AZA and BBG, I am excited to share that I have officially gone global on the #NextCenturyTour! Since I last checked in, I made it through some of the Midwest, sauntered through Texas, popped over the Atlantic to visit a couple of regions across Europe, and stopped by our friends in Red River Region. As a movement, we've closed out summer early bird registration, rallied for a historic #givingbbyoday, held more than 25 conventions, and continued to make our chapters stronger. Let's just say it's been a good month or two! As has become routine, I'll share some about different conversations from the past stretch of travel and what I've learned from the regions I get to visit.

Arriving in Wisconsin, I rolled in on a Wednesday afternoon expecting a calm night of board meetings and steering that developed into one of the more memorable evenings of the term. After the regional board wrapped up their board meeting, I huddled with the AZA board in Wisco and we got to work planning separates for their convention. Different ideas were thrown out: "Let's talk about antisemitism," "I want the Alephs to feel connected," "What if we use our Bluebooks to the fullest." Many topics came up in the brainstorm and then we decided to do one thing: we went to the Wisconsin archives.

As one of the oldest regions in the order, Wisconsin Region has an extensive regional archives with pictures from a national AZA convention from 1933, boxes (yes boxes) of VHS tapes with chapter songs and cheers on them, and pins galore! Of the many things in the archives as well were the materials from a former Milwaukee Council Godol where he left letters from his time at Perlman, the equivalent of his blueprint book, and skits that he led all the way back in 1963. As we searched through old speeches and learning materials, it became clear just how connected we are as a movement to our past. There were daily schedules nearly identical to what we have today next to speeches that closed with "undying love" just as we do. Through opening an old binder, we got a glimpse into what it meant to be an Aleph 60 years ago and realized through that that it wasn't so different from what it means to be an Aleph today.

Following my time in Milwaukee, I swung through Lonestar for their regional convention and Big Apple Region for some chapter programming before heading to Manhattan for the fall Board of Directors meeting. In these meetings, Mercedes and I represent the order, shaping the direction of our movement and pursuing growth opportunities for the movement. Through the conversations on data, the strategic plan, and teen leadership, nothing became clearer than this: Teen voices will shape the future of our people. In those meetings, I sat at the table with philanthropic leaders and culture shapers for the Jewish people, contributing equally alongside them. Not only will BBYO continue to be a space dedicated to uplifting teen voices, it will continue to grow avenues and opportunities for us to contribute to our communities.

Leaving my time with the Board of Directors, I hopped across the pond! I started in Amsterdam before swinging on down to Belgrade and then joining a group of teens from Hagoshrim, a partner organization across Switzerland, for a Holocaust education trip. That trip led into ELTI (European Leadership Training Institute) in Krakow, Poland before I closed the trip in Warsaw. Throughout my 2 weeks visiting communities, talking to teens, and listening, I started to learn much about the history of communities across Europe.

My biggest takeaway from the trip is that the strength and passion of teen leaders across Europe is inspirational. Despite environments where teens' Judaism is often hidden or downplayed for safety, they are prouder than ever to be Jewish. In Amsterdam, we discussed building a stronger future for their chapter and expanding beyond the city while in Belgrade we hosted programs for teens from across the country. Not only was passion clear, but vision for ways to grow, expand, and continue enriching their chapters were put on the board.

This was all further affirmed throughout the ELTI! From Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning, 135 chapter and regional leaders from across Europe joined for a weekend of service, ritual and tradition, leadership training, and community building. For those of you who are not yet tapped in, BBYO IN EUROPE IS LIT! 1 weekend? 6 spirit circles! 1 weekend? 3 different community service opportunities! 1 weekend? 4 different programming tracks including a song leading track! Throw in electric opening ceremonies, outdoor Havdalah, and inductions, and you have one of the best conventions I've ever been to. Each person I met had passion in different ways and an exciting outlook for how they want to enrich BBYO in their own communities. Across the continent, chapters host innovative programming on a regular basis and serve as meaningful representatives of the Jewish future in their own cities. The sky is the limit for how these regions will continue to grow and I am excited to continue supporting them on their growth journeys!

The close to my time on the road came with a visit to Red River's MIT/AIT overnight and an AMAZING close to the summer early bird deadline! Right now, teens are registering more and more for summer programs! I want to be clear: THESE PROGRAMS ARE GOING TO SELL OUT SOON! We are raising capacity on ILSI, nearing 40 spots left for North Americans on ILTC, and are staring at just 8 AZA spots left for CLTC 3! Guys, this isn't a joke, you need to get your friends registered! When Mercedes and I spoke to the summer coordinator team in the closeout to early bird, our message was loud and clear: Records are not simply meant to be broken, they are meant to be shattered. Together, we will continue doing that as we sell these programs out and move towards exciting new opportunities in the future for Alephs and BBGs across the order.

#GivingBBYOday was an amazing reminder of our strength as an order, raising more than 1 million dollars in a single day. Our strength reverberates across the planet as people are taking notice. Hinei anachnu, we are here BBYO, and we are louder than ever before. It is so exciting to look to the next stretch of travel and build our movement even stronger!

Frats,
Aleph Logan Bennett Reich, 101st Grand Aleph Godol