After a late night due to the Diller International Mega Event in Tel Aviv, we were
treated to a late start on the day, meeting at 10:00 (thank you, Yerucham!).
The day, planned by some of Yerucham Diller’s finest Diller teens, began with a visit to a
nearby Bedouin tent, where we listened to a Bedouin woman, Nora, explain how
she became a Bedouin and the life style of the Bedouin. Interestingly,
hospitality is a fundamental aspect of the Bedouin life, something the Bedouins
and Diller have in common. Additionally, because the Bedouin life seems to me
to be very oppressing for women, Nora’s perspective was enlightening. Exposure
to Bedouin culture was also interactive; while Nora spoke, we relaxed in a
Bedouin-style tent and were given Bedouin tea and coffee to enjoy. Needless to
say, we were excited to thank Nora and her husband with a “Diller woosh”
afterwards.
We then took a 45 minute drive south to Mitzpe Ramon. There we split in to two groups. My group started with rappelling, or walking down the side of a cliff with a rope. Those who went down did not come up for a while, choosing instead to support the next Dillers to descend and watch the rams nearby. Although rappelling was definitely the “thriller,” it was not the main attraction. I suppose you could say that it “co-mained” with a museum on Ilan Ramon, the astronaut who represented Israel on the American shuttle Columbia, and the Mitzpei Ramon crater (which have no connection – I asked). The museum featured several short films, an interactive learning area on geography, and a film on geography based on a shifting thing (?) acting as the earth’s surface. While my group enjoyed the tour, the second group went rappelling. The two activities were followed by a program led in English by Arava, a Yerucham Diller. Arava did an amazing job directing a conversation which examined why the Torah was given in the desert.
Mitzpei Ramon was followed by the first Limmud Yerucham (Miami Diller also participated in Miami’s first Limmud last year). Many of the girls enjoyed a session on rikkudei ahm, Israeli folk dancing, where we learned and made mistakes together – a Diller must. Dinner, couscous with a vegetable soup, was served at the Limmud. After dinner and a conversation with Mandy, we split off. Some of us played basketball. A few of us went to our Israeli homes for some much needed sleep.
Although the day was long and much went on, the most important part was certainly Arava and Dolev, yesterday’s teen coordinators, who demonstrated how a leader needs to act, such as stepping out of our comfort zones by using a foreign language. So thank you, Arava and Dolev, for an amazing day.
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