Sunday, December 28

We kicked off the day by learning about the different kinds of "schlichim" who come from Israel to America for an extended period of time to teach and represent Israel abroad. Then, we continued to work on the partnership's project of creating baltimore and Ashkelon mosaics on the volunteer center in Ashkelon. We continued onto our next service project, which was teaching children at different schools the basic fundamentals of lacrosse. There was a group of teens who gathered from all over america just to focus on teaching lacrosse to Ashkelonian kids, and we got to spend time with them as well. A lot of us knew several of the other teens through family, mutual friends, camp etc. No matter where you are in the world, Jewish geography is never fails to make connections and foster relationships. 

After eating a delicious meal from aroma we headed to a mall that had a bowling alley in it. The objective of the activity was to learn and use different teamwork strategies through bowling. One "mission" we had to do was tie our dominant hand to another person's and figure out how to bowl in the most effective way. We had a great time, and found that it wasn't so challenging to work together because of the close-knit relationships that diller has facilitated. 

Our final activity of the day took place at a youth movement called "wings of crembo," which is an inclusive place where teenagers with special needs can go to participate in activities with other teenagers. We helped out with their "country day" where teens traveled to different booths that represented different countries. My booth was Japan, and the teens were required to create, decorate, and fly paper origami airplanes in order to receive a new sticker in their passport. This experience was especially meaningful to me because I have a dear friend with mental disabilities who I care for greatly. Although I don't speak any Hebrew, I found that the language barrier didn't stop me from connecting to the children; we spoke through smiling and sharing laughs. "Crembo" is a delicate treat that is almost a giant mallowmar. The outer layer of chocolate is so thin that this delicious snack has to be hand-wrapped and packaged. The reason why "wings of crembo" is such a fitting name for this youth movement is because the care and love that is given to the teens will provide them with what they need to succeed. 

The theme of this day was "ways of influence" and I definitely learned the value of a smile and the impact of different experiences on peoples lives. 

Lauren and Andy

The Long Awaited Shabbat...

The long awaited Shabbat proved to be an amazing experience for the whole group, especially the Americans who do not typically celebrate Shabbat as often or extravagantly as the Israelis do. After a shorter day of activities on Friday, we went back to our Israeli homes to prepare for the holiday with our families. I was fortunate enough to be invited to my match's grandparents home for Shabbat dinner with brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and way too much food. The dinner was so unique because for me, the family and amount of food was something comparable to the annual Thanksgiving meal, but it is done weekly in Ashkelon. After, some of us met friends of our matches and later, all the Dillers hung out together to finish our evening. We had the next day free with our host families to do different things. I went to Tel Aviv with my host family to spend the day shmying and shopping by the port. For Havdalah, we all met at one house to talk about our Shabbat experiences and what it meant to us. After a meaningful discussion, a much needed dance party went into full rage and we all had a great ending to our weekend in Ashkelon.

See you soon!
Alyssa and Anneliese 

Christmas Eve- December 24th

Our day began not too early in the morning (thank goodness) and after breakfast, we left Jerusalem for Tel Aviv. Upon arrival we made our way to Kikar Rabin -formerly Kikar Malchei Yisrael- to see the place where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in November of 1995. We had a debate and then lunch in the square, and travelled to The Yitzhak Rabin Center Israeli Museum on the outskirts of Tel Aviv with an amazing view of the city. The museum followed the history of Israel from the Mandate of Palestine to near present day through the life of Rabin, covering his youth on a Kibbutz to his army service to his final position as head of the Israeli Government. After the conclusion of our tour at the museum, we traveled once again to downtown Tel Aviv for some free time on the bustling Rothschild Street where we could buy snacks and souvenirs. Our final stop was at the birthplace of Israel itself: Independence Hall. Our tour included a short film and a presentation by an eccentric  guide whose talk with us was both comedic and informative. Naturally, we were all starving by the end of the day and were eager to get back to the hotel in Jerusalem for dinner. But as things happen, our trip back was not short as we would have liked. As the Israelis would say, there was quite the balagan- mess- on the highways back to Ramat Rachel. We ended the night as we always do, with an -albeit truncated- ma'agal lilah and then a long awaited rendezvous with our beds. 

David and Dillers.

December 25: The Moment We Have Been Waiting For

We began our day in Old Jaffa. After touring the cities pristine architecture, we spent free time in the flea market, bargaining with the shop owners for jewelry, clothing, and Israeli souvenirs. Walking the crowded streets, we had an experience unlike any American practice. We had lunch and then boarded the bus to Ashkelon (yay)! Entering the city for the first time as a partnership, we were filled with excitement and anticipation for the week as we took a photo by the Ashkelon entrance sign. Our first stop was the volunteer center where we spent our mitzvah day packing snack bags for underprivileged families. Working together, we were able to complete the project in twenty minutes rather than the allotted two hour time slot. Waiting for dinner, we went outside and played group games. The environment was full of laughter and smiles. After our pizza dinner, we went to a soup kitchen and packed bags of vegetables to be later distributed to families in need. We met a lot of new people who greatly appreciated our help and hard work. Finally, we returned to the volunteer center where our host families were waiting for us. It was a long day full of energy and enthusiasm and ended with the moment we've been waiting four months for!

Sara and Seth 

December 23rd Last night of Hannkkuah!

Today was a day of remembering the past and making connections for the future. We started our day off by going to Har Herzl Cemetery. There we saw the monuments of Theodore Herzl, Yitzhak Rabin, and other Israeli leaders and soldiers who all contributed to the well being of Israel. We discussed the life of Herzl, who was the considered the father of Zionism, and his passion for the creation of a Jewish state and all he did to achieve it. We saw the graves of the seven paratroopers who sacrificed their lives working toward Israel's creation. This sight led to a discussion on each of our connections to the fallen and Israel. The Americans felt more connected to the history and the religious aspects of the significance of their sacrifices.  On the other hand, the Israelis felt more nationalism and patriotism towards their country.

            After taking in all of that history we took in even more by going to Israel's holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. There we were met by a tour guide who took us through the museum explaining different aspects of the holocaust. Though some of us had already been to this museum it was a completely different experience because we were there with Israelis and had the opportunity to go through it with them. Our tour guide focused a lot on the symbolism of the architecture of the museum. Two buildings of the museum were connected by a wooden bridge which as you walk across can said to sound like the trains that transported the Jews to the camps. Many survivors who came to visit the museum agreed.  Throughout the tour she reminded us of the horrors of the Holocaust but also emphasized our role as future Jewish leaders in that once we hear the stories of the survivors we also become survivors and it is our responsibility to tell our stories to future generations.

            After a somber morning of remembering we made our way to Tel Aviv to the Diller International Mega Evening! This was in place of Congress, a 5-day event where all participants of Diller come together to meet and learn about Judaism.  Instead, we did all of that in seven hours! We were broken up into six groups mixed with participants from San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Eilat, Upper Galilee, Chicago and many more. We all participated in programs to further our knowledge about what family means to us and the meaning of a Diller Family. Throughout these  programs we all got to know some of the fellows from other cohorts. Though this was the only time we will all see the Israeli Diller participants we will get another change to see the North American participants at Kennes later this week! We concluded the night by listening ta rockin' band called the Shuk. Though some of us fell asleep during the concert they were still great. We enjoyed our last night of Hanukkah with all 400 participants of Diller in a huge candle lighting!

 

It's been great so far and we can't wait to update you more! We all miss you and are all doing great!!!

 

Thanks for reading.

Julia and Ben.

             

Day 1 in Israel!

Our traveling began at 3pm. After Lena and Jacob gave killer travel packs, we knew we were ready for the 11 or so hour flight. At the airport, we had two hours of free time where we saw the Boston dillers and enjoyed jelly doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts. Once we boarded the plane and took off, it didn't take more than ten minutes for some of us to feel under the weather, but we all pushed through and came off the plane feeling energized to see the Israelis! We met them outside of baggage claim, where months of anticipation erupted into screams of delight and emotional embraces, and we breathed a collective sigh of relief that we had finally arrived in the Holy Land despite the summer's trials and tribulations. We took an hour-long bus ride to Jerusalem where we got some delicious Schwarma. After dinner, we ventured into the tunnels of the kotel and then wrote notes and prayed at the wall ourselves. We finally drove to the hotel had a maagal lilah reflecting about what we are blessed with and thankfully went to bed. The travel day proved exhausting for many, but it felt surreal and rewarding to finally reach Israel and have the opportunity to conclude our Diller program in the most meaningful way possible!

Jacob and Lena