In the News

By Meredith Jacobs

Certain themes echoed throughout BBYO’s International Convention. “I am a global teen,” they repeated — regardless of whether they had traveled to the convention center from Arlington, Va., or Albania. “We are a youth movement, not a youth group,” they cheered, reveling in the power of those who are just beginning their journey.

But the message that hit home as truest for me came from Gavri Schreiber, a teen from Kansas City, during the Feb. 14-18 event for local adult stakeholders.

“BBYO is more work than school. But we choose to do the work,” he said.

Both of my children are BBYOers. My son, Jules, an eighth-grader, is an AIT (aleph-in-training or new member) of the D.C. Council’s Melech chapter. He is just beginning, so it is through my daughter, Sofie, an 11th-grader in BBG’s Beth Kadima chapter, that I have witnessed what Schreiber spoke of. By way of explanation of her level of involvement, Sofie was elected this past Sunday to BBYO’s international board. She will serve as International Mazkirah, overseeing communication and globalization.

She is not the only one. Six teens from our region — Northern Region East, comprising Northern Virginia, D.C. Council, Howard County and Baltimore County — ran for international board positions. Of the six, three were elected: Michaela Brown from Northern Virginia who will serve as International N’siah (president), Maya Guthman from D.C. Council who will serve as the International S’ganit (programming), and, of course, my Sofie.

My daughter, like many other high school students, is regularly awake past midnight. She is on the conveyor belt that Schreiber described for the adults: “Do this for the college resume, that for the resume. They tell us, middle school is to prepare us for high school, and high school is to prepare us for college, and college is to prepare us for a good job.”

But then he added, “BBYO is outside of that.”

The kids in leadership positions arrived at the convention early for “Execs” — meetings where they planned for the future of their organization by raising and passing motions to formally include new countries, to create new international leadership positions and to set new goals.

Teens today have the tools, and from what I saw at convention, they use them.

I watched teens as they stopped each other in the halls, “Are you Sofie?” one girl with a British accent asked my daughter. They had worked together this past year on the Global Networking Committee creating programs that connected teens in the U.K. with teens in Bulgaria.

So this is what all of those Skype conference calls were about. All they need to do is block out undisturbed time to sit in their individual bedrooms in front of computer screens and work with a committee of teens from around the world. They are truly living in a world we could not have imagined — one without borders and time zones. One that is limitless.

I was there to witness the inspiration, the empowerment. I was there as President Barack Obama, via video, told the teens the nation is counting on them — and they listened. I heard the instruction of Ben Keesey of Invisible Children. He told them it’s not good enough to just be sad about something, you have to act. Debbie Wasserman Schultz connected with all the “curly-haired girls” in the room and told the teens they are her partners in her fight for breast cancer education.

Ambassador Susan Rice implored them to get their fingers dirty. She said soon it would be time for my generation to sit down, and we need the teens to stand up.

They will. They already are.

There are other groups these kids could join. Most, I would guess, are involved in many other school and community organizations. But their priority is this organization. BBYO gives them a Jewish community.

And it’s the way they define Jewish community that is inspiring. Religion and faith and spirituality are part but not all of their Judaism. Every Jew belongs: Orthodox, humanist, secular, Conservative. The spectrum of Jewish observance is in BBYO. Everyone is accepted and respected. Every one is a brother or a sister.

The BBYO IC was a celebration of the power of our youth.

If this is to be the group who will lead us into the future, I, for one, am thrilled to follow.