the Hyatt included elec-
tions for USY's Central Region executive board.
Among the Detroiters voted in were: David Sala-
ma, Aaron Fidler, Mindy Glazier and Carrie Apsel.
Accepting the position entails responsibility,
Mindy Glazier knows. Executive board members
are required to keep kosher, attend synagogue reg-
ularly and date Jewish people — only.
Mindy says all of that jives with the lifestyle
she's already leading. It's a lifestyle that became
all the more significant to her when she returned
from a USY-sponsored trip to eastern Europe and
Israel last summer.
"One morning we were in Treblinka (the Nazi
death camp), and less than 24 hours later we were
watching the sun rise over Jerusalem," she says.
How did that impact Mindy? Her face reddens
and she waves her hands in front of her, speech-
less.
"Um, just all of these emotions," she says. "I still
can't sort them out."
Youth group isn't just for kids. Adults also play
a role in USY. Sharon Levine of Oak Park serves
as Michigan field worker for USY. Arlyne Bochnek
of Cleveland is director of USY's central region.
Professionals also include rabbis,
USYers put their educators and parents like Mary-
chapters on
lyn Sternberg.
display with
Ms. Sternberg was in USY as a
colorful banners. WHY page 16