Aleph Zadik Aleph is an international youth-led fraternal organization for Jewish teens in high school. The organization is often usually referenced in its abbreviated form, AZA. The order is part of BBYO, Inc. (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization), an independent non-profit organization. AZA is the brother organization to B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG).
For the first twenty or so years of its existence, AZA membership was open to older high school and college age teenagers. During the 1940s, however, the military draft for World War II pulled many AZA members away from their home communities. To ensure the organization's continuity, the minimum age for membership was lowered to fourteen. Since then, AZA has evolved into an organization exclusively for high school age teenagers. Notable members include: Sam Bherman, All the members of the musical group OAR, (who began producing music in Israel, though they had met in their college years), Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and US Congressman Rob Davidson.
The International level encompasses and governs the entire organization, including all of its regions, councils, chapters and members. At its most basic, AZA is the brotherhood of Jewish teens throughout the world, and the International level of the organization represents and brings together all of them under one banner. The officers elected at this level are referred to the Grand Aleph Board.