BBYO’s commitment to helping all Jewish teens find impactful ways to make a difference is so inspiring. We are given so many opportunities, resources, and action items to make the world a better place successfully. While BBYO is so much fun, we also cover many profound and essential topics that need attention. Through Jewish values such as Tikkun Olam (repair the world) and so many others, we as Jewish teens have an obligation and responsibility to tackle these issues. Luckily, BBYO is the perfect place to do this because of the fantastic social action structures we have developed for Jewish teens to utilize worldwide!

We do simple things as Alephs and BBGs to support the things we believe in, like advocating for a chapter StandUp cause or participating in J-Serve programming when that time of year comes. Additionally, the particular document that changed my entire view of social action was the S.P.A.C.E. acronym and precisely the AWESOME document that holds information about creating and participating in meaningful activities better our world successfully.

To summarize all of the insanely valuable information inside this handy resource, the five paths of civic action that BBYO encourages you to use include Service, Philanthropy, Advocacy, Community Organizing, and Social Entrepreneurship. While you might already know what some of these methods are, I’m sure there are at least one or two that you might not be as familiar with, so I recommend that you go read about each in the resource linked above!

Once you get familiar with these five unique civic action models, the opportunities are endless! Whether it be in or out of BBYO, this knowledge can help you explore your passions, stay true to the Jewish values that guide your decisions in BBYO, and so much more. You can even use the SPACE acronym to help your chapter or home community explore your chosen StandUp cause and inspire other Jewish teens to make a meaningful difference.