International convention hosts the largest gathering in the world of young, jewish teen leaders. International convention is hosted annually by the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO). It is a five day convention filled with leadership, exploring the city, live music, and of course, thousands of Jewish teens from around the world. The BBYO website describes BBYO as “the world’s leading pluralistic Jewish teen movement, fostering leadership, friendship, and Jewish identity for youth in grades 8–12”. Every year on the weekend of Presidents’ Day, 4,000 BBYO teens gather in a major city in the United States; this year it took place in Philadelphia. The main convention lasted from Thursday to Monday, allowing time for teens to have a jam-packed weekend. 70 of the 4,000 teens were from Michigan, and six of those 70 teens are Berkley High School’s students.

In order to understand the complexity of the convention, I asked four students from Berkley to share the weekend’s itinerary. Once arriving at the Philadelphia airport, teens waited a few hours for the buses to arrive. During this time, all of the teens were gathered in one part of the airport. Sophomore Lily Applebaum said, “I reconnected with all of my summer program friends.” BBYO offers a leadership-focused summer camp for teens all over the world. Applebaum went this past summer and “was eagerly waiting to reunite with them at IC”.

After the excitement of reunions, the night began with opening ceremonies. Hirschhorn explained that “everyone dressed in their state’s BBYO merch” so she “changed into [her] Michigan Region jersey”. This concept is to exemplify spirit from each region. To show further spirit, Weber explained, “We ran down the hall chanting Michigan cheers on the way to opening ceremonies.” Opening ceremonies welcome everyone into the convention with an ecstatic experience while they recognize how many different countries are there. Once at opening ceremonies, Weber said, “there was a lot of singing and dancing.” Hirschhorn recalled, “The Hamilton cast sang, some teens sang, and Loud Luxury performed.” BBYO works hard to keep the teens entertained and happy, so they get musical guests that will sweep people off their feet. On top of the musical performances, BBYO’s International Presidents introduced every country and some alumni.

The weekend got into full swing on Friday, when teens participated in something called LEADS day. LEADS is an acronym for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Advocacy, Direct Service, and Sports. Teens are assigned a LEADS day activity, and that is how they spend their day. Applebaum spent her day at the Holocaust museum where she “heard from different speakers who talked about Holocaust education, Judaism across adulthood, and starting your life as a Jewish adult”. Similarly, Hirschhorn went to a ‘music festival’ where she “heard from Israeli artists talking about music production and performing as a Jew.” At both of these activities, they learned the importance of embracing Judaism as a young leader.

Differently, Weber went to an activity where she “basically played with dogs all day”. After arriving back at the convention center from LEADS day, the movement celebrated Shabbat. There were a bunch of different teen-led services going on at this time. Weber shared, “I decided to go to the camp-themed one, which was very fun.” The camp service was a replica of how they celebrated Shabbat on the BBYO summer programs. Applebaum went to a different service, she attended the “one about Jewish culture and Israel”. The convention offers lots of different Shabbat services, allowing for pluralism which is the practice of respecting and including diverse beliefs and traditions with Judaism. Along with pluralism, the services encourage leadership as teens are planning and leading each one.

Saturday, as it is the day of rest for Jews, was a lot more relaxed and filled with Shabbat (the weekly Jewish day of rest and holiness) and Havdalah (the ceremony performed on Saturday night marking the end of Shabbat) activities. After breakfast, there were options for services again. This time, Hirschhorn was one of the teens leading a service. She noted, “I was in charge of planning and running the Jewish culture service.” She continued, “I applied for this position and it was an intensive application process in the summer with frequent meetings throughout the year.” Hirschhorn’s service was very serious and intentional, but Weber attended a more fun service: Drag Shabbat. At this service, there were drag queens. She explained, “It was very fun.” Weber said that after services “there were lots of different programs and things to learn”. Eventually, it was time for dinner and Havdalah. Applebaum said Havdalah was so special because “everyone celebrated it together.” Hirschhorn agreed and said “it was so sweet.” After Havdalah, they gave out awards. Weber explained, “My advisor, Haley, won Best Advisor of the Year, which was pretty cool.” After that, Weber attended the senior event where they talked about becoming alumni, and then it was time for bed.

To wrap up the weekend, Sunday was action-packed. Teens went on an adventure around the city, attending an assigned sight seeing activity. Weber explained Sunday to be “a very big day”. She attended skiing, while Hirschhorn and Applebaum went on a food tour of Philadelphia and to the illusions museum. While this was going on, there was a big chunk of teens who sat in international elections for ten hours which was the process to elect next year’s BBYO international leaders. Once they arrived back at the convention center, they relaxed for a little bit and then got ready for dinner and the block party. The block party is when “BBYO boulevard” (the main strip of the convention center) is filled with things to do, but the biggest thing was the concert. Weber “went back and forth between everything” but Hirschhorn was at the concert for a while. Natasha Bedingfield, Ian Asher, and Quavo performed at the concert. Hirschhorn said, “It was really fun!” After the excitement of the block party, Weber said, “It was kind of hard because I had to say a lot of goodbyes to some of my camp friends, and I don’t know the next time I’ll see them again.” Sunday was a busy day, but ended the weekend on a high note.

Now that the itinerary has been broken down, these three students recalled their favorite part of the weekend. Clearly, all three students were thrilled to see their friends, in addition to that Weber shared, “My favorite part was being able to meet so many amazing teens from all over the world.” IC offers the chance to meet other Jewish teens from all over. Weber explained, “You would never guess you would meet someone from China who’s Jewish, but somehow you do.” Hirschhorn recognized that “the block party was really fun”, but she also just loved “being surrounded by so many people who are so friendly and nice”. The block party definitely brings a lot of hype around IC, but people do not necessarily recognize the aspect of the people you meet.

IC is clearly well-anticipated and attended, but why? What makes it so special? All three students were able to answer this easily. Weber began, “I think a lot of teens look forward to being able to meet people from all over the world and hear from the amazing speakers they bring in.” BBYO brings in so many speakers and teens wait all year to hear from them. She continued, “It really feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Applebaum touched on this thought when she shared that “seeing all the Jewish teens together is really impactful”. Similarly, Hirschhorn stated, “It is so satisfying to be around so many Jewish kids and everyone is like-minded and has similar goals. Everyone is sort of a leader in their own community.” Hirschhorn’s view on IC really proves why it is so special. Weber added to Hirschhorn’s thoughts, “Being in one space with so many Jewish teens is such an unreal feeling. You walk in thinking you already know a lot, and you leave knowing ten times more about the Jewish community all over the world.”

IC sure is filled with fun concerts, reunions with friends, Judaism, and adventures, but the deeper meaning behind IC is leadership. Weber began, “It’s honestly unbelievable how many teens are involved in planning activities and running programs. You get to learn so much about how to plan programs alongside other people, how to communicate better, and how to really step into leadership roles.” A lot of people think IC is just about meeting new people and having fun, but in reality teens get a whole leadership experience. Hirschhorn agreed, “IC allows people to really be in their element and plan events that they are truly interested in.” On another side of things, Applebaum explained how “IC gives you people skills, you learn to meet new people.” Behind the fun of IC, there is truly so much for a teen to learn. As Weber said, “The leadership that BBYO brings out in teens, especially at IC, is just incredible.”

IC gives you an experience you can not get anywhere else; the concept of being surrounded by 4,000 jewish teens is mind boggling. For this reason, all three Berkley students highly recommend IC. Weber shared, “There are so many amazing opportunities that you truly can’t get anywhere else.” Hirschhorn added, “You will never have an experience like this again; everyone around you is motivated.” To outsiders, IC seems like a fun, activity-filled weekend, but Hirschhorn, Weber, and Applebaum were able to give the inside scoop. Weber ended her remarks with the fact that “there are so many things IC does for you that you don’t even realize.”