In February, some 3,500 Jewish teens from 52 countries will gather in Philadelphia for the BBYO International Convention, the organization’s “Super Bowl,” so to speak.
“It’s one of those moments where you realize you’re a part of something that’s so much bigger than yourself,” said Lauren Greenberg, senior regional director for BBYO’s DC Council.
Over 150 teens from Washington-area BBYO chapters will travel north to attend the largest gathering of Jewish teens in the world.
Greenberg told Washington Jewish Week that having the convention be a car or train ride away “really makes it more accessible for our teens. We have higher participation when it’s closer to home and easier to travel to.”
The Jewish teen movement’s gathering from Feb. 12-16 brings together approximately 5,000 people in all, for what the organization states is the second-largest Jewish communal event in North America.
“I think my favorite moment is always our opening ceremonies. You get to go into the room with your delegation, and there’s always music, sometimes there’s a little mini-concert happening, the teens are performing, and everyone’s so excited,” said Greenberg.
Greenberg said every year the convention hosts a number of guest speakers and performers: “I think the teens are excited always for our guest speakers and performers. They’re always trying to guess who it is.”
At BBYO’s 2025 convention in Denver, notable guests included actor Giancarlo Esposito, Brigham Young University quarterback Jake Retzlaff, author Sarah Hurwitz and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
While the 2026 conference is close to home, the 2027 event will be even closer: Baltimore.
“Not having to travel is a huge accessibility piece for our teens,” Greenberg said.
“This is our Super Bowl. Every February, delegates, teen leaders from across the globe, as well as community leaders, executives, philanthropists and a lot of other folks that support Jewish teen life and care about the Jewish future gather for this conference that feels like a festival, that feels like a leadership-immersive experience, that feels like an annual meeting. It feels a little bit like a Jewish Teen South-by-Southwest,” said Ian Kandel, the senior VP of movement building at BBYO, referring to the collection of music and media festivals that takes place in Austin, Texas, each year.
BBYO, originally the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, is the “world’s largest Jewish youth movement,” according to Kandel, a pluralistic movement reaching around 70,000 Jewish teens across 750 communities in 65 countries. The organization works to “involve more Jewish teens in more meaningful Jewish experiences,” according to its website.
Kandel said that the convention is so popular because teens of today want to attend events that are bigger than themselves and enrich their lives through interpersonal connections. He doesn’t think the Oct. 7 attacks and their aftermath are the reason for the convention’s increased popularity, as it was a trend BBYO saw for years prior to 2023.
“We do not believe that the enthusiasm for BBYO or the International Convention specifically is a result of what’s hard or scary about being Jewish, but it’s the best of being Jewish. We have a proud tradition. We have a lot of opportunities to share goodness and meaningful contribution with the world. This is one of the ways in which teens who happen to be Jewish get to access that,” Kandel said.
The senior VP said the interest displayed by teens around the world is a positive sign for the next generation.
“It’s really impressive that at this day and age, where everyone’s always bemoaning whether the next generation of the Jewish community is going to really care about being connected and really care about leading and really care about contributing, we have built something that teens fight aggressively to get a spot and be a part of,” Kandel said.
“I think it’s very cool to see what BBYO is capable of,” Greenberg said. “We all put on our own smaller regional conventions and things like that, which are great and we have aspects that we pull in from international convention to our own. But the scope and the scale of international convention is so huge … creating lifelong memories for all these teens, I think, is a really special opportunity.”
