Now president of USY, Pittsburgh teen uses platform to transform movement
'I think right now is really a time for growth. It’s time to really start rebuilding'
Weeks ago, a Squirrel Hill teen was tasked with leading 15,000 peers toward a promising Jewish future. Fresh off of her election as USY international president, Daphne Macedonia said she’s excited to shape meaningful experiences for North American Jewish youth and build on the group’s 74-year-old legacy.
Founded in 1951 by the Youth Commission of the United Synagogue of America, USY is the youth movement for North American Conservative/Masorti Jews.
Daphne, a rising senior at Winchester Thurston School who regularly attends Congregation Beth Shalom, is the first Pittsburgher to serve as international president — let alone hold a position on the international board — she said. Previous leaders have “mostly been from stronger regions, more populated areas.”
Not to disparage her hometown, but relative to New Jersey, New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, Pittsburgh lacks the size of several larger cities, she added.
For the past year, Daphne, 17, has developed perspective on the wider region and its Jewish youth. After serving on her chapter board and as chapter president, Daphne co-led CRUSY, the Central Region of USY.
She enjoyed working with chapters in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and parts of Indiana, and near the end of her term thought she could make a difference for even more Jewish teens — so she explored the possibility of international leadership, networked and applied to run.
On election day, Daphne signed on to Zoom alongside hundreds of other USYers. Each of three candidates delivered stump speeches before being asked to leave the virtual meeting. One by one, each candidate was invited back and asked a question. The inquiry, Daphne said, was, “What is one problem you feel USY is facing, and what would you do to help change that?”
Long before voting day, Daphne recognized the value of Jewish youth group involvement. Being part of Shabbat services and the Squirrel Hill synagogue’s group helped Daphne realize how inclusion can shape and strengthen a community. She’d seen it through other endeavors as well: as Quiz Bowl team captain at Winchester, as a Morningside Lady Bulldogs softball player and as a participant and choreographer in Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
musicals.
Daphne said she understood what was on so many North American Jewish teenagers’ minds and what’s needed to help them thrive; so when she was asked about the challenge USY is facing and how she’ll fix it, Daphne replied: “Our biggest problem right now is membership. I want to start a USY Ambassadors Program to help attract qualified teens, to reach out to new people and just sort of be a friendly face at new events, because it’s really difficult to just go to an event where you know no one.”
Demise reports unexaggerated
For years, Jewish media has reported USY’s demise. In 2021, JTA published, “The Conservative movement youth group was already struggling. Then came COVID.”
Written with help from Jewish teens, the story noted declining numbers of Conservative Jews coupled with pandemic hardships, staff shortages and reduced programming placed the youth group in a difficult position.
In 2024, Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO of the USCJ and the Rabbinical Assembly told eJewishPhilanthropy that economic needs forced USY to restructure. By eliminating regions, boards and convention chairs, the youth group could respond to post-pandemic realities, Blumenthal explained.
Synagogue-level staffing “no longer exists in many communities, and it has not generated critical masses of teen participation in some areas, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic,” eJP reported.
Marissa Tait, Beth Shalom’s director of youth programs, told the Chronicle she’s aware of these issues, which is why Daphne’s presidency marks such an auspicious moment.
“This feels like a restart,” Tait said. “It’s almost like a defibrillator. This is infusing excitement again.”
Tait has worked with Beth Shalom and USY youth for nearly a decade. She’s familiar with demographic changes — in 1971, 41% of American Jews affiliated with the Conservative movement, making it the largest Jewish movement; by 2021, that number had dropped to 17% — and the pandemic’s effect on congregations and teens.
As for the latter, there’s a bit of a “social delay” that was prompted by extended periods at home, Tait said.
“The way today’s teens enter things is different. Their interactions are different. And I think that overall as adults we have to give them a little more time, and more support, to let them thrive.”
The present can’t be understood independent of earlier cost-cutting measures, the Jewish professional explained.
“Organizations changed, systems changed, people were let go,” she said. “Every youth movement, every community, every synagogue and chapter dealt with this.”
The practical implication — for teens and larger groups — is that the pandemic eviscerated continuity.
“Within a lot of these youth movements, each region or chapter has its own traditions and culture. They have their own mascots or songs, and these traditions and rituals are carried down by older teens to younger teens,” Tait said. “It’s something you look forward to and it keeps the hype and excitement going.”
When the pandemic prevented people from gathering, and subsequently forced groups to shutter, “we lost so much,” she continued. Even after activities reopened, “it became harder to get that excitement back, to get eighth graders to buy in and do these random things that older peers once did.”
Fewer parties further skews a process largely reliant on sequential behavior, Tait explained.
Among youth group staff, cultivating teen leadership requires a near four-year investment: Year one involves “a lot of teaching, explaining, showing teens and giving them the tools.” During year two, “you pull back a little, but you’re still really assisting them and showing them the way.”
In year three, “they don’t need you as much. They’re juniors and seniors in high school and they can write their own programs. Year four is basically “return to year one.”
Glimmer of light in pandemic shadow
The pandemic blighted a timeline, but Tait is optimistic. So is Beth Shalom’s Rabbi Seth Adelson.
“The Beth Shalom USY chapter is still going strong. We have a healthy youth program at Beth Shalom and we are proud of Daphne and all our teens,” Adelson said. “While some youth groups are in decline, Beth Shalom is bucking that trend.”
He credited Tait and local teens with demonstrating a “willingness to continue to be involved and to help our chapter thrive,” yet said there is “no secret sauce to making youth groups work — it’s just the magical mix of staff and teens, with support from the parent institution, that helps keep these types of programs alive.”
Though there’s an inscrutable element necessary for success, Adelson believes a local ingredient may help: “There is something quite special about Squirrel Hill. We are a very sociable neighborhood, and some of the isolation that afflicts much of our society is lessened here simply because of the integrated nature of where we live.”
Speaking with the Chronicle, Daphne was less focused on the pandemic as a lingering inhibitor to USY’s growth.
The reality, she noted, “is kids are just so busy, and I think they just simply don’t have the time to make a commitment to a youth group these days…I know for a lot of kids it’s so difficult to get into colleges these days — and colleges that are perceived as good — so I think people are really trying to pack their schedule with stuff that they feel will enhance their college applications.”
Amid the extracurriculars, honors courses, internships and other commitments teens make, youth group enrollment is suffering. USY takes an extra hit “because we’re a Conservative movement,” she continued. “It’s just a very specific niche. But, I think right now is really a time for growth. It’s time to really start rebuilding.”
For most observers, it’s fairly apparent what’s been lost in recent years; it’s also easy to see the good that’s coming, Tait said. Daphne’s presidency is a chance to push past the pandemic, tap into “the buzz and excitement” and help create something new.
“She leads with her heart. She shows up early. She stays the whole time and pushes others to come along with her,” the Jewish professional said of the teen president. Those qualities are “invigorating.”
According to Daphne, fellow teens already appreciate this moment. Helping other generations see it might be the greatest gift bestowed by the presidency. As the highest ranking teen member of USY, Daphne is invited to attend and participate in USCJ board meetings.
The Conservative organization possesses 600 affiliated congregations and seeks to engage 1.5 million people.
Being the voice of Jewish teens in that setting “is pretty crazy,” but there’s something that people need to hear, Daphne said. “This is important, young people are important — and not that they don’t already know that — but I think it’s just really important for me to keep reminding them of that and that young people can change things.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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