Balancing his position on the St. Louis B’nai Amoona United Synagogue Youth (USY) chapter with his role on EMTZA (the Midwest region of USY) regional board, Parkway Central junior Joe Goldberg has made his mark as a leader in the Jewish community.

“[United Synagogue Youth] is a fantastic organization that works on bringing Jewish teens together throughout the whole country,” 16-year-old Joe said. “Through USY, I’ve had so many opportunities to help people and make a difference in the world.”

The EMTZA regional board represents the Midwest region of USY and includes Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska, and other surrounding areas. On the EMTZA regional board, Joe works as the Social Action Tikkun Olam Vice President.

“I’m in charge of planning programs at the conventions for the tikkun olam/social action aspects, as well as working with each chapter to raise money and plan great programs,” Joe said. “I have two parts: social action is more of the informing part of the job, and tikkun olam is raising money to go to charities across the country.”

As Vice President, Joe helped organize the appearance of a guest speaker from the Siena Francis House in Omaha. The guest speaker discussed her struggles as a recovering drug addict, and talked to the students about how the Siena Francis House had helped her. Joe also plans similar programs for regional events.

“At our last regional event, which was over Thanksgiving, Joe created a social action program to understand the significance of hunger,” said Andy Schwebel, assistant director of learning at Congregation B’nai Amoona. “We went to a supermarket where we were given $10, and we had to try and buy as much food as we could for those in need.”

In addition to his role on the regional board, Joe is currently B’nai Amoona’s USY co-president. He also works at the synagogue as a teacher’s assistant on Sunday mornings.

“The students love Joe, and more importantly, they respect him,” B’nai Amoona fifth grade teacher Claire Hack said. “Joe’s sincere beliefs help the students form their own beliefs.”

Joe became involved in USY, where he works almost every day, because he enjoys the company of his fellow Jewish teens.  Today, Judaism remains a huge part of his life and continues to grow in importance as he becomes more involved in the Jewish community.

“I really continue to get more involved because I like making a difference, and I like going into jobs that give me the opportunity to do something good for other people,” Joe said.