DENVER — When financier Sam Beber was approached to serve as the advisor to the nascent Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA) Jewish fraternity in 1924, he had an ambitious stipulation before agreeing to join the team.

“He said, ‘I’ll agree to support you in this effort, but I’m not looking for a citywide or statewide or even national agency. We’re going to build a fraternal order that’s going to reach Jewish teens wherever they are,’” Ian Kandel, BBYO’s senior vice president of movement building, told eJewishPhilanthropy. 

Shortly thereafter, AZA was adopted by B’nai Brith and became — with its female counterpart, B’nai B’rith Girls — what is now known as the B’nai Brith Youth Organization. 

In its early days, the pluralistic youth organization chased that goal, expanding its reach rapidly and opening chapters in Calgary, Cairo, Damascus and throughout Southern and Eastern Europe. That growth continued for the better part of the century, as the group entrenched itself  as an international organization in 1944. But in the late 1990s and early 2000s, BBYO shrank significantly, ceasing most of its global operations due to changing priorities and the organization’s decision to become independent.

Now, a year into its second century, BBYO is working to honor that original promise, with membership climbing rapidly both nationally and internationally. As the youth organization has opened chapters in 63 countries over the last 20 years, it is now engaging 70,000 teens internationally. Outside of the U.S., nearly 50 chapters have been added since the pandemic, including in the United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, South Africa and Japan. 

According to Kandel, the organization has exceeded its North American membership goal every year since 2009, requiring the organization to expand its big tent in terms of the spectrum of religious practice and the practical infrastructure required to support rising demand. In the last year alone, BBYO’s United States membership increased by 19%, with increasing interest in upstate and western New York, remote mountain towns and the Pacific Northwest, according to Ruthie Perlman, manager of new chapters and community expansion for North America. Perlman’s role is part of an initiative started in 2021 to reach Jewish teens in small towns and cities, to which BBYO attributes the membership of 800 new teens. “When we first started, we did a lot more outreach, but now I’m hearing from different places that want to start BBYO chapters every few weeks,” Perlman told eJP. 

“It’s growing very organically, and it’s growing very rapidly. We can’t keep up with the demand,” Kandel told eJP. “There’s rarely anything we do now anywhere around the world that’s not sold out.”

BBYO’s CEO, Matt Grossman, attributes much of that growth to the group’s International Convention, an annual gathering that feels something like a bar mitzvah’s overachieving cousin, featuring appearances by high-profile musicians, athletes and politicians, and organized with substantial input from over 20 teen planning committees. This year’s conference was held in Denver and drew some 5,000 teens and adults from nearly 50 countries, which organizers said sold out in 11 minutes. 

This year’s demand aligned with IC’s larger pattern of growth, as it has scaled quickly with support from a post-pandemic grant of $3.5 million from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation to fund aspects of the conference through 2025. With already increasing membership, and an expanding festival to lift the brand, social media and word of mouth were able to accelerate BBYO’s growth, Grossman said.

According to Grossman, IC is the platform through which BBYO delivers a “large hit of excitement” to the teens, one they hope will resonate throughout the year, driving them to pursue leadership and other Jewish opportunities. “When I think of what else in the Jewish world young people are lining up to be a part of, there’s not much else out there,” he told eJP. 

At its core, IC is ultimately about creating a space for Jewish joy, as, according to Grossman, a sense of loneliness post-pandemic and rising antisemitism has also likely impacted the demand for the Jewish spaces BBYO facilitates. Last year Grossman embarked on a “listening tour” to a number of cities to hear about teens’ experiences post Oct. 7. According to Grossman, many teens spoke of a deep loneliness, and a failure of schools and administrators to aptly address the rising tide of antisemitism. While for many teens, that led to requests for programming about antisemitism and Israel advocacy, many also wanted BBYO to be a safe space to be Jewish, not one defined by antisemitism.

Some of the speakers and entertainment cater to a more recreationally focused teen audience —  including Israeli Eurovision contestant Eden Golan; American musicians Andy Grammar, Swae Lee and Galantis; professional MMA fighter Natan Levy; and social media influencer Ellie Zeiler. 

However, the conference also provided access to speakers and political figures including Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who is Jewish; Native American and Jewish activist Lani Anpo; Sawsan Hasson, an Israeli-Druze diplomat who leads public diplomacy department of the Israeli Embassy in the U.S.; as well as video addresses from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. 

“I believe in your choices and I believe in the future you will inhabit and lead because you are an incredible organization,” Herzog said in his video address during the convention’s opening plenary. “I salute BBYO leadership as well as BBYO supporters throughout the globe.”

High-level political programming is a core facet of BBYO educational mission of “experiential democracy,” which aims to assist teens through planning, dialogue and debate. Every year, the teens run for a variety of positions at IC, with the two highest posts — Grand Aleph Godol and Anita M. Perlman International N’siah — serving as emissaries during a post-high school gap year as they visit BBYO chapters around the globe. 

“They want to go deep,” Grossman told eJP. “Our future depends on their commitment to bringing good to the world and being values-driven leaders. To see them reach out even more for the tools and resources to make the world a better place is something that lifts us all.”

This year, an increasing interest from teens in topics including journalism, policy and civic discourse culminated in the creation of BBYO’s Institute for Democracy, a learning initiative to inspire teens toward civic engagement at BBYO’s national and international events, created through a $2.5 million endowment gift from Sage Publishing founder Sara Miller McCune. 

“The Miller Institute of Democracy will help grow our leadership abilities, as the leaders of the Jewish future, so that we can effectively participate in and strengthen democracy all over the world,” said Joelle Abaew, BBYO’s 80th international N’siah, the first from outside of North America, at the opening plenary. 

As the organization grows, it is entering a strategic planning process to address increasing demands in terms of infrastructure, funding — and security, said Grossman. 

According to Kandel, many of the original boys who founded AZA, who were unable to join non-Jewish fraternities, were either immigrants themselves or first-generation Americans. The first advisor was born in Minsk, Belarus. As BBYO continues to expand, both within North America and internationally, and as more teens are drawn to that space, it feels full circle, he said. 

“It’s what Jews have always done. Wherever we go, we build the community we need for that moment,” said Kandel.

BBYO provided eJP with transportation and accommodation for the convention.