▪

asked him to be an adviser for
their activities. They saw other
fraternal organizations — all with
Greek letters and some with
restrictions against Jewish mem-
bers — and wanted to have their
own group. Beber agreed, provid-
ed they had a greater purpose
than simply social interaction.
Beber sought to connect the
youth group with a larger organi-
zation in order for the boys to
have a place to go when they out-
grew it. He linked the group with
District 6 of B'nai B'rith
International, and received a
charter on May 3, 1924. Using
the Hebrew letters aleph zadik
aleph (AZA), a junior group,
with members between 16 and
21 years old, was sanctioned by
B'nai B'rith.
Word spread fast. Upon hear-
ing of the new association, hun-
dreds of other Jewish teen groups
from every state flocked to B'nai
B'rith districts, quickly gaining
charters, voting for board mem-
bers and organizing activities.
In Grand Rapids, the first
Michigan BBYO chapter received its
charter on July 24, 1924, the fifth to
be awarded by the international orga-
nization. Detroit was a little slower to
follow, with Jess Feiler's group grab-
bing the 63rd charter on Sept. 11,
1927. Seventeen other Michigan AZA
groups formed before 1938.
Girls followed suit. Although many
groups already had formed with
names like BZB or B'nai B'rith Junior
League, they began to ally themselves
with B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG) in 1927
in San Francisco. A Detroit chapter
started in 1945, and 23 Michigan
chapters followed in the next six years.
At first, the groups attracted large
numbers. The AZA and BBG groups
operated out of public high schools,
synagogues, temples and individual
homes. Chapters competed against
each other athletically, jointly held
dances and other social events, and
raised funds independently. Members
gathered for yearbook photos and gave
their time to charitable projects.
Lifetime friendships were formed.
Feiler credits his AZA experience
with launching his interest in Jewish
organizations. After he outgrew
BBYO, he continued to help form
chapters, 18 in total, across the state
and devoted countless hours to
many Jewish organizations. He also
credits his involvement with finding
his first wife, Ceil, a member of a

High-stepping
at Talent Show, early 1960s

.

'

▪

•

BBG group in Windsor.
"I am 91 and still interested in
Jewish activities," he said, adding,
"Those were good times."
World War II was the first threat to
membership. As young men were
drafted or enlisted'to serve in the
1940s, the only members remaining
were those below enlistment age. The
age limits of AZA were adjusted to
encourage younger membership.
Later, Conservative and Reform
congregations that once supported
BBYO group meetings in their halls
began to favor their own United
Synagogue Youth and National
Federation of Temple Youth groups.
Then public schools began to ban
non-school-related groups, which
included BBYO.
Before that time, "wherever you
could find Jewish kids, you could find
chapters," said Arnie Weiner, senior
executive director of Michigan BBYO.
"Now it isn't like that."
The major challenges facing the
organization today are money and
competition for members.
In the past two decades, B'nai
B'rith International (BBI) has separat-
ed from some of its offspring and
reduced funding for others. The Anti-
Defamation League and Jewish
Women International (formerly B'nai
B'rith Women) are now independent.
Hillel Foundation, supporting
Jewish life on American college cam-

puses, still receives some funding from
BBI but not as much as in the past.
Rabbi Rick Kirschen, associate direc-
tor of Hillel at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor, said a BBI
endowment fund benefiting Michigan
Hillel organizations accounts for about
one-thirteenth of his annual budget.
"It is a nice amount, but it is
nowhere near our total budget," he
said, adding that the rest of the U-M
Hillel's annual funding now comes
from the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit ($213,000 for
1999-2000, about one-quarter of the
budget) as well as fund-raising events
and individual pledges.
For BBYO, funding from BBI was
reduced in the early 1980s, prompting
the local group
to form an
alliance with the
Jewish
Community
Center of
Metropolitan
Detroit. BBYO
later applied for
funding from
the Jewish
Federation.
Currently,
BBYO is doing
a better job at
finding funding
for itself.
Although the

local organization still receives
just over 40 percent of its annual
budget ($281,600 for 1998-1999)
from BBI, Federation supplies
about 25 percent. Fund-raising
campaigns by the board and local
BBI groups supply a little less
than 25 percent, while a local
endowment, tributes, dues and
program fees round out the
income.
"We hope that Federation is
always there for us," Weiner said.
The new BBI president, former
Detroiter Richard D. Heideman,
a lawyer in Washington, D.C.,
intends to keep BBYO part of the
BBI structure. He said he is dri-
ven by personal experience — he
is the past international president
of BBYO, went through years
with the youth group, met his
wife at a training session and had
three daughters belong to BBG.
By creating a BBYO alumni
network and putting new empha-
sis on BBI's Young Leadership
Action Network, Heideman plans
to tap into new fund-raising
resources to increase funding for
BBYO in the coming years.
"I am personally committed and
determined to guide the growth of
BBYO as a part of the re-energized
B'nai B'rith International operations,"
he said.
The other big hurdle lies in recruit-
ing youth. Michigan BBYO solved
one problem, of gaining the attention
of seventh- and eighth-graders, by cre-
ating the Teen Connection, a group
designed to attract b'nai mitzvah
teens. In 1988, when it started, Teen
Connection attracted 41 participants;
this year, almost 200 are enrolled.
But another challenge remains:
competition from area youth groups,
like USY programs at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek and Adat, Shalom

8/20
1999

Detroit Jewish News 101