BBYO District Seven - Yearbook (San Antonio, TX)

Page 9 text:

A. J. For some four years now AZA in District Seven has been my life. The Aleph Zadik Aleph of the B'nai Brith Youth Organization has taken me all over this country and Israel as well. It has provided me with a foundation of unique experiences and acquaintances that I'll always treasure. For these reasons I find it difficult to write a message of this type. It's kind of like a life membership or outgoing state . . . so much to say and no way of saying it all. AZA can mean so many different things to each aleph. Whether it's a party, a basketball game, or an ecology program, this organization offers the maturing Jewish teenager a chance to grow and learn in a fraternal atmosphere. As I sit at my desk writing this message one thought continues to enter my mind as it did four years ago. I once heard, and I'm sure you have too, that you get out of what you put into AZA. I never really took that seriously until I began writing this message. It is so basic, but yet so true. AZA is not an organization that exists for a district, region or chapter. The Aleph Zadik Aleph exists in order to provide unique learning experiences for each other and that, I believe, is the basis of our order. We are a district that solely relies on people making friends and sharing ideas. As long as friendship is the motivation in the district, we will continue to share experiences that we shall never forget. I Shalom my friends, A. J. Fobinson District Aleph Godol

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Barbara Right now, it's the eve before I leave for the International boards in Israel. It's kind of scary. I guess there's danger every day of your life but it's not staring you right in your face saying hostility is all around you. A trip to Israel. Wow! just like that! Is this what BBYO offers everyone? No, not everyone will be as lucky as I in the years ahead of them. It has given me more than my materialistic excursions. It has given me invaluable experience, identity, a love for Judaism, infinite youth and adult friendships, intangible knowledge and understanding for myself and people. It has filled what may otherwise have been a large gap in my life. You may say you could find your way easily enough without it. Maybe that's so, but it's just an added factor, something to give you just a little bit more. Writing this message sends me soaring back in time. All these experiences of my past four years of growth are at a peak. The end of this period may bring realizations and uncertainty crashing down upon me with immense force. One thing is certain. I shall never forget. Does this sound too idealistic? I suppose when looking back, one tends to forget or overlook the bad. Memory is like that. But no . . . I really haven't overlooked it. The realities of the world face us. They are here. Everyday of your life you meet or hear of cruelty and injustice so close to you. We are so concerned with problems afar, but what about my relationship with you, that lonely outcast in the corner . . . Our own radius is so polluted. Now where is BBYO in this relationship. A group of young adults-very impression- istic-and an opportunity to mold them in various directions . . . What do we do? We are human. We do have fallacies. BBYO is made up of people which means all the characteristics of people will follow. I needn't ponder on this. I think organizations try and exemplify the good and do sort of neglect the abrupt realities. l'm not certain of our future. I fear too. Apathy of members becoming more and more prevalent, stagnation of ideas, people who take so much and become bored and disillusioned and don't try to change what they dislike. No, they quit. Change! It's kind of funny-I have encountered quite a few instances where the adults are much more receptive to change than the youth are. But that's what progress is all about. The pressures around us . . . Key '73, poverty, Soviet Jewry, constant fear for Israel, and war. Knowledge, identification and understanding are the only answers to find our stand on these forces. Let's make it happen, Barbara Shipper

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Tracy it's not time to make a change, just relax take it easy, you're still young-that's your fault-there's so much you have to know. i was once like you are now, and i know that it's not easy to be calm when you've found something going on, but take your time, think a lot, why think of everything you've got, for you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not. how can i try to explain, 'cause when i do they turn away again. it's always the same, same old story. from the .11 moment i could talk i was ordered to listen, now there's a way and i know that i have to go. i know that i have to make this decision alone . . . if they were right i'd agree but it's them they know not me, now there's a way andi know i have to go away . . . i know i have to go. experience-growth-change-maturity-reflections. as each of us participates in the bbyo program each of us experiences a different facet of our organization. we are growing collectively and individually--our communities and our common jewish heritage. changes occur every time we attend a meeting, learn a new song, share an idea with someone introduced to us through hbyo. why? because we are sharing a part of ourselves with someone else because we are caring and learning about others. in reflection, we often regret overlooking certain opportunities-letting the time pass us by without having really experienced all that we'd liked to have. there is much to be gained by venturing out only you can insure yourself of pleasant memories. WITH pride for district seven. tracy robinson