BBYO UK & Ireland is a part of BBYO, a peer-led, Zionist youth movement. It is open to Jewish youth between the ages of 13 and 18 who want to take part in its activities. The members form local chapters, of which 3 are situated in the United Kingdom and Ireland, formerly BBYO District 15. The members are encouraged to play an active role in both the Jewish and general community. Globally BBYO reaches over 80,000 Jewish teens.https://web.archive.org/web/20090426181437/http://www.jfind.co.uk/articles/BBYO.aspx JFind.co.uk (Archived link) However, as of Veida 2023, BBYO UK & BBYO Ireland have split into two distinct regions.

History

In 1923, a group of Jewish boys in Omaha, Nebraska organised their own fraternity after they had been refused entry to local fraternities that often excluded Jews. After a few months, a second chapter was founded in Kansas City. Thanks to the vision of adviser Sam Beber, who dreamt of a global Jewish movement, on May 3, 1924,"About Us: Narrative History", BBYO.org a meeting took place and the Grand Order of the Aleph Zadik Aleph was born. The organisation rapidly began to grow and by April 1925 there were 7 chapters. Sam Beber approached the B'nai B'rith National Convention for support and AZA was adopted as the B'nai B'rith primary youth programme. At the same time, small sororities began to spring up across North America, some using the B'nai B'rith Girls name. It was not until 1944 that, under the leadership of Anita Perlman, BBG was officially established as an international Order, and recognised by B'nai B'rith. The B'nai B'rith Youth Organisation was officially born.

In March 1940, Louis E Wigoder, an American living in Leeds founded Pioneer AZA #481, BBYO's first chapter in the United Kingdom. In June 1940, a similar story unfolded in Ireland, as an AZA chapter was founded in Dublin by American M. Gordon. In October 1943, Centenary AZA was established in Birmingham thanks to the hard work of American soldier Private William Katz and by 1944, further AZA chapters had been established in London. 1944 was also an important year for BBG as its first chapters opened in Leeds and Birmingham. By 1949, more chapters had been founded.

BBYO was now big enough in the UK and Ireland to hold its first ever National Convention, in Hull. Hans Blanc was elected to lead the first National Executive, as the first National President, of BBYO District 15. BBYO District 15 continued to grow and sent its first members to AZA and BBG International Conventions, in 1955 and 1956 respectively.

By 1966, the AZA and BBG chapters had become joint BBYO chapters and BBYO District 15 had grown enough to need an office and its first ever member of staff. Janet Ross worked as BBYO's first National Director from Hillel House in London. In 1973, members from London, Hull, Manchester, Coventry and Nottingham chapters took part in BBYO's first ever Israel tour. In 1981, Steven Kron, from Dublin, became the first BBYO member from the UK & Ireland to hold a position on the International Board, as the Grand Aleph Shaliach.

In the 1990s, BBYO began to become more independent from B'nai B'rith. In 1997, BBYO officially became a Zionist movement, passing a motion at National Convention, and the ideologies took the format that we know today. In 2002, BBYO in North America became independent from B'nai B'rith and reformed as BBYO, Inc. Over the course of the next decade, BBYO District 15 became known as BBYO UK & Ireland, in line with BBYO across the rest of the world. 2002 also saw the first summer camp take place in the UK and in 2003, it was given the Hebrew name Shorashim, meaning 'roots'. In 2008, after over 40 years at Hillel House BBYO moved into its own office in Hendon. In 2014, BBYO UK & Ireland signed a historic partnership agreement with BBYO Inc formalising their partnership and cementing their place as part of the global BBYO family.

Operation The whole district of UK & Ireland is led by the National Executive (team of six) which is elected by the members at an annual event called National Veida. The National Executive is made up of people usually aged 15–17. The National Executive supports the chapters as well as runs national events for the members.

BBYO UKI also has an Executive Director, a Head of Programmes, and a Programme Coordinator who make up the professional team to support the National Exec. BBYO "elders" (bogrim) make up the Youth Commission and they support the chapters and the National Exec in an advisory role.

BBYO runs a number of events national events through the year.The Official BBYO Group for UK and Ireland Facebook A national event means that it is open to all chapters.

Chapters The chapters typically hold their meetings every Sunday in the evening. The chapters have their own individual identity; the activities and programmes vary between chapters.

The four active chapters in the United Kingdom and Ireland are (as of 2026): Borehamwood (Kehilah), Mill Hill (Deganya), North London (Mercaz), South Manchester (Weizmann), Bristol (Ro'esh).

The following chapters are inactive: Barnet (Masada, inactive in 2017), Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bushey (Sababa, inactive in 2018, formerly located in and called Pinner), Nottingham (Yoni, inactive in 2017), and Watford (Gesher, inactive in 2022).

Chapter Executive Board Positions In the UK and Ireland each chapter has up to six board members. These are the members that are in charge of running the programmes and looking after all the other members in that chapter. As BBYO is peer-led the positions are taken up by the older members of the group, usually aged between 15 and 17. There is also a national executive board, and the national president is in charge of the presidents of the different chapters. The next national executive board is voted in halfway through the current national executive's terms at National Veida.

There are six positions with different jobs to do: +PositionJobNational executive boardDeganya executive boardKehilah executive boardMercaz executive boardWeizmann Executive boardRo'esh Executive BoardPresidentEnsures that the executive work together as a team to fulfil their aims and further their chapter and their movement.Evie Lightman and Evie Baderman Evie LightmanJosie BrattmanAbigailDaniel LeshemZippyVice-presidentThe Vice's job is recruitment, retention (via hosting members), and social media. They coordinate and enacts grassroots membership campaigns for their chapter and their movement. Develops recruitment strategies for events.Noa HammermanEvie BadermanNoa HammermanEleanor KrushnerNate LeinhardtN/AAdmin & FinanceThe administrator's role is focused around organisation. They strengthen the branding of BBYO through merchandising and advertising, while organising events to attract members. The administrator makes sure security is organised throughout the year, creates chapter merchandise, organises locations, keeps proper records of members, chapter meetings and executive meetings creates budgets and is in charge of overall treasury. Lexi SidneyLexi SidneyN/ALeo CoenZak CousenJohnnyProgrammerWorks with members to ensure a high quality of programming every week. Ensures that all programmes are submitted to the Nation Program Bank.Ariella HutchinsonFraser MargolinAmelieNoa EbellJosh GlynneMannyJewish and Zionism Awareness OfficerEnsures that all members are informed and updated on matters of Judaism and Israel through the use of programs, events and resources.Tamara LeslieTamara LeslieNathan MontefiorePoppyN/ABenSocial Action and Causes OfficerFacilitates activism and social action. Ensures that their chapter and their movement play an active role in Mitzvah Day and J-Serve.Nathan MontefioreDaniel SeatonRafi MellishPoppyGiselle CowanEyal

Events

Event name DateChapter electionsSeptemberKick OffSeptember Chapter Leadership Training Course (CLTC) OctoberMitzvah DayNovember Fall Fest [Not running as of 2019] November Back 2 BBYO (Sixth form Shabbaton) [Not running as of 2019] NovemberGlobal ShabbatDecember Winter Convention (Machane Choref) December Spring Kick Off (formally District Chapters' Ball) JanuaryChapter Development DayJanuary Beginnings and Belong (New Members Weekend) [Not running as of 2019] FebruaryNational VeidaAprilJ-ServeApril 2nd Chapter Leadership Training Course [Not running as of 2019] AprilFounders' DayJune Israel Tour (for Year 11s post-GCSE) July–August Me'ir Israel (Second timers visit to Israel) [Not running as of 2019] August Shorashim (Summer camp) July - AugustNETC (formally District Leadership Training Course)August

References

External links

Official websites Official UK & Ireland Website Official BBYO Website

Official social networking sites BBYO UK Instagram Twitter Group 25/26 National Presidents Instagram

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