On February 13-14, walking through long corridors overflowing with thousands of Jewish teens singing, dancing, and generally enjoying being among their peers gave this baby boomer, old enough to be their grandfather, immense joy and a much-needed infusion of optimism for the future. I was at the Philadelphia Convention Center to attend BBYO’s annual International Convention (IC). Even though I spent my professional career in the organized Jewish community, most of it at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, I knew very little about this organization, which has been bringing together high school age Jewish children from across the world for over 100 years.

As I looked at these kids’ faces, I reflected on how dramatically different my experience as a Jewish teen in America was compared to theirs. Antisemitism existed in my time, sure. But at much less intensity than these days. When I was their age, Israel, for me, was represented by the idealized Exodus hero Ari Ben Canaan, the brave Israel, a little David defeating a huge and hostile Arab world in the 1967 Six Day War, a conflict followed by regular expressions by Israel of the desire for peace. For these teens, Israel is a far-right government that includes extremists Ben-Gvir and Smotrich; accusations of war crimes in Gaza, even genocide; and almost sixty years of occupying the Palestinian people with no end in sight. Throughout my life Democrats and Republicans disagreed over policy, but no elected leader ever challenged America’s basic commitment to the constitution and our democratic institutions. The America of their youth elected an administration sliding toward authoritarianism.

I came to the event with questions. How much impact was increased antisemitism having on this Generation Z? According to the recent American Jewish Committee survey on the subject, many Jews of all ages, especially the young, have felt the necessity to change behaviors out of fear of antisemitism. To what extent was the vilification of Israel affecting the teens’ relationship with the Jewish state? How are they reacting to the hyper polarization in America, especially revolving around threats to democracy? BBYO is a 501c3 organization, so I didn’t expect political partisanship, nor did I see any evidence of it. In an opening keynote address, Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor Josh Shapiro focused on the strength of his Jewish identity, not on politics, and declared, “I want you to wear your Stars of David with pride. That will give strength to others.”

I did have an opportunity to chat informally with three girls about antisemitism. Two of them, from the same school in a city with a small Jewish community, matter-of-factly mentioned that their principal was an antisemite. One offered that she wanted to attend a Jewish college one day, a Reform Jewish college. When I told her such a creature didn’t exist, she countered that then maybe she’d go to a Conservative college. It saddened me to think that these kids had to worry about finding a safe antisemitism-free landing spot to pursue higher education, a concern alien to my 1960s generation. A session I attended touched on the challenge of defining antisemitism — yes, even these teens were expected to grapple with a controversy bedeviling their elders. One participant said his classmates had pointed to his chest shouting, “Jew, Jew, Jew.”

BBYO officials are quite aware of this challenge. The organization has a partnership with the ADL to monitor and respond to incidents of antisemitic harassment. They also believe that the best formula for dealing with antisemitism is to instill in these youth the necessary self-confidence to stand up for themselves when confronted by bullies. Daniel Reinstein, a senior headed next year to the University of Florida, embodies this spirit. He said, “BBYO teaches us to be leaders, to be people who will go out into the world and stand up for what we believe.”

Debbie Shemony, BBYO’s chief marketing and brand officer, noted that in the organization’s own survey of the teens in its program, 75% reported having experienced antisemitism directly. “It’s often toxic in their environment,” she asserted. “When they come here,” Shemony added, “it’s like a deep breath. For five days they can be loud and scream, and they don’t have to hide their Jewish identity.”

With respect to Israel, to its credit, BBYO featured a program with Ahmed Alkhatib, a thirty-five-year-old Palestinian American originally from Gaza who lost many members of his family in the war. Despite his family’s tragedy, he has become a vocal advocate for two states and reconciliation with Israel. After the session, Ahmed, who leads Realign for Palestine at the Atlantic Council, and I had a chance to discuss ways his message might gain greater traction in policy-making and public opinion circles. Ahmed was joined by Yirmiyahu Danzig, an Israeli influencer who shared the same vision of a two-state solution. I was glad the teens were exposed to their stories of resilience and hope.

While BBYO fundamentally supports Israel as a Jewish democratic state, it allows for diversity of opinion. It “encourages teens to connect with Israel on their own terms while being respectful of their different perspectives,” and “offers teens opportunities to engage with and understand the conversations and debates taking place about Israel in various forums…” (From BBYO’s website)

About one year ago, BBYO received a $2.5 million dollar grant to establish the Miller Institute for Democracy, whose goal is to enable Jewish teens to explore the role of media in democracy, develop skills for civil discourse, and engage democratic practices. This initiative came along none too soon given what’s happening in the country today. The Institute sponsored a session at Philadelphia’s Independence Visitor Center titled “Turning Passion into Progress: Democracy in Action.” Seth Bluestein, Republican member of the Philadelphia City Commission, the body charged with responsibility for running a free and fair election process, described the threats he and his colleagues faced from “Stop the Steal” protesters following the 2020 election. Local and state Republicans who stand up to Trump and MAGA are genuine American heroes in my opinion. Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, led the teens in discussions about the importance of coalition building to advance one’s policy objectives. Bluestein and Fried are both BBYO alums.

Harry Enten, CNN’s chief data analyst, was keynote speaker at the democracy session. He observed that 60-80% of the American public yearns for TRUTH, for the facts. Showing off his distinctive personality style and humor, which has made him a CNN favorite, he urged the teens who might want to break into media work to keep that as their north star. If they do, he quipped, “you’ll be able to sleep at night.” Enten also revealed that Neil Sedaka is his uncle, a factoid that no doubt flew over the heads of the teens but was meaningful to me.

Walking out of the center at the conclusion of the session, I glanced at Independence Hall in the distance. We are about to celebrate the foundational document signed in that building 250 years ago this coming July 4th, while the country is gripped in a struggle to defend our democracy. It is a sacred struggle which must be successful, not only for the sake of these precious Jewish teens who face a complex and difficult world when they leave the bubble of a BBYO International Convention, but for all of us. With the likes of Bluestein and Fried in positions of power, and with organizations like BBYO, I am optimistic.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)