Diller Teen Fellows Summer Seminar - Detroit

August 5th, 2007

Dear Diller Parents,

These past few days have been filled with many firsts for both the American and Israeli teenagers. We started off our week on Sunday, July 29th, leaving Jerusalem and heading to the Central Galilee to meet up with the Israelis in our partnership region. On the bus ride up we saw our landscape quickly change from urban to rural, surrounded by farmland on all sides. It was another side of Israel that we had yet to encounter. After quite a long drive up to the Central Galilee, we started our day that was filled with visits to multiple Kibbutzim.

At Kibbutz Beit Hashita, we had an interesting and thought-provoking lecture about the relationship between Judaism and Kibbutz living. We then proceeded to Kibbutz Ein Dor. For many of the Americans, this was the first time we had been able to actually see a Kibbutz and find out how they actually work. In this particular Kibbutz, many former members of the Detroit community live there as well as one of our Israeli counterparts. There we had a tour of the Kibbutz as well as a discussion about Kibbutz living and how it has changed throughout time. We visited a museum at the Kibbutz that housed many archeological finds from the area that showed just how long the region had been settled. Our night concluded at Kibbutz Yifat where we met our host families for the first time and left with them to our homes for the week.

We woke up on Monday, July 30th knowing that our day would be filled with activities. It was off to Tzippori National Park for a tour of the remains of the city of Tzippori. There we saw what the city used to look like and learned how Jews and Romans were able to coexist in the same settlement. From there we went to Hoshaya to eat and swim. That was a very different experience for many of the Americans. Hoshaya is a religious community that a few of our counterparts live in. The girls had to wear swim caps in order to go into the pool, something many of us had never done. After swimming we proceeded to Kibbutz Yifat to get introduced to our volunteer project as well as take a tour of their settlement museum. The tour was one of the highlights of our trip. Our tour guide was very animated and enthused to show us the history behind original Kibbutz life. There we enjoyed a pioneer dinner, eating like the original pioneers did years ago. Once we had stuffed ourselves yet again we proceeded to the Kibbutz of one of our counselors, Carmel. While we were there we heard her life story growing up on a Kibbutz. We enjoyed a bonfire complete with roasted marshmallows and spooky stories.

Tuesday, July 31st marked the beginning of our volunteer activity. Our project was working with mentally disabled adults, and we met them for the first time. We paired up with one of the adults and went through two different stations. At one, we created a collage of different things we like. At the other station there was music and drumming that everyone participated in. As our first day with the adults, it was very interesting for some of us to interact with them for such a long period of time. After departing from them for the time being we went to visit an urban kibbutz in Migdal Ha’emeq called Kvutzat Yuval. We heard the stories of a few of the members that are a part of this new form of Kibbutzim. They explained the differences between themselves and rural Kibbutzim. For most of us, even the Israelis, this was the first time we had any knowledge of urban Kibbutzim. After this discussion we had free time and were able to spend time with our host families. Each family did something different, ranging from traveling to Haifa to going shopping at a local mall.

The next morning, August 1st, we continued with our volunteer activity. That day we went back to Kibbutz Mizra to be outside with our partners. We swam and did Kapoera with them which was enjoyable for both us and them. After we spent our morning we them we prepared for our next activity, meeting with Bedouin Arab youth. Our preparation consisted of mini-discussions to simulate how even as Jews we have very different opinions on many issues. This was important since we were going to be meeting youth of a completely different race and culture than our own, who may have entirely opposite views of ours. After this preparation, we actually went to meet them. First we had an explanation of how the village of Shibeli came to be. Once this was completed we met the Bedouin youth. At first it was hard to communicate, we weren’t certain just how many languages would be spoken and at times we had things translated three different times. Things were kept simple in the beginning, just talking and making a collage. During the explanation of collages, things got heated in one of the groups. It became a discussion of who Bedouins fit in with, "Israelis" or "Arabs," and no one was able to agree. Eventually it ended peacefully, with no one completely agreeing but accepting everything. We ended our day in Carmiel, with the dance festival. There were many dance exhibits going on as well as tons of food everywhere. The festival was one of our first tastes of true Israeli culture, and everyone had a great time.

Our entire group is having an amazing trip and can’t believe how soon it’s over. We’re savoring every last minute in Israel and we will see you on Tuesday morning!