A Poem by Lily Peterson

Here where the sand meets the sun
and both meet skin
I soak in the air and
with pleasure and fear
for all the greatness I see
can be destroyed
as I walk back in time
to the beat of my heart.  The
pulse of my blood and the
past seeping through me
taking my breath and giving me
life.

The sun's descent casts a final glow on the Hula Valley.  (photo credit: Sam Maller)

Community Week: Army Day

This was no regular day.

Imagine being greeted by a 5"10 stocky red-haired general yelling, “You have 15 seconds to get off this bus and you just wasted five." We started at the army base where we saw some top secret videos as well as expired army tanks.

Sam Maller captures Matt Blumenthal, our red-haired general

 

 

 

 

 

After our top secret tour, we spoke with a member of our Israeli families fathers who served in the Israel Defense Force. He spoke about his experience as well as his views on the draft, who should fight and how being in the army helped him as a leader.

After group discussions we all put our game faces on, for it was time.

It was the time that we were all preparing for, the battle of all battles. The mighty paintball war. For 4+ hours the battle waged on. Balls of paint shot through the dry Israeli air as the tactical units of each side set positions in bunkers, cars, and behind musty old tires. The paintball battle was surely one for the ages and will be told for generations to come.

It was then time for the last leg of our journey, to Liran's lookout, an Israel soldier who was killed in the Second Lebanese War, but, more importantly, the brother of a fellow Diller and an all around incredible person. Thriving in all realms of life, academically, athletically, morally, and ethically, Liran was an outstanding human being, and to commemorate and celebrate his life, his father spoke to us about his life and the significance of the lookout.

It was truly a magical moment and one that got me personally thinking about my life and that one day hopefully I could do something that is deserving of a memorial like that, and, more importantly, do something that will leave an impact on others like Liran did. After dinner and a nice night circle, our night ended.  Besides the welts, bruises, and paint stains, we all fell into bed with a smile on our faces.

Thanks Diller for another amazing day!!!!!!

Sincerely,

Alex Jekowsky

Hiking the Golan

As the tour bus drove past countless "danger mines" signs we prepared to set out on a 4 hour hike along the Gilabon river. The Gilabon river is in the Golan Heights in the northern part of Israel, surrounded by scenic mountains and trees. We began the hike with a short lesson on the history of the Gilabon; the main source of water for the Kineret and Israel. The River, along with the rest of the Golan Heights, became a part of Israel during the 1967 six days war. 

We started the hike along the river and were given the opportunity to taste sabras, or prickly pear; then we climbed down rocks covered in gum.  We hiked past trees that bent over the path and over slippery rocks in the river and finally arrived at the destination: a beautiful waterfall. Looking around at the natural beauty I felt a sense of pride that this place was my homeland.

 

At the waterfall we found that one could actually stand on the rocks behind the waterfall and look out past the thundering falls onto the arid desert--it was a breathtaking contrast.  We spent some time swimmingl and splashing each other.

 

After eating lunch we finished the hike. The second half consisted of a never ending verticle staircase from the base of the valley back to one the same altitude we started at, a perfect opportunity to burn off some schwarma and falafal. We then traveled to the Gadot lookout where we learned more about the war against Syria. We also played in an army bunker.

After taking one too many pictures of the surrounding hills we piled back into the bus and rode to our final destination Dadalhadan park, where we rested after the hike, played guitar and ukulele, and for dinner, handmade pizzas in a tiny oven. 

We finished with night circles where we debriefed the day. At last we returned to our respective Israeli's homes to rest up for another exciting day.

 

Sincerely,

 

Josh Pitkofsky

A Message From Cohort 15 to Their Parents

July 29.

Sorry for the delay, technical difficulties. Here's a quick check in from the teens!! 

Community Week Begins

Today marked the end of our intensive week long congress that consisted of two hundred and forty teens from Israel and the U.S, while simultaniously signaling the beginning of the last leg of our trip: Community Week. As we sadly said goodbye to our new found friends, mentors, and, of course, wonderful food, we left Givat Haviva for the Upper Galilee. After dispersing into our separate homestays, we all met for a delicious dinner near the Jordan River at a restaurant called Iskander. With full bellies, both Isralies and Americans sat in a circle and shared their hopes for the coming week. While the responses were slightly varied, everyone voiced that they were ready to make the most of our last week in Israel. Tomorrow we look forward to a trip day with hiking in the Golan. The next day's theme is the army. I can't wait to continue working on the leadership skills we have been cultivating all year, and see the passion and energy my co-American and Israeli Fellows will bring to this experience. Sincerely, Nadine Herman

Shifting Gears: From Congress to Community Week

Being the last full day of congress, the mood seemed a little different, not better or worse, just different.

We have been working to this point for the entire week, and it was a strange feeling to almost be done. The entire week we were working on the 5 legs of Judaism, and today, we were intoduced to a sixth.  Now the sixth leg was not a pre determoned leg, it was one the we chose.  Our group (light blue) decided that we would not have a leg, but we would have a ground cover that would protect and raise these metaphorical legs; and that cover is love. This whole metaphorical table made me relaize more about my Jewish identity, and what judiasm means to me.

For me, the moment that i will remember the most from that day was the closing ceremony. All of the color groups got together and had to make some type of performance (skit, Song, ECT..) to exhibit to the rest of Congress. It was a very interesting and fun experience. My group decided to make a parody of our JC's and coordinators. We exposed the few quarks they have (in a loving way, of course), and it was all great fun.

I enjoyed this part so much because for the first time in Congress we stopped cheering for our own cohorts and started cheering for the individual groups. It was very cool to see everyone come together as Diller Teen Fellows, and not just individual cohorts.

After the closing ceremonies came probably the most fun night of congress: the dance party.  They had a dj and lots of lights and music. It was nice to let go of all the worries and stresses of the week and just relax and have a good time.  It was a great overall experience. I met some amazing people and did things I will never forget.

Now it is time to shift gears and head to community week!




Lots of love,

Matt Blumenthal

Kennes Continues

Today we had our first day of congress. Congress consists of six North American cohorts plus all of our sister cohorts in Israel. We began our day with breakfast while simultaneously awaiting the arrival of the Israelis. Once the Israelis arrived, we broke into our color groups for our first program. The program focused in on "breaking the ice" (figuratively and literally) through various games and activities. One activity consisted of ordering the goals of congress in order of their significance. After, we realized all of the goals were equally important.

After lunch, we had our second program with the Israelis. This program focused on the notion of language. The Israelis and the North Americans studied texts together  from the Torah and discussed how the meanings of the texts can change because our languages are different. After exploring language within our color groups, we got ready for Shabbat.

We began Shabbat with a "white parade." Everyone dressed in white in honor of Shabbat and walked together to an outdoor Kabbalat Shabbat service. In addition to some songs and prayers, we all received a postcard with a randomly selected name of someone from another cohort. We wrote our Shabbat wishes for that person and had to find them in the crowd. It was just as gratifying to receive the card as it was to see the receiver's face when they got the card.

After, we broke into our separate services. We had the option to attend any service offered. From orthodox to conservative to camp to alternative (and even more), we had many choices. I personally attended the alternative service which turned out to be quite a moving experience. We studied text, we meditated, and of course, we discussed various topics.

This was immediately followed by a wonderful family-style Shabbat dinner. We had the opportunity to sit with our entire cohort, including our fellow Upper Galilee cohort. After dinner, we attended one last program with our color group to wrap up the day. The program focused on studying more texts and poetry and deciding which pieces resonated with us the most.

To complete a busy day, we ended with a classic San Francisco night circle. While it mostly just consisted of laughter and smiles, we had the opportunity to confide in one another and vent about our days. Night circles are always a beautiful and satisfying way to end such long days. Overall, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we learned A LOT today.

Ps. Thank you to our amazing staff!!

-Lindsey Berger