Day 9 :Rak Po (Only Here)

The first day of the North American Kennes opened with an activity in our mixed groups about the different organizations in our community. One discussion we had began with Steve, the coordinator of my color group, telling us that a meteor from space hit Earth and that only 10,000 people survived, 200 of which were Jewish. He then proceeded to tell us that we had to choose 10 Jewish organizations or institutions to establish in order to create a Jewish community. Some of our choices were JCC, Jewish Federation, Jewish History Museum, Jewish Funeral Home, synagogue, and Jewish Youth Movement. In our discussion we spoke about how a part of Judaism is keeping our history and memories alive. We do this by educating the generations to come. We also discussed how a part of being Jewish is being a community. Although we don’t all practice the same form of Judaism and apart of different youth movements and groups we are all working towards the same goal, of becoming a unified Jewish community.

We were also lucky enough to have an amazing guest speaker, Avraham Infeld, the former president of Hillel.He spoke about Judaism and leadership through his humor and sarcasm. We learned that in order for one to be a leader, he or she must be passionate, and cannot lead alone. He also taught us that in order for people to follow you, you need to reach into their hearts, get them in the gut, and move the feet for them.

Our treat of the day was a show by Robbie Gringrass, an English Israeli entertainment speaker. He shared with us some of his personal stories and experiences living in Israel. He also integrated some of his favorite Israeli songs in between. “Rak Po”, by HaDag Nachash is a song about all of the ironic qualities of Israel. When an Israeli hears about a terrorist attack in Israel, they race back home. Also, in Israel, soldiers with big guns are comforting, whereas in American and other parts of the world, they are avoided. The show ended with Robbie telling us that Judaism is a song that everyone dances to, but that each person dances differently.

We ended the day with our nightly Ma’agal Laila, where Israeli soldiers spoke to us about what it’s like to be in the IDF. They explained how at age 21 they were placed in charge of their own platoon and given the great responsibilities they hold..

Being with all of the different Diller groups of North America has truely brought us closer. I can’t wait for all of the Israelis to come tomorrow so that our Diller community will be completed and the fun can really start!
(shout out to mommy and abba-- love you!)

-Carmelle