Candid experience in the Yaffa Flea Market by Cara Mazor

In a country where every kid becomes a soldier, I have never felt like more of a child. Walking around the flea market today in Jaffa was definitely a juvenile experience. In the small alley filled with miniature stores overflowing with jewelry, clothes, and other merchandise, it is hard not to be tempted by all that is around you. With a man screaming in your ear on one side to buy his necklace, and another pulling your arm for you to come into his store to try on his scarf, it definitely was not an easy day. Let’s just say bartering is not my thing. I felt a wave of fear come over me as the man in the red polo was harassing me to purchase a necklace. When I finally gave in, the price was just not acceptable for me. However, I did not have the courage to try and lower the price. My first attempt at trying to lower the price by 10 shekels was horribly unsuccessful. I tried this bartering system, all while refusing to make eye contact with the man and speaking in a very soft voice. As he yelled and refused, I eventually gave up. I then took to Gabe to help me barter the price down to one that was reasonable and left the tiny cubicle of a shop, hoping never to return again. While Gabe and I are the same age and he is a good friend of mine, I almost felt as though he was protecting me like a parent as we walked through the flea market as he helped me read Hebrew on the walls, and barter semi-successfully. While I thoroughly enjoyed the day, it did make me feel childish. I also get that juvenile feeling when trying to interact with locals. Only knowing a few words of Hebrew does not help me feel like more of a mature adult. When I get that blank stare from shop owners, or people on the street who have absolutely no idea what I’m saying, it is rather humiliating. But aside from that, I do have a sense of mixed pride between my Jewish culture and my American culture that have both come together within the Holy Land. I may not speak Hebrew, and I may not fully understand Israeli culture, but I am Jewish and do belong in this country, no matter how young I may be.

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