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!