Saturday Night
The overnight at the Federation
was really fun! We started by catching up with each other and eating food. We
then went around to different stations and did arts and crafts or learned more
about Israel. One station was painting the flag that we made at our Shabbaton
with the Israelis so that it will be ready to use in Israel! We also wrote our
names on water bottles (from the Gift of Israel) to also use in Israel. A third
station had many fellows at it throughout the “free” time; each fellow
decorated their own wooden bead with paint and wrote their names on it and
wrote their name on a bucket hat. The beads will be part of a necklace that the
Moshe, or leader of the day, will wear in addition to the hat in Israel.
In addition, we also did work to prepare for the Israel Summer Seminar
(which is only a little more than six weeks away!!! ):) at the different
stations, but we also talked in our general committees (Partnership,
Communications, Swag, and Ceremony) to reflect on how our progress has been
over the last several months and how we would like to continue to progress into
the ISS.
Later on Saturday night, for our maagal layla (closing circle), we all
sat together and looked at a piece of paper in the middle that had the quote
“Good words are worth much and cost little,” by George Herbert. Our task was to
take each of our various colored pens and write anything that came to mind
relating to the quote on the large butcher paper. At first, it was difficult to
think of what to write. After many minutes of fellows writing and looking at
what others were writing, and going back and forth, there was writing all
around the quote, taking up all of the previously empty white space on the
butcher paper. After the silent activity, we had a discussion about our own
responses, other responses we read, and different conversations that took place
on the paper. One idea that was discussed was what “good words” actually are
and what they mean, different examples based on the quote, and how one person
thought of the quote in one way while another person thought if it in a
different way.
The night was busy, productive, and fun, and we ended the night by
watching a few minutes of two movies and talking in our sleeping bags. The
overnight added to my excitement for our Israel trip and all of the activities
and programs to come in Diller!
Chelsea Roston- Cohort 17
After a fun night on Saturday, we all
woke up around 8 AM and ate a delectable breakfast on the roof. The morning
treats included the usual Bagels and Shmear, but also fruit and of course, a
fan favorite, Honey Nut Cheerios. After we filled out bellies with this energy,
we headed back down to the library for a program led by Oren and Noah. These two
gentlemen spent a few weeks in Israel with their school a couple months ago.
After this experience they shared some things they learned about what makes a
good program: being engaging, having humor, being energetic and being
passionate about what you are talking about. After hearing these things, the
rest of the fellows planned their own programs for Israel in pairs.
Next, following a short break,
Gabi put on her old IDF uniform and treated us like soldiers. After hearing her
strong voice reprimand us for not making a perfect "Chet" we knew
this was serious business. Through this army simulation, Gabi told us about
parts of the Israel trip and the basic logistics of our journey. This was a fun
way to get important info across to the fellows.
Once we went back upstairs, we
again ventured to the roof, where Rachel led us in some programming surrounding
Community Week and what it was going to be like. Each group that is leading a
day during the week had to create a movie poster and trailer promoting their
respective days. The group that is doing life after high school did a take off
of High School Musical, a fun and creative way to promote their day. Once all
the groups went, the Sababa Committee gave the final verdict, which was that
there were two groups tied in first with 20 points each. After this, we had
pizza to go along with our Community Week planning, which was needed, but also
served to be quite productive.
Then our other JC, Phillip, gave
us a brief introduction to Kennes, the time in Israel where all 200 North
American Dillers gather and have programming. He helped us start to brainstorm
for our 90-second performance which will be done when we get to the retreat
center in Sde Boker. This was a fun way to start thinking about the trip and to
start thinking about San Francisco Cohort 17 pride!
Gabi continued the excitement of
the upcoming journey by discussing the Leaders of the Day (Moshe), something
that we will do once in Israel. Each fellow or fellows will have the chance to
be the leader of the day, which means that he or she will know the schedule of
the day like their right hand, will know historical facts about the places we
will visit and will know all the logistics. Learning that we will be receiving
this opportunity was exciting and daunting.
We closed out the overnight by
writing in our journals and receiving our new T-shirts! This overnight was a
great way to convey important information about the Israeli Summer Seminar but
also a great way to pump us up for the journey we will be undertaking this
July.
Sam Tick-Raker Cohort 17
We then had a wonderful
program led by Micah and Katie about Israel in the media. It was very
eye-opening in that it showed the extreme differences in opinion that
exist around the topic of Israel. 
