D.C. Council

After weeks of traveling between the coasts of the U.S., I made it back to the East Coast for some time with Northern Region East. Starting out in D.C., we had our BBYO Board of Directors meetings. It was an amazing experience to be able to present my experiences and ideas for the year and do a deep dive into the future of BBYO. We also had some fun with the NRE presidents at a mini-golf place, wearing our brand-new, fashionable BBYO visors. I also had the opportunity to go to the Holocaust Museum in D.C. with some members of the board, and it was an incredibly meaningful experience. After the Board of Directors business came to a close, it was time to be with the D.C. Council. There were several exciting events I attended while in D.C., including meeting with the Capitol Hill Chapter, AZA casino night, and lots of council board bonding. It was amazing to see how much time the teens put into meticulously planning their events, and the excitement and engagement paid off. After watching the results of the U.S. Presidential election come in, it was time to take the train up to Baltimore.

Baltimore Council

In Baltimore Council, we had even more incredible events. We started the week off with a trip to see the Ravens beat the Bengals at a riveting football game. The very next night, we had a great chapter Shabbat with Chesapeake AZA and their homemade, laser-etched wooden coasters. It was great to see the balance between celebrating the holiday of Shabbat and spending quality time with each other. Lastly, we had some regional board hangout time featuring delicious food.

JFNA General Assembly

After taking the train back down from Baltimore, I arrived in D.C. to join hundreds of Jewish professionals from around the continent for the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly. The GA was an incredible chance to share my experience as a teen in a post-October 7th world and work with community professionals to create safe spaces for their Jewish teens. I had the opportunity to sit on a panel alongside other Jewish teen professionals, and we advocated for the needs of Jewish teens amid rising antisemitism. I also had the opportunity to speak at the Stand Together Rally and address the thousands of community members and allies who came together to celebrate Jewish joy.

NoVA Council

After the jam-packed JFNA GA, I crossed into Virginia to spend some time with NoVa. We had an incredible AZA council board dinner to kick off the visit and talked about all of the excitement and anticipation surrounding the upcoming Regional Convention. I also met with the full council board and Moe Wittenberg at a staple Cane’s dinner. We talked about all of the programming in NoVa and how we can continue to increase engagement across the region. Lastly, I ran one of my ritual nights for the Alephs of the region, and it was super fun to see everyone engaging with the program.

Eastern Convention

What a weekend. This was my first convention of the tour, and it set the bar high. This was a combined regional convention and new member overnight with tons of incredible programming. I loved reuniting with international board members and the six Eastern presidents to bring in Shabbat. During Shabbat, I was re-Bar Mitzvahed! With an incredible Shabbat service, we went into the day of rest with lots of energy to enjoy being together. After a fun photo scavenger hunt on Friday night, we made our way to the museum the next morning for programming. While the AITs and MITs split into their mock chapters to learn valuable new member skills, I sat alongside a panel of notable Jewish figures to talk about our experiences since October 7th. It was fulfilling to see my story resonate with so many teens. In the afternoon, I joined the new member track while the regional track had a variety of different Limudim to attend. We broke into AZA and BBG and went through some of the vital history and traditions of the independent fraternities. Telling the story of the 14 boys in Omaha to teens for their first time is always a special moment, and the eager questions following gave me so much excitement for the future of the Order. Later that night, during inductions, so many teens came forward to share their story and fully stepped into the brotherhood of AZA. The whole weekend, the energy did not stop—from the wedding to Shuk, to summer promotion, to the dance—everyone was excited through the engaging programming.

North Carolina Council

After sleeping off the convention exhaustion, I was ready to jump back into Eastern and meet with the teens. We kicked off with an underclassmen dinner, talking about all of the incredible memories from the convention. Seeing the next generation of Alephs having such fond memories of their first convention brought me so much joy, and I loved hearing their favorite parts of the weekend. We next headed to the JCC for a great AZA joint program. After some fun ultimate frisbee and Jewpardy, I spent time with some of the chapter leaders talking about how we can continue to improve programming. This was the perfect segue into our next night of the full Charlotte programming workshop. We worked through how to build WOW programming and the importance of spending time on each individual facet of the program to make it exciting for anyone who would come.

Virginia Council

After NCC, I went up to their sibling council to the north. In Virginia, we did a ton of summer promotion. Night 1 was with all of the Richmond chapter boards. We talked some more about the exciting convention weekend just a few days before and discussed summer programs with all of their leaders! From freshmen to seniors, there was a huge span of leadership demographics in Richmond, which meant a ton of different summer programs they could go on. The next night was just with the fine Alephs of Monarchs AZA and their amazing parents. We did a Q&A about all things BBYO and had time to be together and celebrate Shabbat. Lastly, we took a trip out to Virginia Beach to meet with the other chapters of the council. We played some intense basketball and talked even more about summer programs.

See you in 2025!

I have a full month of travel coming up to round out the end of 2024. It has been amazing getting to see so many strong BBYO communities, and make sure to follow @azagodol for even more updates!