A Look Into the Life of a BBYO Teen

“I hear about BBYO all the time, but what is it all about?” The Bnai Brith Youth Organization is a youth group for Jewish teens. This organization is active all over the world, from the United States to Argentina. In fact, there is a very large group of teens in Dallas that participate in BBYO. This worldwide youth group is for boys and girls grades 9-12. People take part in regional and international conventions, summer programs and much more.

In the Dallas and Tulsa area, the BBYO region is known as North Texas Oklahoma (NTO). Within NTO, there are seven boy chapters and seven girl chapters. Once a year, they all come together to have leadership conventions and a regional convention.

“A regional convention is when all the members meet at a hotel for regional politics, to see friends they don’t get to see as often and to meet new people,” senior Ryan Weissman said. “It is a very fun experience.”

The people who coordinate the scheduling and activities for this convention are the regional board. The board has many positions and each one plays a part to ensure the convention is exciting and memorable.

“For regional convention, we plan the activities and talk about things we have planned for the region,” junior Maddie Weiner said. “We also work on how we can improve the chapters’ experiences.”

Aside from regional conventions that are held in Dallas, there are more opportunities for BBYO members to make memories. Additionally, many kids attend summer programs.

“Summer programs are when people from each region do various activities from leadership to community service, to exploring the world in places like Bulgaria and Argentina,” Weissman said.

There are many trips offered during the summer through BBYO. Kids travel as far as Italy to meet new people and explore different cultures of the world.

“I love making new friends and the memories,” Weissman said. “Trips give you the opportunity to do just that.”

Traveling to another country is not the only way the members can get the full experience of what BBYO is really like. Almost every Saturday night, each chapter meets to have a program. Members are responsible for hosting them.

“For a typical project, we usually start out by eating spooey,” junior Lexi Van Creveld said. “Spooey is a well known food to BBYO members. It is pretzels dipped in frosting. Then the project starts, they usually have a theme, falling under community service, creativity, Jewish heritage and more. Projects usually last about two hours.”

Beaus and sweethearts are elected once a year for each chapter. This gives the kids more opportunities to branch out and meet new people.

“At the end, we sing to the beau or sweetheart which is dedicated to the one person of the opposite gender,” Van Creveld said. “When that is all over, we go out to dinner.”

A beau is a boy who spends his time with one girl chapter instead of spending time with his own home chapter, while a sweetheart is the one girl who spends time with one of the boy chapters. The beaus and sweethearts are still a part of their home chapters as well, but they have the best of both worlds by being able to be a part of two chapters for their final year in the organization.

“Being sweetheart has been one of the most amazing experiences thus far,” Weiner said. “I’ve met even more people being a sweetheart for Lewis (male chapter), and it has brought me so many laughs and memories.”

Attending as many events as possible is a great way to get to know your chapter members better and build sisterhood or brotherhood.

“My favorite thing about BBYO is all of the friends that I’ve met,” Weiner said. “I love being a part this community and having friends wherever I go.”

This organization is not just a place to meet new people, it is a place to make connections that will last a lifetime.

“To me, BBYO is about being in an environment where all of my friends are Jewish,” Van Creveld said. “It’s comforting to be around people who believe the same things. BBYO is about learning how to be a leader.”