Shabbat at Congress

Written by: Noa Cardin and Lindsay Zolet 

Today was Shabbat which provided a meaningful experience for the teens. This Shabbat differed from all the other ones we have experienced because all of the Diller fellows from Israel and North America were brought together. Friday night the fellows became one as they dressed in all white to welcome the Shabbat. The 400 teens walked in a parade singing and welcoming Shabbat. The whole Diller program sang as one unit and lite candles. 

Following this, the fellows went to services of their choice. The choices included: meditation, songs, musical interpretation, orthodox and more. Erin and Danny  lead an amazing sing along service. The next morning their was yoga or service that the teens could go to. After breakfast we had a workshop with our cohort followed by a textual study in our respective tribes. There were activities in the afternoon which included a nature hike or a bible story telling session. All the fellows congregated to have our communal Havdala service. Separating Shabbat from the rest of the week, we sang as one unit. After the service we had a program discussing life after Diller. The teens learned about becoming a JC and being part of the Diller Alumni Task Force. The Diller teens separated for their nightly maagal where we then discussed our jewish identities and received our letters written to us by our parents. As we headed off to the white tent to socialize with the other teens, we ended a fantastic Shabbat.