ISS 2015: Community week in Tel Aviv highlights

By Olivia Feldman

My Shabbat experience was very different than at home. At home we never do anything special and often I'm apart from my family. But this Friday night I not only sat down with yam and her parents but all her grandparents and aunts, uncles, and cousins. There was a giant home cooked meal made by everyone in her family. They walked into the door with smiles and hugs excited to see the rest of the family. Her whole family welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home. After dinner we went to sleep so we could wake up early the next morning (which we did) and drove to Caesaria. We went to a museum and spent the day together, having a picnic and walking along the shore- it was awesome!



By Zoe Krut

After a lovely and relaxing Shabbat experience at the beach, we entered Tisha Baav . Tisha Baav is one of the saddest holidays in the Jewish calendar where we commemorate and mourn the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. Given how close we were to Jerusalem, we had the experience of going to the Kotel and spending all night exploring our relationship with the holiday and the destruction of the temple. Each fellow was given the opportunity to sit at the wall and observe the reactions and emotions of everyone around them. There were people crying and laying on the floor, and others who showed little connection to the holiday. The same array of different emotions were seen in the fellows themselves. 

After the experience at the Kotel, we broke up into two groups where we were able to discuss how we felt and what we knew about the holiday and our connection, or lack thereof, to Tisha Baav. Everyone experienced Tisha Baav in their own way. Some felt more of a connection to the wall then ever before, while others related to the sense of community more then anything; these feelings however, all led to a deep and meaningful experience that allowed us to explore our Jewish identity and how we connect to the Jewish people of the past and their struggles.

Some other highlights from the week!

A panel with Israeli Soldiers

Olivia and Talia ready for 'Army training'

Grace and Zoe playing drums on Coexistence Day

fun in Jafa on History Day

ISS 2015: KENNES!

By Gabi Edelman

These past few days were spent at Kennes and we were able to meet the cohorts from north America and south Africa. On the first day at kennes we were split up into color groups and played ice breakers that helped us get to know the other fellows in our color teams. A speaker named Neil Lazarus spoke to us about the conflicts that Israel faces. 

The next day we learned about the history of Israel and the Israeli people and we started to brainstorm for our Diller impact projects. Us fellows began to make long lasting connections with the other fellows as we engaged in thought provoking programs. 

On our last day we woke up at 4am and went to climb Masada and we studied the story of Masada and what it means for the Israeli people. After M sada we had a concluding circle and set off for the dead sea. At the dead sea we floated in the water and covered ourselves in mud. We left the dead sea to finally join our Israelis and we are now enjoying our community week in Tel Aviv!

ISS 2015: Day 3 and 4- Our time in Jerusalem

By, Micah Sallus and Noah Mendelsohn

Day 3: we started the day at Yad V'shem which is the Holocaust remembrance memorial in Jerusalem. We got a guided tour through the memorial. The memorial had a very deep meaning and impact on the whole group because everything about the memorial represented something about the holocaust or had a meaning relating to the holocaust. Everything from the building to the way the floor was laid out to the way you walked through each exhibit held meaning; as we walked through the memorial we were overwhelmed with a lot of emotions and feelings. We also visited the children's memorial and came out with tears in eyes. 

After we had a quick break and discussion as a group, we walked over to Mt. Herzel, is the national cemetery for soldiers who have passed away. We visited graves of prime ministers and other significant Israeli political figures. We even went to the most recent graves that were added to the cemetery. We saw in particular Max Steinberg's grave who was a lone soldier who was killed in the war last summer who was from LA and raised in the valley in Woodland Hills. It was a very powerful sight to see and everybody was overwhelmed with emotion.. 

We then had a closing maagal (circle) where we discussed our feelings about these visits and It was very emotional and special to the group. We finished our day at the shuk (market) which was very exciting for everyone to see and we all enjoyed ourselves. Overall the day was a very powerful day And was filled with a lot a lot of meaning. Los Angeles Diller cohort 8 signing out. ©

By Justin Greenwald and Adam Benezra

Day 4: After a wonderful opportunity to sleep in late Shabbat morning, we joined many of the other peers at the Great Synagogue. Sadly we were unable to go into the main sanctuary but we had an amazing service downstairs that the rabbi let us in, including an intellectual sermon on geopolitical matters that was taking place in the world. After this we had a very cultural talk among the fellows leading us to become more worldly people and better equipped citizens of the United States of America.

We had a delicious lunch at the hotel and after lunch we enjoyed a beautiful walk around Jerusalem into the old city. Our tour guide Leor let us through a tour showing us all the amazing land sites that existed thousands of years ago. We went to the Wailing Wall (Kotel) and many of our fellows had very deep discussions with Jews that were praying as well as some Orthodox Jews regarding political matters and the ideological views on Jewish people in Israel. Later we walked back and had a beautiful dinner Shabbat dinner at the hotel and a nice maagal that bonded the group closer than ever. 

Then, we had a beautiful havdallah service concluding shabbat, but the night was just getting started. The fellows walked to Ben Yehuda street and had a delicious dinner, some ice cream, and even bought clothes for siblings back home. It was a great time for all.

ISS 2015: Day Two

Our fellows landed in Israel Wednesday and have been on the move! Read about what they did their 2nd day in Israel

Day Two
From, Your Moshes of the day, Grace and Maddie
Today was a great day, waking up to the beautiful view of the Dead Sea from our hotel in Ein Gedi. After a our first very Israeli breakfast we headed to Ein Bokek which was the site for our nearby water hike. We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of water for us to enjoy even though we were in the dessert during summer. Climbing through rocks and waterfalls, it was both refreshing and slippery. We had some gracious falls, with special shoutout to Hanah for falling 5 times and Blake with her slow motion tumble. Micah spiritually embraced the hike when he fully immersed himself in both the water and experience. 

Next we drove into Jerusalem to spend the afternoon working in a community garden and nature reserve. We had a fantastic lunch of shawarma and learned about the history of the land. We then had a Torah study in the shade learning about shmita, and how every seventh year the land rests and is not harvested. To take our part in this we worked together to clear the land with shovels and picks. Shoutout to Eliana, Liv, and Talia who worked hard and sweat the day away. Overall we had a great day connecting to the Holy land and nature. Can't wait to see what is in store for tomorrow!

2015 Israel Summer Seminar- our Junior Counselors are READY AND WAITING!

We arrived in Israel last Tuesday to convene with the entire international staff ( minus coordinators) and hone our roles as JC's and as program facilitators for ISS. Working with the junior staff is an amazing experience, everyone is so passionate about Israel and the myriad of different perspectives on Judaism is astounding. We can't wait to work side by side with them leading programs for the fellows. As a member of the diller staff We are so proud and grateful to be part of this organization and can't wait to see you all (SO SOON) in Israel!

-Leora Tofler and Rachel Israilevich
LA Diller JCs

Leora Tofler on the right, and Rachel Israilevich, the Los Angeles Diller Teen Fellows Junior Counselors at the Kotel on this past Shabbat.

 

All of the Diller Teen Fellows Junior Counselors coming together before the teens for the Israel Summer Seminar begins!