Diller Teen Fellows Summer Seminar - Baltimore

July 30th, 2007

Politics day began with a moving sha’ar (morning activity) conducted by Katie David and Janie Ackerman, the chanichim/touranim for the day. After identifying political knowledge and sentiment within the group, we settled down to learn from two phenomenal speakers. Josh Titlebaum from Hebrew University gave an enlightening overview of Israeli politics. Afterwards, Ofer Dekel taught us about the causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict and everything being done to stop it. In the afternoon, we went to see and learn about the security fence that is under construction in Jerusalem. During the night we all set out for Ben Yehuda Street for dinner, dessert and shopping. On Thursday we woke up and after packing the bus with all of our luggage, we drove to Tel Aviv to meet up with the Israelis. Everyone was so excited to see each other again! We all played some fun warm-up games together. After that we went across the street to the park and ate a great lunch. After lunch we went to the Tel Aviv beach to begin an enriching tour of the city led by Shai. He showed us many interesting places and despite the scorching heat, we all walked to Shenkin Street in the city center. On the way we enjoyed delicious popsicles. We had some free time to shop around the area before heading to a park nearby. There, we had a discussion about how we felt in Tel Aviv and about its people. When the bus arrived we all boarded and headed for the Masada campsite. We arrived at the base around 10:30 p.m. after taking a rest stop at a mall in Arad. We had a delicious BBQ for dinner with chicken and hotdogs. The next morning we woke up at 4:30 a.m. in order to hike up to Masada before sunrise. When we finally made it up, many of us were tired and hot, but the beautiful sunrise was worth it. The group moved to a shadier spot after watching the sunrise and had an interesting discussion about the history of Masada. After leaving Masada, we traveled to Yam HaMelach (“the Dead Sea”). We enjoyed the sun and the beach and then returned to Jerusalem for a Shabbat with the entire Diller community and our respective Israeli counterparts. On Friday night, we were offered many choices of different services. All of the teens spread out through Jerusalem and then came back together at the base, the Beit Shmuel Youth Hostel, for dinner. On Shabbat, the Ashkelon teens joined us and our programs all day, including text study, menucha (rest) and group activities. An optional morning and afternoon service were both offered to those who chose to partake in them. We enjoyed a walking tour of Yemin Moshe on Shabbat afternoon. Following the conclusion of Shabbat, we were surprised with a live concert. Everyone had a lot of fun on our last night together before departing for our sister cities. Today (Sunday) we hiked in the Jerusalem hills with the Ashkelon teens and then drove to Ashkelon. Upon our arrival, we met with Ethiopian women who had chosen to make aliyah. We broke up into groups and interviewed the women, recording their oral histories. We then split and went to our respective home hospitality families. We are all having a great time here and we’re getting pumped for the community service and exposure to Israeli culture this week! We all send our love.

- Marla Benedek