Day 2 in Israel- Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Today, I was the first Moshe (leader of the day) for a full day of programing. Early in the morning I set the tone by welcoming my fellow Hebrews and She-brews in a Ma'agal Boker (morning circle). Filled with the enthusiasm of my fellow fellows, we all were ready to begin the most amazing day of programing ever.

 

Steadfast, we started a mind-boggling scavenger hunt at Rabin Square.  The scavenger hunt was called In Our Streets and it led us through the streets of Tel Aviv. We saw important spots like Dizengoff Street and Independence Hall. My team won, of course. The green team, with stomachs full of victorious chocolate, took away the gold.  From there we visited Shuk ha Carmel… that place was tight.  The majority of the clan ate our Pizur Lunch at Pasta Basta, a delicious pasta restaurant on the left hand side of the Shuk.

 

From there we went on to learn with Elliot of Bina, the Secular Yeshiva in Tel Aviv. Bina is located in South Tel Aviv adjacent to the Central Bus Station. Elliot, resident of Tel- Aviv, helped us challenge our ideals about immigration and immigrant rights. Inspired to overcome some of the setbacks set by misunderstood governmental policies, we began to shape our ideals towards helping the immigrants' social position and naturalization rights.

 

From there we visited the High School In Israel campus. We learned about a very elaborate program, which allows teens to explore Israel for six weeks while receiving a top notch education. We ended our amazing time with dinner at our beautiful hotel, followed by amazing and inspiring talk about the holocaust, preparing us for at Yad Vashem tomorrow. 

Day 1 in Israel- Tel Aviv

Our first day in Israel has been amazing! We landed at Ben Gurion airport and met Andrew, the JC Mentor who will be joining us throughout our trip, Ori, our tour guide for the first travel portion, and Leah, the Diller Coordinator mentor. After collecting our luggage and heading through customs we headed towards beautiful Tel Aviv. The view of the beach was absolutely breathtaking as the sun set on the Mediterranean Sea. 

 

When we arrived at our hotel, we quickly dropped off our bags in our rooms and heading to a yummy dinner. After dinner we had a quick ma'agal laila (night circle) because we are all tired. As an exciting surprise, I gave everyone a piece of Elite Milk Chocolate with Popping Candies. It was great to see everyone's surprise when the candies started to pop in their mouths. This serves as a symbol for the excitement and surprise that we have in store on our trip. Lindsy then led a discussion on our personal dreams for the trip to tie into our overall narrative. After we finished our ma'agal laila we said our goodnights and heading off to bed.

 

-Sammy R.

Update

We have arrived in New York and are on our way to our next flight!

Sent from my iPhone

....and we're off!!

Israel, we're coming for you!

Our final workshop before the Israel Summer Seminar took place yesterday, June 28^th. To prepare for our upcoming ISS trip, we split up into groups for our community week in Yerucham. Each group is in charge of planning a day during our trip.  It has been very interesting planning an entire day in a city that is not only across the world but also a city that many of us have never visited before! We are so excited to see Yerucham and experience all that it has to offer!

We also picked Moshes for every day of the trip. Moshe is an acronym for the Israeli words Manhig Shel Ha'Yom, Leader of the Day. Moshe was also an important figure in the Torah who lead the Israelites to Mount Sinai. Each Moshe will plan out and execute their own activities for the day and make sure everything runs smoothly.  As the Moshe, we will be members of the staff, which is both exciting and a little nerve wracking too! Every night, the Moshe will be writing a blog post about the activities of the day.

During our workshop we also worked on our 90-second introduction. Every North American community is preparing a 90 second introduction that they will present at the start of Kennes. Sandra, Cat, Hannah, Justin, and Jonathan worked hard on our introduction and we cannot wait to present it to the North American and South African communities. We will be sure to post a video of it on the blog!

At Congress, we will be given opportunities to pray in many different ways. Each Diller community is given the chance to lead a service in a style they feel comfortable with. Some of the styles include a traditional Orthodox service, a Camp Shabbat, and Meditation. Abby, Lauren, Sammy, and Michael have chosen to lead a Yoga Minyan on Shabbat morning. During our workshop, they decided on a name for the service, M(iami Y)oga (pronounced Moga), learned about the Parasha of the week, and outlined what yoga moves they will be doing and how they connect to the Parasha. This will be a really cool opportunity for Miami to show off a unique skill that we have!

We are excitedly awaiting our visit to Yerucham so we can reunite with our partner cohort. Our schedule is very exciting and full of incredible speakers, activities, food, and more. We can't wait to see all of our plans come to life and have an incredible and memorable experience on our Israel journey. Look for more blog posts leading up to our trip and while we are in Israel!

 

-Adina, Ali, Lexi, and Rachel

Cohort 2 NAS - Day 1

     After many months of virtually keeping up with our Israeli counterparts in Yerucham, the day to meet them finally arrived. Excitement filled the air as we welcomed our new brothers and sisters with open arms. 

We had a welcome dinner at the Bonwitt home (one of the teens in the Miami cohort), and began our activities as one cohesive and complete group. Learning new and interesting things about each other, we matched up song lyrics in English and in Hebrew, and configured puzzles that spelled out the Diller logo. Our favorite part of the evening, and of the seminar so far, has not only been meeting our Israelis but meeting everyone else’s matches. 

The fact that we could all come together as one group, all from different schools, cities, even from and across the globe is an amazing opportunity and experience to say the least. Thank you to anyone and everyone who helped make this year’s North American Seminar happen! We are so thrilled to be able to spend the rest of the time developing relationships that will last forever.

  

Israel Winter Seminar - January 2, 2015

Dear Parents,

We got a vivid taste of Jerusalem today. After a filling breakfast, we had the privilege of visiting Mt. Herzl alongside two tour guides and an armed medic. The tour guide helped us visualize the agonizing grief that all of Israel feels when another if its brothers falls. The melancholy yet humbling experience left us Dillers with a larger sense of gratitude and inspiration to take initiative as Jewish leaders.

After the tour of the cemetery, we drove to the Old City of Jerusalem where we enjoyed yummy schwarma. We then proceeded to our favorite part of Jerusalem, the Western Wall. We have never felt more thankful and blessed to be standing at the Kotel, the most important symbol of the Jewish struggle. Later, we rode back to the Caesar Hotel and had a lovely Shabbat dinner followed by games and programming led by our tour guides and Diller staff. Overall, today was an educational and fulfilling day. Love and miss you. See you soon!