TOSS 2014 Camping trip- Finding our Path Cohort 17

Our Diller camping retreat kicked off as we arrived at the Mother Lode River Center, where we would camp the night a river raft the next day on the American River. As we arrived, we quickly took note of the weather, as it was scorching hot! Danny, Samara’s (a fellow) father, came along the ride and cooked for us amazing meals, and to start the retreat we quickly ate lunch and started with some fun activities. 

Even though it was incredibly hot,  we still managed to have fun and meaningful activities, such as a trust walk—led by Jacob and Micah— and an arts and crafts based Tikkun Olam activity—led by Micah, to get the fellows thinking about all the different things Tikkun Olam can mean.

 After some free time, dinner was served, and we set up our sleeping arrangements for the night, however most of us slept under the stars. Soon after, Caroline led a program that called for the fellows to write heartfelt and touching letters to IDF soldiers, to remind them of our support and gratefulness. As the sun started to set, Micah and Claire led a campfire, with s’mores and songs, followed by a discussion about our upcoming senior years. To finish the day, Phillip and Gabi led the Maagal layla, right before our night under the stars.

-Micah Light 

During our night next to the river we slept out under the stars. It was gorgeous and some of us even saw a shooting star. The next day we had a delicious breakfast, graciously prepared by Danny Meyer. After breakfast Sam and Jay led a morning service, they gave us time to reflect and think about life while praying. 

We then had free time and people played catch and sang songs. We had a hurried lunch before we set out on the river. For many people this was their first time out on the river so there were definitely some nerves. However, those nerves quickly past. The riverboat guides were excellent, funny and nice. They calmly led us down the river and through the rapids. It was a gorgeous day on the river and even though the water was freezing we quickly warmed when we got back on the boat. There was an opportunity for us to jump off a rock into the water and although that was scary it was an exhilarating experience. 

We got back from the river and after a brief evaluation of the trip got on bus bound for the city. We got back a little after eight. We had a fantastic trip and memories for a life time.

-Jacob Ganz

TOSS (The Other Seminar) 2014 kicks off with A camp Newman Retreat-Cohort 17

Day 1-Friday 

We arrived in the late sweltering Santa Rosa afternoon at URJ Camp Newman.  After unloading our bags near the dining hall and getting some grub, we settled into our bunks.  They were very humble accommodations, but felt very homely.  We all caught up on our summers and anything that had occurred since last seeing one and other.  We set about to throwing a Frisbee or throwing around footballs.  We then were exposed to the Camp Newman Shabbat traditions.  It is Camp Newman tradition that all the CITs and staff play a game of Ultimate Frisbee, so we cowered in shady spots to watch the game.  We mingled and met some of the campers and staff that were about our age, and eventually after an intense game, the staff and CITs tied the game.  We then returned to our cabins.  Because we had been schvitzing so much, many of us opted for a nice cold shower.  After cleansing ourselves before Shabbat, we all put on some nice white clothes.  Soon the procession started, and a horde of hundreds of kids walked down the path all clad in nice white clothing. 

 Before sitting down for the Shabbat services, we made sure to take a beautiful picture of us.  We then sat in on a wonderful service.  After the service, we were ushered down to the dinning hall, or chadar ohel, where the ecstatic camp met their dinner.  Excited voices echoed throughout the chadar ohel for the whole meal.  We then went up to the basketball courts for Shabbat Shira, which is a giant campwide dance party.  Once we had danced to our delight, we went down to the field to start decompressing our feelings about what had happened to our trip.  We walked and thought.  Finally we circled up and conversed.  Gabi found some of the Israeli Mishlachat to talk to us; an extremely interesting conversation ensued.  We verbally probed and prodded about what it was like to be an Israeli in America during a military operation.  They talked of a little guilt, but the general consensus was that what they were doing was very important, and that educating was another very important.  At about twelve we noticed how exhausted we were and were sent to hit the hay.  

-Jerry Katz

Day 2-Saturday 

Waking up, following our cohort’s first Camp Newman Friday shabbat experience, we were all wonderfully serenaded by a fellows’ tefilla service. Following a shmooze and unstructured bonding time, we were brought together to prep a program (completely constructed by a group of fellows) to educate 5th-10th graders about Israel and the struggles many soldiers and Israeli civilians go through on a regular basis. Keeping the kids engaged, many of our groups lightened things up by ending the program off with a little skit. Later, we were brought together for a discussion focusing on our own Jewish summer camp experiences and sharing fun-loving, memorable stories. This was done with only our cohort to continue our steady learning about once another.

We were then lead to our meditation/ letting go Havdalah program led by Gabi, and beautifully we were accompanied by a breathtaking sunset. To end off the night, we all sat down in a much more secluded setting to express our feelings about the Israeli vs. Palestinian conflict. The whole day was a reminder that the reason we are all apart of diller is to model and display leadership, while still creating an unbreakable bond between our amazing cohort and making the people we present to part of our community, and for them to continue educating family and peers.       

-Caroline Rabinovitz

Day 3-Sunday

Today was our last day of our TOSS (The Other Summer Seminar) Camp Newman Shabbaton. We got up early, had breakfast with the younger Camp Newman campers, and started preparing our programming for Nitzanim (the 5th and 6th grade cabins) and Kesher (the 7th and 8th grade cabins). Noah and Katie adapted some of the programs from the Israeli summer camp visit during their Community Week day, so we could lead them at Camp Newman. We broke into small groups and led some activities with Nitzanim about the settlement of the Upper Galilee. The campers played a “minesweeper” type game where they have to navigate through a grid with obstacles to get to the other side and “settle the land.” We then broke up into a couple stations and led activities about communication. My group led a game with the campers called telephone that showed how easily messages can get jumbled around and misunderstood. 

After we finished with NItzanim, we led programming, for Kesher surrounding Jewish youth groups. We broke the campers into groups where they created their own Jewish youth group with purpose, a poster, and a cheer. The campers presented their youth groups and Gabi voted on the best one (it ended up being a 6 way tie between every group). We concluded the day with a reflection on the entire retreat, and feedback session on the fellow led programs, and a surprise party for my birthday, The weekend was a lot of fun and a great way to really start off TOSS.

-Gabe

             

Israel Seminar officially postponed to Winter 2014- Cohort 17

  July 22's meeting was our first gathering following the San Francisco Cohort's official decision not to travel to Israel given the current situation in Israel. While this meeting was bittersweet, it was also a planning session to organize a separate seminar of programming in the Bay Area, affectionately known as "The Other Summer Seminar", named by the genius Samara Meyer. Over the course of 3 hours, we were able to organize about two weeks worth of events including trips to a roller skating disco and the beach, a Shabbaton at URJ Camp Newman, and a camping trip at the American River. It was one of our most intense meetings by far!

 Later that night, about 10 of our members went to the Church of 8 Wheels, a local Roller-Disco in San Francisco's Hayes Valley district. It was a total blast, and a nice way to decompress after such a whirlwind two weeks of Israel-anxiety. After closing the place down, we all headed to Sparky's Diner for late night milkshakes (and some pancakes and scrambled eggs if you're Oren and Jerry). It was one of my favorite nights of the summer!

-Sophia Weiss 

Pre ISS- Skype, Cooking, Pool and other fun festivities Cohort 17

Many of us met today for a day-long retreat at Gabi's house, two days before we're scheduled to leave for Israel. After the essential schmooze time while people arrived, we had a check in, and debriefed about the Thursday parent meeting. Then we skyped with Ophir and Chelsea, who are both already in Israel. It was great to talk to them, but also difficult because of uncertainty about whether our trip will be cancelled. Later, we tried to skype with Rachel and Philip, our Junior counselors, who are also in Israel. Technical difficulties scuppered the call.

After the morning check ins and skype calls, we moved to the kitchen to make an Israeli lunch. Gabi guided us as we prepared humus, pita, shakshuka, burekas, and Israeli salad. Everything tasted splendid.

After lunch, we walked out to a pool near Gabi's house. For most of the time we had the pool to ourselves, so we played sharks and minnows, which was excellent, and capture the flag, which was fantastic.

We had two programs led by fellows after the swim. In the first one, Oren reviewed the history of the current conflict in Israel with us. Afterwards, Katie and Micah led an activity exploring misrepresentation of facts in social media.

After the programs, we went out to a park. Some of us played ultimate frisbee, while others talked. Back at the house, we ate pizza and discussed strategies for dealing with the shortened ISS schedule. Because we're leaving a week later than planned, some Moshes (leaders of the day) no longer have a day to lead. We discussed possible solutions, but we'll have to remain flexible until the ISS schedule becomes more certain.

 

As we all are dealing with the uncertainty surrounding the ISS, and Israel as a whole, it was good to come together as a group. The serious talks mixed with fun activities was perfect for reminding us that, whatever happens, we're a cohort and we're here for each other.

-Paul Cohort 17 

ISS postponed- Fellow gathering Cohort 17

On Wednesday the 16th, the Fellows had an opportunity to get together and talk about future steps. The day started with an overview of what the current situation is in Israel and reflecting on our personal responses. The Fellows were able to express their feelings toward the changes being made and gain a better understanding of what the Diller Staff is working towards. 

Later, we started planning for the next days to plan. Though we are not together in Israel, we still plan on meeting and finding fun things to do in the Bay Area. We were split into two groups in order to plan the two upcoming days of Diller shenanigans. The groups formulated plans for their specific days and then shared with the other group for feedback. Finally, we all donned our new Diller Sweatshirts and headed to the roof of the Jewish Community Federation building. 

Israel Summer Seminar 2014- Junior staff training cohort 17

After landing 2 hours late we met up with all the other North American JC's and hopped on the bus to Sede Boker. 

While we had great bonding time with the JC's with the beautiful desert landscape right behind us, we also worked hard to prepare for and discuss our hoped to be upcoming Kennes.

We then moved up to Tiberias where we have been staying in the King Solomon hotel, overlooking the vast, deep blue Kinneret. We met up with the Israeli staff and for a few days we worked hard preparing for congress, having meaningful discussions,  and bonding in and out of the hotel. Whether it was making chocolate in a local factory, dancing on a boat in the middle of the Kinneret, or hanging out with everyone at a water park, memories and friendships were made this week that will surely last a lifetime. 

                       

 

I can easily say that this has been one of the most meaningful and eye-opening weeks of my life. Despite the situation going on in Israel, I have never felt safer in my life. I feel that being here now is more important than ever. The connection to the land and to the people that I feel right now is nothing like I have ever experienced. We are soon off to home hospitality where I will be staying with my partner from last year. I am anxiously awaiting to see what amazing things are to come on this trip and I am counting the days until the fellows arrive. 

-Philip Junior Staff Cohort 17

Yesterday, we volunteered at a summer camp at Kibbitz Genosar, where we taught the kids about flags around the world, helped them create a personal flag, and taught them words in English. I had so much fun there running around with all the kids for three hours that I didn’t even realize how tired I was. Thankfully we went straight back to the hotel afterwards were we all took 5 hour naps to restore our energy.

Today we went to Mount Arbel where we saw an amazing lookout over the entire Galilee area. We also learned a little bit about Christianity and Jesus and how the Galilee is very important to the Christian world. Later we all went separate ways to different host homes. Philip is staying with one of our friends from last year and I am staying with a tzama member (Logistical Junior staff) and Ethan who is one of the Baltimore JCs.

Considering all that has been going on this has by far been the best experience I have ever had. I truly feel as if I am living history and not just walking on historic land. I feel completely safe here and we have all learned that its ok to switch up the schedule and be flexible (sometimes it makes things better, for example the chance to make your own chocolate). Although this is not the ISS that I was essentially expecting, it seems to be better and I get to see Israel through a different lens. I can’t wait for you to all get the chance to experience Israel in a way so different than any other.

Lila Tov, (well Boker Tov for all of you)

-Rachel Junior Staff Cohort 17