Last month, I had the privilege of delivering remarks to an audience of hundreds at a community reception at BBYO International Convention in Dallas, Texas. Among the esteemed guests in attendance were Israel’s thirteenth prime minister, Naftali Bennett, and the Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff. During the reception, we celebrated the power of BBYO’s global movement while contemplating our changing world and the need for bold leadership. For me, it was a powerful and unique opportunity to share my perspective on democracy, leadership and the Israel-Diaspora relationship with both community and world leaders.

In my remarks, I reflected on my first trip to Israel two summers ago with BBYO. I remember a feeling of instant connection when I arrived at Ben Gurion Airport. That feeling was at its strongest about a week later when I climbed Masada with a group of “best friends” I had only met a few days earlier. It wasn’t so much that we physically accomplished a hike that began at 4:30 in the morning; it was the fact that we did it together. And that is what makes Israel so magical for me — it is a country that is about both land and people. Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael. Before BBYO, before Israel, I would not have put much thought to this distinction. Now, it helps me understand who I am as a Jew.

Michael Kandel Photography.

Some of the friends I made on that Israel trip were among the 3,200 teens at BBYO International Convention (IC) last week. As we deal with an outside world that is not always so friendly to Jews or Israel, I know I am safe in BBYO. I can be my truest self around the people that make up this community and I can express my Jewish self without hesitation in a place where 40-foot signs hang on the wall with Hebrew letters and text. It’s sort of like the feeling I had when I was in Israel, and I felt the land and people as one — at IC I feel the environment, the energy and the people as one.  

While I feel safe to express myself in BBYO, one of the things this organization has taught me is that I can and should be a proud Jew everywhere I go. This fall I will be studying journalism at the University of Missouri. I chose journalism because it is a profession that gives you a platform to share your thoughts and to bring truth to the pressing issues of the times. I am already in touch with BBYO friends from around the country who will be joining me at the University Missouri. Together, we will do what BBYO has taught us to do — bring people together, address hate and injustice and celebrate our Judaism together.

After delivering my remarks at the reception, the opening night of IC, 3,200 Jewish teens marched into our massive plenary hall singing, dancing and celebrating. We were headed into the opening ceremonies program of BBYO’s International Convention where we were addressed, once again, by the Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff, and the former Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, among others. Each teen who passed by me on the way in is no different than me. We are all members of BBYO, and the things we do throughout our lives, whether in our BBYO chapters, for our local communities, or on campus as leaders, will forever be inspired by that unifying moment at IC which defines who we are as Jews.

Drew Gluckman is a senior at Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas, where he plays baseball and is one of seven Jews in his class of 628.  He is the teen president of BBYO North Texas Oklahoma region.