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