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!