July 20, 2012, New York, NY – Wednesday, almost 500 teens from the leadership programs of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) joined with teens from BBYO for the first time ever.

Two hundred and forty teens and staff members from BBYO’s International Kallah at B’nai B’rith Perlman Camp in Lake Como, Pennsylvania, joined more than 250 teens and staff at the NFTY leadership experience at the URJ Kutz Camp in Warwick, New York, to participate in an unprecedented inter-camp Maccabiah games.

Maccabiah teams included a mix of participants and staff from both camps. Through the games, teens learned about both youth movements and shared ideas for how they can better collaborate on service projects in their local communities. They also had the opportunity to socialize and breakdown long-standing barriers that have existed between the two groups.

This is an historic moment for the two groups, who only recently united as founding members of the Coalition for Jewish Teens, which led the effort to create awareness about bullying and co-hosted viewings of the movie “Bully” in major cities across North America.