SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1979 the er of ISF SHOFA on our B'NAI B'RITH YOUTH ORGANIZATION ALEPH ZADIK ALEPH (AZA) B'NAI B'RITH GIRLS (BBG) onight in $8.50 for king you CHEERS CHALLENGES & TEARS There were cheers - oi vay were there ever cheers! "What district do you come from? Yay!" "What district were you born in? lay!" "What district does your girlfriend come from? Yay!" "What 205.00 district do you wish you came from? Yay!" There were tears - for the late Lou Perlman, longtime 125.00 102.00 benefactor and supporter of BBYO. 100.00 There were squabbles: Are we for ERA or against it? Is rape prevention a Jewish issue? Do the kids run the summer programs or 100.00 he staff? Should you offer help to a handicapped person you meet 110.16 102.00 casually on the street? 100.00 There were elections - and Jois Brownstein passed her gavel to 100.00 acque (pronounced Jack-ee) Altman, just as Mark Plotkin passed his to Mark Kleinman. And then there were tears again - because nobody wanted to 200.00 say goodbye. Convention 1979: there Il never be another one like it. 100.00 The theme of BBYO's 1979 Convention was "From Many one," a maxim embodying the ageold Jewish ideal of uniting all 100.00 ews in one community; the same dream that inspired twelve 100.00 young Jewish immigrants in New York to establish B'nai B'rith in 100.00 1843 for all Jews, whether they were Orthodox, Conservative, 113.02 Reform or unaffiliated. The dream came closer to reality when 374 125.00 100.00 ZAs and BBGs, representing their brothers and sisters from all over North America, Israel and several other nations came to B'nai 8'rith Perlman Camp in Starlight, Pa. for six days in August to sing, 100. dance, pray, argue, learn, laugh and cry together. About 140 of 150.00 them h attended the three-week Kallah and/or the monthlong International Leadership Training Conference preceding the Con- 160.00 vention. 108.00 140.00 200.00 'What district do you come from? Yay!' 200.00 150.00 500.00 118.82 150.00 Presiding at the BBG Convention was International N'siah Jois rownstein of Portland, Oregon. Mark Plotkin of Maryland, the 100.00 rand Aleph Godol, wielded the gavel at AZA meetings. Oversee- 100.00 all arrangements were the Convention coordinators, Pam From 214.56 einstein and Mike Ginsberg. Many - One! 196.90 Sizeable blocks of time in the AZA and BBG separate sessions 108.00 ere spent on internal business and the formulation of policy Youth from BBYO atements on public issues. The BBGs called for activities on behalf 161.30 the Equal Rights Amendment, rape prevention, and prevention in Great Britain 170.00 unneccesary cruelty to animals in the name of scientific and Israel meet some 130.00 xperimentation. 100.00 The AZAs donated $100 to the Simon Weisenthal Center for U.S. hosts and Sen. Paut 125.00 250.00 olocaust Studies in recognition of the importance of education Sarbanes (D.-Md. - far left) 117.30 oout the horrors of the Holocaust. Both Convention bodies urged YO members and chapters to aid the Boat People fleeing before attending BBYO's 150.00 etnam, whose plight strongly resembles that of Jewish refugees Conventions. 112.93 eeing Nazi-dominated Europe in the pre-World War II years. YO was urged to create more meaningful programs about Israeli to enrich relationships between Israel and Diaspora Jewry, and pondent from each overseas district; establishing programming The Shofar throughout the year. 200.00 sponsor programs to combat pervasive Arab propaganda. awards on every level of the organization in the categories of the Recipients of the Anita Perlman BBG Distinguished Alumna AZA also enacted measures: establishing an award for the six folds; removing from the BBG Constitution Article V, Section 2a Award and the Sam Beber Award for an outstanding AZA Alumnus 100.00 apter contributing the largest dollar amount to ISF each program (stating the ineligibility of married girls for registration in BBG), and echoed the sentiments of pride and unity expressed in the Conven- car; amending the AZA Constitution to empower the GAG to directing the formulation of a new BBG Constitution for approval at tion theme. Ms. Marilyn Brown of South Bend, Indiana, a vice 1500.00 point additional delegates to the B'nai B'rith Youth Commission the 1980 Convention. chairman of Project Renewal for the United Jewish Appeal and needed: reducing to three (AZA Shabbat, Advisor Appreciation One important priority on BBYO's program agenda this year will chairwoman of the UJA Women's Division last year, recalled with dy and World Jewry Day) the number of simultaneous programs; be the issue of "handicapism," a new term which has been coined to pleasure and gratitude her own days in BBG, and remarked upon 326.00 ging that B'nai B'rith Periman Camp be made more easily describe the unjust treatment of people with physical or mental the pride today's youth exhibit as they declare their allegiance to cessible for the physically handicapped; mandating a review of disabilities. Convention participants, after listening to speakers the Jewish people. contest manual at every International Executive Board meet- from the Center on Human Policy, were asked to simulate hand- "No one stood up in public school in my childhood to proclaim his and naming the Grand Aleph Dovair to serve as a resource icaps of one evening, then share their experiences in small Judaism or Israeli Independence Day. You are fortunate today: you enter for all levels of AZA, particularly for the dissemination of discussion groups. were born with Israel, Israel is you," she said. to" and leadership training material. The challenge: Try to eat a piece of chicken with one arm out of Ms. Brown advised teenagers to reject any suggestion that their 100.00 BBG also passed measures: abolishing themes for the Originality commission. Lead a song session, blindfolded. Negotiate your way interest in Judaism was parochial or particularist: "Nothing in competition, except that all entries must have a connection to from your bunk to the dining hall with one leg in a splint. Judaism is contrary to the principles of a free society. In being 00 daism and/or BBG; creating an International Chairperson, who Jewish, we broaden the scope of our understanding." 100. be appointed by the BBG Executive Board from the member- A questionnaire on attitudes towards the disabled was adminis- Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman of Manhattan's Central Synagogue in Districts 1-22 through 7 (Continental North America) to tered by a representative of the Center on Human Policy. Results said that "the glory of BBYO is that it is the only organization in the respond with overseas districts and promote international BBG will be reported in an upcoming edition of The Shofar. Reports of ations; mandating the appointment of an International Corres- chapter and regional programs on handicapism will be published in Continued on Page 2