Diller Teen Fellows Summer Seminar - Cleveland

July 25th, 2007

We spent Monday exploring the ancient city of Jerusalem. We began at the Western Wall where we had time to be alone and pray if desired. We all found it fascinating to see people of so many different races and religions. We spent the rest of the morning wandering through the Old City and visiting places such as Robinson's Arch. As we walked around, we discussed topics such as holiness and what makes something holy to us. Then we had what many of us considered the most exciting part of the day … free time in the city! We were given about an hour and a half to walk around the Jewish Quarter. We ate delicious Israeli food and went shopping. Many of us noticed the aggressive and fast-paced nature of Israelis while we were attempting to make purchases. They definitely don't appreciate watching us stand around debating what to buy. Later in the day we met with Zvi, a Nesiya coordinator, to discuss the idea of "makom" or "place." We discussed the pros & cons of having one central place for all of Judaism. We didn't come to conclusion as to whether that would be beneficial or not. Next, we learned about various ways of observing Tisha B'Av. We learned about the reasons behind different traditions. That evening we drove to a site overlooking Jerusalem where we listened to the reading of Eicha.

On Tuesday we began the day at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. We had a tour guide but were also able to look around individually. Seeing the movies of survivors speaking, the yellow stars Jews had to wear, and the conditions in the concentration camps were all very moving. Everything there was extremely powerful and brought tears and powerful memories to many. There is a room at the end which contains the names of about 4 million of the Jews who died in the Holocaust. We saw the Children's Memorial as well. The Children's Memorial is separate from the rest in order to put emphasis on those who were barely even given a chance to experience life. The whole building is dark. At the beginning one sees pictures of children. Next there are candles which are reflected in mirrors many times. The flames represent the children. As you walk through the memorial, there is a voice announcing the names of children and their ages at death. It was one of the most memorable parts of the museum. We then went to Har Herzl. We began with a discussion about memories. We all shared the first memories we ever had. About half of us shared significant life-changing memories, such as moving. The other half of us had very random memories such as a day at preschool. We were all around the ages of 3-4 when we had our first memory. We visited Herzl's grave and learned about how he gave up his entire personal life for the State of Israel. Next we visited Yitzhak Rabin's grave and learned about how he made some controversial decisions. A few members of our group had personal connections with people buried in the cemetery. We visited their graves and heard our friends tell personal stories. After returning to the youth hostel we met our city groups and discussed personal Holocaust experiences. We shared which members of our families were affected by the Holocaust. That evening those who fasted in honor of Tisha B'Av broke the fast.

We are all thrilled to be here and are happy there is so much to see!

- Rebecca Lieberman