During the Hudson Valley Region's Spring Convention of 2024, influencer Max Cohen paid a visit. Over the months prior to SpringCo, I had been engrossed in watching videos from influencers like Max Cohen, Chloe Hechter, and Lost Tribe. These videos spoke to me because they were just like my life. My family would go crazy during the holidays; I would go to sleep-away camp every summer, and, of course, I have jappy friends (JAP means Jewish American princess). I would be able to laugh at these videos with my siblings, camp friends, and cousins.

SpringCo was my first-ever BBYO convention. It was announced previously that Max Cohen would be speaking. I showed up super nervous and only knew my one friend there. But the one thing I could use as a conversation starter was Max Cohen. I quickly realized that everyone there was related to at least one of his videos. This made it really easy to connect with people about simple aspects of Judaism. To me, this is why BBYO is so special: you are in a space where everyone shares the same values, celebrates the same holidays, and wants to be a part of their religion. Personally, I did not realize how important this was until I saw it with my own eyes.

On the second day of the convention, we all sat down to hear Max speak. He made jokes about his camp friends that everyone related to. At school, many of my friends don't go to summer camp and don’t understand when I talk about it. I felt extremely comfortable knowing that a majority of the people in the room with Max Cohen felt the same.

During SpringCo, kids who were super religious and barely religious were able to put that aside and laugh at a Jewish guy just like them. Later that night, everyone spent Havdalah together, singing and chanting prayers.

We were all in a circle with our arms around each other. I recognized the songs that everyone was singing, and I was surprised by all the traditions people had. It felt like a real community that was welcoming me in. Seeing Max Cohen brought the whole experience together for me.

All these kids just wanted to be Jewish and have some fun. I felt so connected when I recognized songs and was singing together, even though I had just met these people. We could laugh together and sing together. Later, at home and camp, I was able to use this experience to explain to others just how special BBYO can be. I was able to both joke about being Jewish, but take it seriously as well. Seeing all the amazing BBYO traditions people have is my number one reason for telling people I got to meet Max Cohen.