Diller Israel Update: July 27, 2010

Click here to see pictures from the closing program at Shani Yamin’s house http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/DILLER26July2010Party#

 

Today’s recap:

This morning the teens made a joint collage which will hang in Ashkelon’s Teen Center and after the collage they had a closing circle where all the teens shared their feelings about the Israel Summer Seminar. They headed to the beach for some free time and then went back to their homes to pack. They are on the bus on the way to the airport and are looking forward to catching up on three weeks of sleep on the plane.

Click here to see pictures from this morning’s closing program http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/Diller27JulyCollage#

Thank you to our incredible staff team---Noa, Avichai, Gal, Sammy, Sigal, and Nicole (Ashkelon team), Ronen (tour guide), Israel Experience (tour operator), the Diller International professionals and Megan, Sam and Hailey for being absolutely amazing!

 I will send out an email tomorrow morning with the estimated arrival time and all of the teens will call home once they get on 695. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow morning,

Leah

 

New Diller pictures!

There are new pictures (numbers 164-222) at http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/Diller16July2010MatnassBurtonMeitar#

 

Diller Update: July 26, 2010

Shabbat recap:

On Friday night the kids were so surprised to read their letters from home! They really enjoyed reading your wishes and dreams for them.

On Shabbat morning, there were lots of service options and then the teens participated in sessions that focused on:

• Our common denominator where the teens talked about what are our defining moments as a Jewish people and what their individual defining moments were when they discovered what it means to be Jewish
• Personal and social responsibilities towards peoplehood

 

They had a lot of free time to connect with the other Diller teens, which was great! After havdalah, Robbie Gringras, a British-born Oxford University graduate performed for the Diller Congress. Robbie is a writer, actor, singer and storyteller who now lives in Israel. It was still early (according to the teens!) so they had a DJ and a dance party!   

 

Sunday recap:

The teens started off their morning with a choice of sessions where they had an opportunity to meet with contemporary Jewish leaders who are involved in Jewish peoplehood initiatives. They enjoyed having small group meetings with these experts and then had a panel with the speakers where they asked lots of great questions. After an intense weekend packed with discussions, ideas and community building, each partnership community gathered to brainstorm developing their own peoplehood initiative. Each partnership presented their initiatives (Sam and Penina presented on behalf on Baltimore/Ashkelon) to the rest of the Diller community. The International Diller office has $18,000 set aside for partnership communities that would like to apply for funding for their initiatives. They ended the evening with skits from each partnership (Baltimore/Ashkelon rose to the top AGAIN!), a barbeque, karaoke and a slideshow of the congress that the junior counselors and Tzamah put together.  Ally Weiner and Hannah Marcin (Diller Baltimore alumni) were absolutely incredible and it was great to have them participate in the Congress since they were the first North American Diller alumni to be involved in the Congress!

 

Today’s recap:

The teens had a chance to give feedback and evaluate this year’s Diller Youth Congress and then learned about Israel engagement programs through Masa that are open to them once they finish high school. They participated in closing ceremonies for the Congress and journeyed back to Ashkelon. Once they arrived in Ashkelon, they had free time with their host families and gathered this evening for the closing dinner (with the Ashkelon families).

 

I will send out an email tomorrow with pick up information for Wednesday morning!

 

 

Leah Berry

Director of Community Engagement

THE ASSOCIATED

lberry@associated.org

410.843.7493

 

Diller Update: July 23, 2010

Yesterday’s recap:
The teens had an action packed day at the Diller Youth Congress.  They left Jerusalem and arrived at Givat Chaviva which is where the conference is located.  The first day of the Congress was only open to the North American Dillers, which was great since the Israeli Dillers participated in a Shabbat retreat together in the spring.  They began with an opening ceremony where each community (Baltimore, LA, Pittsburg, MetroWest, NJ, San Francisco, and Montreal) had to showcase the unique aspects of their group and Baltimore’s presentation was definitely the best!  The teens heard from Steve Israel, who is an expert on peoplehood.  After lunch, they went to a couple of different educational sessions in mixed groups so that each of the teens will start to develop relationships with teens from other Diller communities. In these sessions, they talked about what it means to create a Jewish community, be culturally Jewish and discussed shared Jewish memories.

Today’s recap:
The Israeli Dillers arrived in the morning and the Baltimore teens were very excited to see their Ashkelon peers! They began with an opening ceremony for all of the teens that was led by Tzamah (Israeli Diller alumni and Hannah Marcin and Ally Weiner, our Baltimore Diller alumni).  All the communities introduced themselves and the Baltimore/Ashkelon group outdid themselves again! While the teens were in line waiting for lunch, Austin Berg and Ilana Frier started some cheers to get the whole Diller community excited (i.e.  riled upJ) about the Congress!  After lunch, all the teens were placed in specific groups that they will work with for the remainder of the Congress. The Tzamah and Junior Counselors facilitated team building and a discussion on Jewish roots. They will have some free time after programs to get ready for Shabbat.  Laura Gevarter and Lena are going to represent Baltimore/Ashkelon tonight as each group will be sharing a Shabbat blessing for the rest of the Diller community. They will have diverse options for Friday night services, dinner and discuss the connection between this week’s torah portion and its connection with the Diller experience. Later tonight, they  will be receiving their letters that their parents wrote to them before they left.

Shabbat Shalom!

 

Diller Update: July 21, 2010

Yesterday’s recap:

The teens had late wake up because it was Tisha B’av and many of them chose to fast. They spent the morning at Har Hertzl, Israel’s military cemetery and had a very moving experience.. Ronen took the teens to the following locations at Har Hertzl:

·        Paratrooper Memorial

·        Memorial for the War of Independence

·        Dakar  Submarine Memorial which was interesting since the first day in Ashkelon, the teens met with someone’s brother who was on the Dakar submarine

·        Michael Levine’s Memorial http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Levin_(soldier)

 

Claire Postman brought the group to Hannah Szenes’s grave and talked about why she is viewed as a hero and read a poem that Hanna wrote. Claire is in the Hannah Szenes chapter of Baltimore BBYO which is why she shared Hannah’s story with the group. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chana_senesh

 

Ronen also shared some stories about his friends that were buried in Har Hertzl. The teens bumped into someone from Ashkelon whose son died in Gaza in 2007 and the family shared their story and many of the Ashkelon teens broke down into tears and it was very intense for the Baltimore  teens to share in that moment with their peers from Ashkelon. On the bus back to the hostel, the teens were completely silent since their morning at Har Hertzl was very powerful and made them think about what it means to live in Israel and be a soldier.

They got back to the hostel and had about four hours to relax until the evening. The Baltimore and Ashkelon teens gathered separately to check in and then they came back together.

Derek Siegel, Juliet Eisenstein, Adaya, Shlomit and Shani led a discussion about peoplehood and each person’s individual relationship with Israel. After the discussion, all the teens were given back their meaningful object that they had given up 24 hours prior at the start of Tisha B’av and the teens shared their feelings about how it felt to not have that item. The teens had an amazing Tisha B’av experience and talked about their connection with different holidays and how they can incorporate what they learned in the future. The teens had a late dinner and the Ashkelon teens headed back to Ashkelon and the Baltimore teens had some free time at a mall in Jerusalem.

 

Today’s recap:

They began their day at Yad Vashem and the group was split into two which gave them a more personal experience with the museum. After they finished at Yad Vashem, the group met with Marc Reisbaum who oversees the International Diller program. They headed to Ir David (City of David) and had a lot of fun hiking through the water tunnels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_David

At the end of the hike, the teens saw excavations taking place which was really interesting. They headed to the kotel and had a chance to compare their experiences since it was a lot quieter then their visit on Tisha B’av. They went to the Old City for a quick tour and had some free time to walk through the Old City. Afterwards, they headed to Ben Yehudah street for a free evening with the group (some of the teens met family members).

Adam Schnitzer and Ilana Frier, today’s chanichim toranim were extremely helpful in decisions and making sure the teens were where they needed to be today since there were a lot to do today.

 

Megan continues to be so impressed with the teens and their desire to learn and grow!

 

 

Diller Update: July 19, 2010

The teens had an amazing week in Ashkelon and special thanks goes to the following people:

Noa Nagar-Halevy for coordinating the Diller Ashkelon Teen Fellows and for working so hard on this past week’s schedule and program development

Avichai and Gal, Ashkelon junior counselors who have worked with the Ashkelon teens throughout the year and helped the teens take on leadership roles in planning this past week’s activities

Sammy for working on the logistics pieces to insure that everything went so smoothly

Nicole Rosenberg who took all of the absolutely amazing pictures and works with Sigal Ariely to make sure that the Baltimore-Ashkelon connection is the most incredible partnership!

 

Friday’s pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/Photos16JulyMatnassBurtonMeitar#

 

Sunday’s recap:

The group left Ashkelon really early (before 7 am!) and headed south towards the desert. They started off at Ain Ovdat, which is a hike and then went to S’dei Boker, which is where Ben Gurion is buried. The teens also toured  Ben Gurion’s house. After the tour, they went to the campsite where they cooked a delicious home made dinner!  Ronen led an optional meditation session and afterwards Ronen led through an exploration of the stars.

Congrats to yesterday’s Diller super star, Claire Postman!

 

Today’s recap:

The teens awoke with the sun and Henry Sholk and Laura Gevarter, today’s chanichim toranim led morning exercises and shared information about desert and Tisha B’av. They headed to an overlook at the Roman Crater and then journeyed to Jerusalem where they checked into their hostel. After they relaxed and showered, they all came together for pre-Tisha B’av programming. Each of the teens were asked to bring a meaningful object and they shared with the group why that object is special to them. After all the teens shared their object, they put them in a pile and those items were taken away from them until Tisha B’av is over (Tues. night), which will help the teens explore what it means to lose something that is special to them.

Amos Levi met the group and gave the teens an overview of Tisha B’av and its significance on their way to the Old City(http://www.hillel.org/jewish/holidays/tishabav/default, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tisha_B'Av)

 The group joined thousands of people as they walked through the Old City and the teens read Eicha (Book of Lamentations) on a rooftop in the Old City. After they read Eicha, they walked down to the kotel. The teens had free time at the kotel and were amazed at how many people were gathered there. As a side note--while the Ashkelonians were volunteering at Weinberg Village in March, the seniors wrote notes and the teens brought them to put in the kotel!

 

 

 

Diller Update: July 16, 2010

The teens started their morning at the Burton Jewish Community Center in Ashkelon. They volunteered at a JCC camp for at-risk youth and had a great time with the kids. After volunteering, the teens participated in a drum circle, which was a lot of fun! They celebrated AJ, Cody and Shalom’s birthdays with a cake and had time to have a check-in circle before they separated from the group for a free Shabbat with their host families.  The teens are absolutely exhausted and looking forward to relaxing and catching up on their sleep!

Wednesday’s and Thursday’s Diller superstars were Molly Himmelrich and Taylor Kuntz

Please check out http://dillerbaltimore.blogspot.com/ for updates from Zach & Carly, Taylor and Adam.

Shabbat Shalom!

 

Update from Carly Geller and Zach Cardin

July 14--

 

Today was a great day!! We had so much fun in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. We started off the day at Tel Aviv where we participated in a massive city-scavenger hunt. Running around the city, we collected clues that would lead us to our next destination. It was a close game but, in the end, the red team took the prize of 2 tubs of ice cream! After some free time in Tel Aviv, we drove over to the ancient port city of Jaffa. The view from the land was breath-taking. After doing a little shopping and bargaining in the streets of Jaffa, we settled down to enjoy a delicious dinner overlooking Tel Aviv's skyline. after such a successful day, Molly Himmelrich took the trophy of Diller of the Day!

 

-Carly and Zach

update from Adam Schnitzer

July 13th--

Today was a fantastic day! We picked grapes, went to Beit Canada, and danced with some people who were mentally handicapped. But I think the best event for most of the Dillers was going to Beit Canada. It definitely was my highlight of the day. All the Dillers and all the children at Beit Canada had so much fun and we all were having a great time making the children happy. The Diller that the children really loved was Austin. He got really involved in all the activities and he picked up the kids and spun them around which was a big hit with the kids. I think Beit Canada really impacted all the Dillers with a feeling of happiness and importance ow much the children liked all of us.

 

--Adam

update from Taylor Kuntz

Day 4 July 9-

Today we went to Tzfat. It was a lot of fun. Our tour guide showed us around the Old City of Tzfat. We visited a fortress from the crusades, a beautiful synagogue, and many other places. Then we had free time and we shopped and went on a photo scavenger hunt around the city. The guys teams won the photo scavenger hunt. From there we went to the Jordan River where we had a delicious pizza lunch. After lunch, we split up into groups of five and went rafting down the Jordan River. It was so much fun! We floated down the rapids, splashed each other, swam a little, and made some new friends. It was great! Finally, to cap off our day we had a nice Kabbalat Shabbat service. Overall, this was an awesome day!

--Taylor

Diller Israel Update: July 15, 2010

Yesterday’s recap:

The Baltimore teens spent the day by themselves and went to Tel Aviv & Jaffa. They began their journey at Kikar Rabin. Zach Cardin gave some background on Rabin and his memorial. The teens went on “our streets” which is a scavenger hunt around Tel Aviv that led them through the city. They ended at Independence Hall where were given money to buy their own lunch on Shenken street. After lunch they headed to Jaffa. On the way to Jaffa, Carly Geller and Zach Cardin, the chanichim toranim shared some trivia and fun facts about Jaffa. They started with free time to explore Jaffa and shop at the flea market. After their free time, Ronen led the group through a tour of Jaffa and afterwards they had a wonderful dinner in Jaffa and then headed back to Ashkelon. The teens enjoyed their day together and it was nice for them to regroup since it was their first time reconnecting within their own group since they arrived in Ashkelon on Sunday.

 

Today’s recap:

The teens got started early in the morning with a surprise activity on the beach. The teens had a sand castle competition. Check out the great pictures of their day at http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/Photos15JulyBeachKrembo?feat=email#

After their competition, they ate a delicious breakfast and then went back with their Ashkelon friends for a free morning and afternoon. The teens met in the late afternoon at Park Baltimore, where the teens met members of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission which included Linda Hurwitz (AJ’s mom!)!

The teens spent the early evening volunteering with Wings of Crembo which is a special needs program in Ashkelon.

After they finished with Wings of Crembo, they had a check-in circle and then headed to volunteer with gmach, which is an organization that puts together and delivers Shabbat food packages for lower income residents in Ashkelon.

 

 

 

 

 

Diller Update: July 13, 2010

Yesterday’s Diller super star of the day was Claire Postman and Austin Berg was today’s Diller super star. Congrats to both of them!  Please click on this link to access yesterday’s pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/DillerInAshkelon12July2010MiniGadna#

 

Adam Shnitzer was today’s chanich toran and he was incredible helpful especially since the teens went to a lot of different locations and activities. The teens had a great day and celebrated birthdays for Cody and Shalom! Volunteering at Beit Canada was an incredible experience so please click on the link below to see pictures.

 

You are invited to view Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership's photo album: Diller in Ashkelon- 13th July 2010 Bet Canada Diller in Ashkelon- 13th July 2010 Bet Canada Ashkelon - Jul 13, 2010 by Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership The teens spent the morning outside Ashkelon. They travelled to Moshav Amatzia, climbed Tel Lachish, picked grapes in the famous "Tali" vineyards and then tread them to make grape juice for wine. After lunch and some free time in the mall they volunteered at Beit Canada Absorption Center in Ashkelon. At Beit Canada they had fun with new immigrant children from Ethiopia. Dinner was a delicious falafel picnic in the park, and then the teens were off to an evening of Israeli folk dancing with Gvanim (special needs adults). View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=nikirose&target=ALBUM&id=5493440035875881985&authkey=Gv1sRgCPGr4qrY4Ij69gE&invite=CJHploEE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

 

Please visit this site for more pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose

Some pictures

I was finally able to get to a computer-- here are some pictures... but in a random order!

 

We are off to Tel Aviv tomorrow!

Diller Israel Update: July 12, 2010

Shabbat recap:

Friday night services were led by the Derek and the Shabbat committee (Molly, Claire, Zach Cardin, Taylor, Joey, Ilana, Julia and Allison). After dinner,

Joey and Taylor, Friday’s chanichim toranim facilitated a discussion about Shabbat where people shared what their feeling about Shabbat and the teens discussed ways to incorporate Shabbat into their lives. The group honored Cody Gelvar with Friday’s Diller super star award.

On Shabbat morning, the chanichim toranim (Zach and Ilana) requested that the teens have an alternative type of Shabbat service so Ronen led yoga and incorporated different prayers. After yoga, they discussed the torah portion and had a fun time acting out the portion! Zach led an intense discussion about Jewish identity and the teens were very respectful of each other’s views even though many of them have different opinions about the role that Judaism plays in their lives.

After lunch, the group spent the afternoon relaxing and Allison and Ilana led some interactive games when the group came back together.

Allison and Julia led havdalah and then the teens headed to the mall in Kiryat Shemonah. Joey Sacharow was the Diller super star on Shabbat.

After the teens came back from the mall, they threw a midnight surprise party for AJ!

 

Sunday’s recap:

They woke up early since they had a four hour drive to Ashkelon! They met the LA Diller Fellows at a rest stop on the way, which was very exciting. They arrived in Ashkelon and met all the teens for a welcome lunch at Adaya’s house. They spent the afternoon playing games at the beach and then headed to meet their host families. After spending some time at their host families, they all met up to watch the world cup final at a restaurant on the beach. Everyone had a great time!

AJ was yesterday’s Diller super star!

 

Today’s adventures:

They began their morning at the municipality and met with the Deputy Mayor and some other VIPs. Taylor (today’s chanicha toranit) introduced the Baltimore group and gave an overview of the Diller program. After the meeting, they met with a man whose brother was in the Dakar submarine (please see for more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Dakar )

They visited the War Memorial in Ashkelon and sang “ali, ali” and had a moment to think about all of the Ashkelonians who have died since 1948. Two Israeli Diller alumni spoke to the teens about the army and the teens from both communities asked amazing questions.  After that, they headed to the teen center and each of the Fellows were given army uniforms to wear and two Diller alumni led the teens through some intense basic training! After their busy afternoon, they drove to Roey’s house to chill and play games (most of the group slept!). They are currently eating dinner in Ashkelon’s National Park and dancing around with leis since they are having a luau and campfire. They are going to have a check in circle and will head back to their host families since they are exhausted!  

 

 

We are in Ashkelon!!!!!

I am sorry that no one has updated the blog in a few days. We did not have internet at the Tel Hai guest house.We are having an amazing trip so far and currently the teens are all with their Israelis... probably watching the World Cup game. I will try to post some pictures (I am currently in an Aromas cafe using their computers) tomorrow...we are all safe,happy and healthy. Your teens are amazing!!

 

Megan

Diller Pictures!!!

The teens had a wonderful Shabbat together in the North and had an incredible first day in Ashkelon. Details regarding Shabbat and today will arrive tomorrow! Enjoy these great pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/DillerArriveInAshkelon11thJuly2010#  and please make sure to check out the blog http://dillerbaltimore.blogspot.com/ for additional updates and pictures!

 

Diller Israel Update: July 9, 2010

Here is a recap on yesterday’s adventures:

The teens began their morning in the Golan Heights and hiked up Har Bental ( mountain overlooking Syria). They met a UN General who is responsible for the UN patrol between Syria and Israel. The teens asked him a lot of questions and really gained from their visit with him which helped them understand the complexities of Israel and its neighboring countries. They headed to Katzrin (Talmudic village) for lunch and went on a water hike!

After the water hike, they went to the Kinneret cemetery, which is where many of Israel’s young pioneers are buried. Ronen (our tour guide) told stories about the early Israeli pioneers that are buried there like Naomi Shemer and Rachel the poet. Cody Gelvar and Juliet Eisenstein, yesterday’s chanichim toranim led several interactive activities and a night check-in circle. Cody and Juliet began a Diller Baltimore tradition where the chanichim toranim will recognize one person every day who has demonstrated an overall positive attitude and  Allison Schlossberg was yesterday’s super start! After a long day, the teens were exhausted and went to sleep way before curfew!

Today’s recap:

They began today’s journey in Tzfat, one of Israeli’s four holy cities which is known for its kabalistic roots. Taylor Kuntz and Joey Sacharow planned a photo scavenger hunt around Tzfat and the boys and girls challenged each other. Everyone had a lot of fun and the boys won! They enjoyed some free time in Tzfat and then had an awesome afternoon rafting down the Jordan River. They had some free time to get ready for Shabbat and many of the teens had an impromptu information session with Ronen about his role in the 2006 war with Lebanon. Megan is so impressed with the teens and said that they are doing great, asking great questions and are soaking up every experience. They are going to have a wonderful time at Tel Chai for Shabbat and will enjoy all the activities that are being planned by the Shabbat committee which is composed of: Derek, Molly, Claire, Zach Cardin, Taylor, Joey, Ilana, Julia and Allison.

More updates to come next week….

Shabbat Shalom!

 

Leah Berry

Director of Community Engagement

THE ASSOCIATED

lberry@associated.org

410.843.7493

 

Having some technical difficulties

We apologize for not posting more pictures.. but for some reason its not letting us post more pictures. We will post more later when we are up North!

-Diller Baltimore 2010 

We had a great first day!

We had a really great first day in Israel. Some of us have not slept much since we were in Baltimore and we decided that today has been the longest day EVER-- but its been an amazing day!! Enjoy some of the pictures from our trip so far!

--Diller 2010

Diller Israel Update: July 7, 2010

The teens have arrived to Israel and are enjoying their first day! Thanks to Joey Sacharow and Sam Frallicciardi who were the group’s chanichim toranim (leaders of the day) until they arrived in Israel. Everyone has their luggage and there weren’t any challenges with customs.

The teens opened their Israel experience in Caesarea where they learned a little bit of history with Ronen who is their tour guide. They drove up to Haifa and had their first schnitzel lunch and had a little bit of free time to unpack at the hostel. They went on a small hike in Haifa and walked through the Baha’i gardens. Molly Himmelrich and Brett Mazor are today’s chanichim toranim and they will lead several activities this evening including a night circle where the group will determine their culture, guidelines and agenda for the next three weeks!

Please note that Megan’s cell number on the emergency form is incorrect. Her correct cell number is 011.972.52.604.8175. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions and/or concerns.

 

 

 

Leah Berry

Director of Community Engagement

THE ASSOCIATED

lberry@associated.org

410.843.7493

 

Sitting at the gate by Newark Airport

We have arrived to Newark airport after an uneventful bus ride! Thank you everyone for coming to Chizuk Amuno on time- we were able to leave by 7:20! After a quick stop at the new Delaware rest station, we arrived at Newark to find no lines at the El Al check in counter! Everything has been running smoothly so far and everyone is getting excited to go to Israel. We will update as soon as we can from Israel! 

-- DIller Baltimore 2010

Cant wait!

Parents, families, friends.... welcome to the Diller Baltimore 2010 Blog. We are really looking forward to the trip on Tuesday! The teens will be updating this blog as often as possible.

I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend and please don't hesitate to be in contact with me if you have any questions while packing!