Cohort 20 and the Shabbaton that ended California's drought

Contributed by Liora Ami

After three workshops at which we fellows seemed a little awkward and nervous, the free flowing nature of the Shabbaton was welcomed by all of us with open arms. It was surprising how fast we all clicked as the Shabbaton progressed. It started off with a party bus (I had to arrive to the Shabbaton late but I heard it was INCREDIBLE) which picked up fellows at the JCF and then picked up others in Marin and brought them to the lovely Walker Creek Ranch.

The cohort celebrated our first Shabbat together and discussed Shabbat expectations through a few different activities. Dinner was eaten, and then I joined the rest of my cohort in time for the Maagal Lilah, or the evening circle. We sat in a circle and answered prompts in the dark, and listen to our fellow teens speak their truths. Then it was off to ‘bed’. We sat in the bunks talking, playing games, and bonding with each other freely. Then it was time for bed, and we fell asleep easily from the excitement of the day!

Not the site of a murder mystery - actually quite cozy

The next morning we were up and ready to go for a delicious breakfast of French toast! It was yummy and got us ready for a full day, which was filled with learning and laughter. We walked through some rain, to the maple room which was full of light and had chairs set up in a circle. We read poems and did yoga, then did some fun bonding activities with Kylie, a staff member from Walker Creek! We played Human Knot, Where the Wind blows, and laughed a bunch. We said goodbye to Kylie, and were off to a lunch provided by the incredible staff of Walker Creek Ranch. After lunch we had a block of free time where some of us went on a hike, others took naps, while others talked, and we all had individual one on one conversations with our Diller Staff. The one on ones were interesting and informative, and it was nice to have a check in about how the weekend was going.

After break, we all met back up and had and INTENSE game of jeopardy with categories like Bay Area Sports, Famous Jews, and Pot Pourri. Next, we all came together for Havdalah led by fellows Maytal and Julie. It was incredible and we watched as Samantha kept the sizzle of the candle meeting the wine last for more than 5 minutes! We ate dinner and then had a little free time where Kayla and Maytal entertained us with their hilarious magic tricks! We then went back to the Maple room where we learned about our Jewish identities and how we don't always fit into a label with the “Jewish Identity Buffet”.

We ended the night with a Maagal Lilah where we chose cards that matched our feelings and discussed them. After a fun but long day, we went to bed quickly and woke up in the morning with an excitement for the coming day.

We had been warned to get a lot of sleep because what we were doing in the morning was going to be incredible. And boy were they right! Late Nite Art, a bay area company, joined us for some team building art.

We answered prompts through different medias onto a long sheet of butcher paper. The experience was life changing, and the result on the piece of paper was beautiful. We all cut out pieces of the butcher paper to take home with us and to remember the shabbaton by.

We were off to lunch after this incredible experience, and we were buzzing… because soon we were going to discover our Israeli partners! After giving feedback and discussing the weekend, we stood in a circle as Lara read off our Israeli partners and gave us a photo of them! It was exciting and we immediately tried to find our new friends on facebook. Soon a party bus arrived to take us home, we loaded up and said some goodbyes and were off, sad to leave Walker Creek but excited for the upcoming workshops and retreats with our new best friends.

Jewish Art and Leadership - Cohort 20 goes to the Contemporary Jewish Museum!

Contributed by Chloe Middler

Our third meeting was hosted at the Contemporary Jewish Museum! We started off the evening by exploring an exhibit at the museum: The Negev Wheel. This was a super cool exhibit and we were all amazed by how beautiful it was. The piece is filled with sand from the Negev desert and rotates. We discussed the symbolism behind the wheel and what it means to be Jewish. We decided that even though the sand was imported from Israel, the sand in the wheel could have originated from anywhere in the world by the time the winds carried it there. What is important is that it ended up coming together in Israel, and thus illustrating a connection to Judaism.

Being Jewish doesn't have one set definition. You don't have to practice the religion in one certain way, or be from a certain place. A big part of our Jewish identity comes together though the community that we are all in, regardless of where we originally come from.

Our next activity was about leadership. We filled out a survey about our leadership style and then explored a text from Exodus about different leadership styles. We watched two people argue for something that they believed in, and observed their argument style/ability to prove their point. This led to a discussion of how to be an effective leader, even if that meant stepping back sometimes. 

After eating dinner, we heard from Talya Feldman, a representative from IsraAid. She told us about her experience in Greece, helping Syrian refugees. She, and the members of IsraAid, worked with Palestinians, Israelis, and other people from all over the world in order to accomplish one goal. She told us that she learned the importance of not only respecting, but celebrating each others differences. She said that these people are now a part of her family, even though they come from so many different backgrounds.

Overall, it was an illuminating night full of rich and eye-opening discussions. We are so excited to see each other again at our first Shabbaton retreat! 

Cohort 20 meets again - this time with Cohort 19!

Contributed by Julie Cornfield

Meeting number two was full of bonding, discussion, and snack breaks! We kicked off this month’s session with a few activities to get to know the members of Cohort 19, who were visiting to give us some insight into the program. For the first activity, we were split into
buddy pairs for a quick introduction conversation. 

For some, this conversation took place en route to the Embarcadero and back, and for others (namely, those with broken limbs) it took place inside the Federation building. 

Once the buddy pairs had learned a little about one another, it came time to introduce some competition into the bonding in a riveting name guessing game known as "peekawho", a clever twist on the more traditional “peekaboo”. 

Afterwards, we wrapped up our time with Cohort 19 by creating sculptures using personal objects. The artists with the best work were awarded with one of a kind Diller Teen Fellows lanyards (the first of many articles of Diller swag we’re told we’re going to receive). With that, we said a heartfelt “see you later” to Cohort 19 and spent the rest of our time together (save for a brief interruption by the security guard) discussing the importance of inclusion within our group and beyond.

Aaron the JC shows us how it is done

 We talked about the topic in the big group, then we split into smaller groups of 4-5 to analyze it further, and finally we thought to ourselves about how inclusion manifests itself in our lives individually. Though these exercises we were able to chart our path for the inclusion we hope to achieve throughout our time together. And with a group so eager to achieve a high level of inclusion, it’s safe to say everyone’s looking forward to our next meeting, even if it is on a Thursday.

Introducing Cohort 20!! The newest San Francisco cohort of 2016-2017

Contributed by Claire Garcia

After much anticipation and the stress of the first few weeks of junior year WE HAD OUR FIRST DILLER COHORT 20 MEETING!

First, we got the chance to meet the many new faces of both our fellow cohort members and their wonderful families. We learned where people were from (i.e. where everyone was “reppin”), and saw that our cohort stretched from San Francisco to South Africa. We discussed the four pillars of Diller and their roles in everything we will do as a group for the next 14 months. We then finished up the snacks, said goodbye to the parental units, and celebrated our break from the confines of the room in the Jewish Community Federation and the 80 degree weather San Francisco was experiencing due to our favorite-- Global Warming!!

Once we enjoyed our pizza and fresh air, we headed back down and got our chance to finally meet as a group. We did a “Fantasy (Personality) Football” draft and wrote one strength and one challenge we'd like to work on about ourselves. Another activity we did was mapping our Jewish journey. We saw how different each person interpreted what that entailed and how they applied it to themselves.

We did an exercise with blocks where we answered questions on community, ourselves, our group dynamic, and our hopes. We then built a wall-- and thoroughly discussed the implications and meanings of that wall-- in which we showcased our blocks.

Takeaways: Well, literally, we took our wooden blocks and our notebooks. But we also got to establish relationships with each other, begin to understand each other, and feel the excitement and anticipation for what the rest of this experience has to offer.

September: Rosh HaShana and Making an impact!

Cohort 19 officially reunited again in the usual spot at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco. We kicked off our meeting by hearing from a variety of panelists that are all leaders in organizations working to help communities in the Bay Area and around the world. While some of our members were sadly absent, we still represented Diller well by asking good questions and engaging in interesting conversations with the panelists after they had finished presenting. 

After hearing from those inspiring people, we exited the building and took a stroll around the Embarcadero to clear our minds and breathe in the fresh sea breeze. Along our walk, we happened upon a very pleasant surprise, Noosa Yogurt was having a give-away! We all helped ourselves to some deliciously creamy yogurt! 

After returning to 121 Steuart Street, we all shared our Impact project ideas, then split off into smaller groups to start planning. All of us began passionately conversing about feeding the homeless, better sexual and mental education for schools, helping hospitals, or pursuing environmental action. When it was finally time to end, we slowly regrouped and formed a circle to do a quick “word whip”. While some of us went home, others chose to go to the Ferry Building where we celebrated Vicki Maler’s birthday over dinner. 

Reflecting on ISS and Beginning Impact Projects at our Final Overnight

Contributed by Sydney Soofer

Chicken John's (yes, he really goes by chicken john) eclectic warehouse in the heart of the mission, was our humble abode for our final overnight! We all arrived at the warehouse at around 9 and explored around the "Chez Poulet." We then did Havdallah, and after had a Ma'agal Laila (led by the lovely Danit and Elana) where we cut out things from magazines that reminded us of our cohort and our trip to Israel and made collages. While cutting and pasting, we also talked about our favorite memories from our trip! 

After Ma'agal, some of us commenced in a full-blown dance party. I can tell you our dance moves have really come a long way... #thanksisraelis !! 

Once the partay came to an end, we all got in our PJs...some attempted to sleep (Levi), some stayed up the entire night chatting (India) and others, held an SAT study sesh (Oksana and May'aan). In the morning, chef Gavi cooked some bagels on the stove because the kitchen lacked a toaster... they were perfectly golden brown -- thanks Gav! With our stomachs full of yummy bagels and home-brought instant oatmeal (Gabi), we had a workshop led my UpStart, a non-profit organization which "inspires and advances innovative ideas that contribute to the continued growth and vitality of Jewish life." We learned all about how we can jump-start our own organizations and got a solid foundation and good inspiration for our own impact projects. 

After our 2 hour workshop, we ate some delicious pizza and went on a walk through the mission to Mitchell's famous ice cream shop! Their peach ice cream was a solid 10/10! Once we got back, we packaged a bunch of bags with toiletries for "Lava Mae" and had an amazing presentation by Hazel about her special experience in the West Bank. 

The parents slowly started to trickle in (my mom actually came 30 mins early--for those of you who know my family, you know this was an extremely rare occurrence). After Hazel's eye-opening presentation, we all got up and shared our experiences from the ISS trip with photos to help picture exactly what we were describing. For the grand finale, India made a super nostalgic slideshow with photos we submitted to her from the trip--truly tear-jerking. 

We then said "Lehitra'ot" and all parted our separate ways! It was so good seeing everyone and can't wait for the next workshop!