As the world’s leading pluralistic Jewish youth movement, BBYO has the ability to provide more meaningful Jewish experiences to more Jewish teens worldwide. We fulfill this commitment ambitiously and tenaciously because our efforts help unify the Jewish community, even during polarized and trivial times. When there are opportunities to build bridges, we pursue them without question. In honor of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, BBYO will take another step toward bringing the Jewish youth of the world together to honor the memory of our ancestors.
BBYO has recently partnered with an Israeli organization called Zikaron B’Salon, or Living Room Memories. This organization works tirelessly to ensure that younger generations are aware of the gravity of the Shoah. To do this, people host Holocaust survivors, their families, or friends in intimate settings while they engage in meaningful conversations about their stories of survival and the resilience of the Jewish people. In doing so we remind ourselves that we, the Jewish people, have an obligation to follow through on the promise of “Never Again”.
The sentiment of Zikaron B’Salon is incredibly powerful, which is why BBYO has established Zikaron B’Salon as our newest chapter initiative. Over the years this chapter initiative will come into fruition as one of the most prominent of its kind. This is a vision that we can turn into action with help from our rising leaders across the movement. We are calling on those who feel ready to step up, plan, and lead at the forefront of the Zikaron B’Salon initiative.
To those who think they’re up for the challenge and are willing to commit to helping write one of the newest chapters of our movement’s history, take the first step and join us. Some people watch history, others write it. If you want to co-write the next pages with us contact us at shaliach@bbyo.org and shlicha@bbyo.org and we will work with you to put pen to paper as we organize your community’s first Zikaron B’Salon event.
Liam McLean & Emma Herman
30th Grand Aleph Shaliach and 30th International Sh'licha
All views expressed on content written for The Shofar represent the opinions and thoughts of the individual authors. The author biography represents the author at the time in which they were in BBYO.