Youth Organizations

The B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) is an international organization whose purpose is to help young Jewish people achieve personal growth so that they may lead satisfying and socially useful lives in the Jewish community and in the larger community in which they live. The BBYO encourages its members to participate in a broad program of cultural, religious, community service, educational, human relations, athletic, and social activities.

Program

All BBYO activities are designed as learning experiences. The community-service program combines fund-raising and personal service. Each local chapter contributes to the International Service Fund. The money is used for leadership training activities within the BBYO and for such philanthropic organizations as the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas; the B'nai B'rith Children's Home near Jerusalem in Israel; the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE); and many others. B'nai B'rith Youth Organization groups also participate in local Jewish Welfare Fund campaigns, local health drives, and other local community-service efforts. The BBYO operates two camps for members: the B'nai B'rith Perlman Camp in Starlight, Pennsylvania, and the B'nai B'rith Beber Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. In addition, the BBYO sponsors summer exchange programs for members to study and work in Israel, with Israeli teenagers traveling to the United States and other countries.

In the area of personal service, the BBYO sponsors the Adopt-a-Grandparent Program, in which youngsters provide companionship to the aged in or out of institutions. B'nai B'rith Youth Organization groups also entertain and help children in hospitals, homes, and other institutions. BBYO members read to the blind and help the physically and mentally handicapped. Further BBYO activities include tutoring underachievers, taking disadvantaged children to museums and recreational events, and collecting books for use in economically deprived areas.

The BBYO also sponsors various interfaith initiatives and runs the College Ambassador Alumni program and the Holocaust Expression Theatre. Religious services and holiday celebrations, as well as contests in athletics, drama, oratory, storytelling, creative writing, sermon writing, music, and visual arts are held at the chapter level. Local winners proceed through chapter and regional levels to the international finals held at Perlman or Berber Camp.

The BBYO publishes numerous pamphlets about Judaism for use by teenagers. The organization also publishes adviser newsletters, various program guides and other program aids, and newspapers called Shofar and The Commish.

Organization

The BBYO is a federation of three youth organizations: the Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA) for high school boys, the B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG) for high school girls, and the B'nai B'rith Teen Connection for middle school boys and girls. Each local chapter has a volunteer adviser who is supervised by the professional staff of social group workers. Chapters are united into regions, each of which has a youth structure, an adult policymaking structure, and a professional staff structure. There are thirty-seven BBYO regions in North America, which report directly to the BBYO International Executive Board. The international office is responsible for setting standards and goals, budget and staffing, and publications. Most programs and activities are organized at the local level.

Membership

Because Jewish aspirations are emphasized, membership is open only to Jewish youths. Parents of BBYO members need not be affiliated with the larger B'nai B'rith organization. By 2000 the BBYO had more than 50,000 members in over 1,500 chapters throughout the world.

History

The B'nai B'rith youth movement originated in 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska, with a single chapter of sixteen boys who opposed the exclusive high school and college social fraternity system. Three other chapters were formed during the same year, and the four groups held their first convention in July 1924. In 1925 the youth organization received official sponsorship by the B'nai B'rith organization. The first chapter of B'nai B'rith Girls was founded in 1927 in San Francisco, California. In 1944 the two organizations merged and became the BBYO. The Teen Connection was established later to meet the needs of younger boys and girls.