Sustained growth in membership over a period of years would certainly indicate popularity and success of a congregation; well-attended services, programs, and activities would also show success.

One way I measure success is to look to the youth of our synagogue and see how involved they are in Jewish life and Jewish activities. Several graduates of our religious school are pursuing Jewish studies majors in college; some even in graduate school.

Some of our young people have taken positions of leadership in the Jewish community, be it in a social service capacity, or with a synagogue. I look at these dedicated individuals as Kehillat Ma'arav success stories.

Another wonderful success story here at K.M. is the recent hiring of our new Youth Director, Suzy Sostrin. Suzy is the daughter of long-time K.M. members Sandy and Dr. Stu Sostrin, attended our religious school, became Bat Mitzvah, and served as a member of the Board of our U.S.Y. group.

After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Suzy worked in a number of Jewish organizations, including Young Judea, an arm of Hadassah.

When Suzy applied for the vacant Youth Director position at our own congregation, both Rabbi Gotlieb and I took deep pride and satisfaction that a young woman from our own community desired to return to our synagogue to help give our teenagers wonderful experiences that Suzy herself enjoyed as a teen.

After the interview process, conducted by our Youth Commission members and professional staff, Suzy was selected to serve as the next Director of our KM-USY group.

Ask to meet Suzy next time you find yourself at the synagogue.

Suzy is a whirlwind of energy (major understatement!) and she will quickly turn you on to the wonderful opportunities USY has to offer, both for teens and for adults.

She might ask you to attend or chaperone an event, to serve on our Youth Board or Youth Commission, or to make a donation to the USY scholarship fund. All of these avenues of participation are worthwhile, and will help Suzy to raise our USY program to even higher levels of success.