And on the 11th day they rested.... Entering Shabbat in style in the Upper Galilee!

Contributed by Sofia Friedman 

Today's theme was legacy; a very interesting and thought provoking one to start off our Shabbat weekend. We began with a bike ride through the Hula Valley. 

After getting our helmets and bikes, we cruised through orchards and whizzed by the Jordan River, with sweat on our backs and smiles on our faces. 

We got to engage with each other and the land, having meaningful conversations with our peers, while looking out on the Naftali Mountains, and listening to the trees swaying and birds chirping. 

Around the 1 hour mark, we took a break on the riverbanks of the Jordan. We splashed around, noshed on some snacks, and learned some fun facts about the Hula Valley. However, Ma'ayan and I were scouting out the perfect nature-peeing spot and I only heard the tail end of the info session. Luckily we still heard one of the most important facts, which is that the main water source in the Upper Galilee is the Jordan River. Then, we continued our ride. We were all very sad when we got to the end of the ride, but our frowns were quickly turned upside down when we were greeted with Popsicles. 

Then, we headed to our next program in Metula. On the bus ride, we engaged in 5 minutes of silence, giving us the change to take in all of the pretty views of the Hula Valley, reflect on the week, and prepare mentally for Shabbat. When we arrived in Metula, we split into small groups for a discussion about differences between Israeli and American Shabbats, what we each want to get out of tonight's Shabbat, and what challenges might be stopping us from reaching those goals. We then ate a delicious lunch of pizza, and then heard from Chaim, a Holocaust survivor. 

He was born in Paris, and grew up in a monastery, which he hated and where he behaved very badly. He ran away at age 4 and a half, but was found by Neo Nazis who checked if he was circumcised and upon seeing he was a Jew, decided to kill him. Luckily, he was saved by a French woman and his in a French village until he went to Israel. Now he works with young kids, helping them write and perform plays. He also writes poetry for Yad Vashem. We were all very inspired by him and enjoyed spending time with him. 

Our last program was about the theme of legacy. It was an individual exercise, where questions were read aloud, and we had 3 minutes to write down an answer. It allowed us to practice active silence and introspection, and think about how we want impact each other and the world. The questions were: What do you want to be remembered for once Diller ends? Who is one person in Diller who has left their mark on your life? What do you think you are known for among your peers? By the time you die, what do you want your legacy to be? What is holding you back from achieving your legacy? What can you do to achieve your legacy? When we finished the exercise, we folded our papers into paper airplanes. 

The paper airplanes were a metaphor for how each of us has our own plane, or legacy, and it's up to us to keep moving forward like a plane does. Also, all of our papers had a yellow dot, symbolizing that we all have different legacies but we're also all united and connected. We counted down from 10, and as we all flew our planes across the street, we thought about how incredible all of us are and how much we can accomplish when we are all together. 

After this meaningful exercise, we had our Maagal (closing circle). As yesterday was the official halfway mark of our trip, we talked about what advice we thought our parents would give us at this point in the trip. Then, we closed our eyes, and when we opened them, our counselors had given each of us a letter from our parents that they had written prior to our trips. We read through our letters, some smiling, some crying. It was an amazing surprise and connection to home. Now, we are on the bus home to our host families for Shabbat. I am going to celebrate and keep Shabbat with my partner, Shira, not using my phone, lights, etc. It is surely going to be a meaningful, relaxing, and unique chance for all of us to bond and spend time with our partners, their families, and the Upper Galilee!

שבת שלום,

Sofia