Diller Teen Fellows Summer Seminar - Detroit

July 30th, 2007

Dear parents,

We’ve had quite a busy week here in Israel. Everyone is having a great time and we would just like to fill you in on some of the things that have been happening.

Wednesday, July 25th

Today we spent our time learning about the world of Israeli politics. We had three speakers come in. The first was a professor in Israeli politics who was a very interesting orator and talked about the situation in the Middle-east and a lot of the problems facing Israel. The next speaker was the former leader of the security forces within Israel, giving us a lot of statistics and information on the type of person the average terrorist is. The final speaker was a man who had lost a daughter to a suicide bomber. After that he joined a group that consoles both Palestinian and Israeli families that have lost loved ones to the wars and terrorist attacks. The main focus of the day was not only politics but the ability to tell how someone is speaking and being able to pick out slants going either way of the political scale.

Thursday, July 26th

This day we got up early in order to drive to Tel Aviv for the day. When we finally got there from Jerusalem, we found our Israeli counterparts waiting for us in Tel Aviv. After a brief reunion we went into a youth hostel and had some “name games” in order to get to know each other again. After having a short lunch in the park we explored more of Tel Aviv, going to Shenkin Street to get some shopping done. We then took a tour of a different part of town that showed us the dirtier side of Tel Aviv as we toured south Tel Aviv, which was more akin to downtown Detroit than what we had seen earlier. After the tours we headed back to the hostel for a good shower and a couple more programs before dinner and bed.

Friday, July 27th

Another early wake-up this morning and we were on our way back to Jerusalem with our Israelis. We stopped outside of Jerusalem for a small hike in the forested mountains that lead to a natural spring which some of us decided to swim in. After drying off we drove to the “shuk” or market place and did some shopping and falafel eating. We then arrived at our hostel in Jerusalem, a different one than the one we had been at before. We then had a lengthy activity about our week and began preparing for Shabbat. Then Shabbat arrived and after some pre-kabbalat Shabbat activities we went and decided our prayer option (one being Shabbat at the Kotel, which was by far the most popular). After returning we had a lovely Shabbat dinner and went up to our rooms for the night.

Saturday, July 28th

Finally a sleep-in day, not having an activity till 10:30, we then had a morning Kiddush and an early afternoon lunch. After lunch there was a fair amount of time to sit around and catch up with the Israelis and people from the other communities. After the free time, we had tours of a few of the neighborhoods of Jerusalem. We each chose which neighborhood we wanted to see and then went with one of the counselors for a self-guided tour. When we returned we had a Shabbat dinner followed by a quirky havdalah, then, a Saturday night concert with an Israeli folk rock band that everyone enjoyed very much. Although it was a late night, it was one of the best so far and we’re really looking forward to the rest of the trip.