How BBYO Connected Me to My Jewish Identity

November 15, 2024
Nia Samake

Aurora, Colorado, United States

Class of 2028

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In February of 2010, I was born into a multiethnic family. Raised with my mother's religion, I have spent ten years attending a Jewish private school and ten years feeling a sense of estrangement from my community. Being Black in a Jewish environment made me consistently feel like I was not Jewish enough, and being Jewish in a Black environment made me feel consistently not Black enough. I spent years of my childhood feeling like there was no place where I truly belonged. January 21, 2023, I took my first step into a BBYO event after days of convincing from friends and peers, and a deeply rooted fear of missing out on the last-minute decision was made to attend RMR’s spring term kickoff. Two steps into the doors of the event, I was met with countless familiar faces. The night went on, and I paid no thought to anything except how long the line for go-karting was. The following month was spent tracking behind my friends to each and every chapter rush, only concerned with the fear we might be separated. February 29, while attending a school basketball game, I got the heart-dropping news that I had been placed into a different chapter than the rest of my best friends. I spent hours asking around about how to switch chapters and who I could contact. After hours of sulking and pouting, I attended the intake night for Celeste Sobol BBG #1210. Fearful and full of anxiety, I walked into the event and was immediately met with smiles and hugs. Throughout the next few months, due to holidays, I was forced to attend events without the one person who was placed into 1210 with me, making small talk unavoidable. I quickly realized that my fear, sadness, and anger at the staff for being placed into 1210 had faded. I began building relationships with board members and other members in training. Slowly but surely, I began to look forward to seeing my newly made friends. The connection was instant, and the thought of knowing I had just discovered relationships and bonds that would follow me through this life and the next overwhelmed any negativity or fear I had felt before. I finally found a place where I would not be judged or ridiculed, a place where I fit in. Through RMR, Celeste Sobol BBG, and the B'nai Brith Youth Organization, I have found a missing piece of my identity as a BBG. They say BBYO truly becomes one's heart and home. But for me, BBYO has become the exact definition of heart and home.

Nia is a BBG from Aurora, CO, and she enjoys playing volleyball

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.

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