All About Israel: 67 More Days!

             Just last month I went on a field trip with my Physics class to our local community college. We were visiting a planetarium, and after the presentation, my teacher decided to take us  on a short cut through the campus to get back to our bus. On the way back, we were walking into the main building where students can buy food or study for classes. As we entered, my class passed a seemingly normal man who was handing out something - a pamphlet I thought, what looked to be the size of my palm. I didn’t really think much of it, in fact I tried hard to not look the man in the eye anyway, as I really didn’t care for anything he was going to potentially give to me. Persistent, the man actually came up to me and tried to give me his little black book - a bible, the New Testement, I eventually realized. I was shocked. Of course, I knew that this kind of thing went on on college campuses, however, how could this be happening to me, at my local community college, nonetheless? My classmates were more annoyed than anything, in fact one of my good friends muttered to me something along the lines of, doesn’t he know I already have one? My teacher and one other girl, the only other two Jews in my class of twenty, also were a bit stunned by the man. Even after we got passed him, my teacher was still saying she couldn’t believe he was trying to hand us bibles, as we were clearly not college students. But, as we all learned this Sunday, these passionate activists, whether outspoken or not, are desperately trying to gain the support of college students today, and we, as Jews living in America, must understand the basic facts about Israel to fight back with the truth.

                As scary as it may be, we’ll soon all be on college campuses throughout the country and will most likely have to deal with an issue like this. But, how will we deal with it? Should we walk away, avoiding any kind of confrontation, humiliation, or threat? Or do we stand up for the country we love and point out the various flaws and lies the speakers have in their rants?

                It’s a pretty hard few questions to answer. Although you obviously want to stand up for what you love, but, at what consequences do you decide that this may not be safest option to proceed with? Your heart is in one place to stand up and ask this speaker what his problem is and that he doesn’t know anything about what he’s talking about, but at the same time, you could be potentially putting yourself in a dangerous situation. This Sunday, we discussed how to respond back to these speakers with facts about Israel, and questions to put them on the spot, and force them to tell the truth.

                First, as a large group including many other groups besides Diller, we discussed some basic facts about Israel that we could tell our friends, like how Israel is smaller than New Jersey, and can fit into the state of California about nineteen times. Or how Israel has only ever fought in wars if they are attacked first. Afterwards, we separated into three groups to start more specific case studies.

                We saw Two Sides to Each Story from The David Project, Extremist Speaker from Hasbara Fellowships, and Hate on the Internet from StandWithUs. In Two Sides to Each Story, we listened to a speaker on a campus who shouted passionately while throwing his arms around to gain support from the students, however, his points were baseless and ultimately nonexistent. Together, we discussed asking him questions where he’d be forced to tell the truth. At an Extremist Speaker, we looked at an anti-Israel protist that had been televised, where a Jewish student was interviewed. She clearly didn’t know what to say and although she may have wanted to defend Israel, she did a poor job as her points weren’t strong enough for anyone to understand Israel’s side. Lastly, at Hate on the Internet, we watched a pro-Israel speaker trying to speak to University of Irvine in California. The college is not known for being particularly friendly to Israel, and this was clearly demonstrated in the video. As the man tried to speak, eleven times students who did not agree interrupted him. Embarrassed, the school apologized and threatened the students, but despite all this the speaker was able to keep everything together, asking the students to just pay attention to what he had to say, and maybe he could sway their minds.

                Overall, the program was very successful. The fact that this kind of thing is a very real issue, it is important for us to learn about Israel and learn how to defend it, and when to defend it.

                After this, Diller stayed together to discuss further about Israel, as we only have 67 days left until Israel. Not that we’re counting or anything...

                On Sunday, we, more specifically, talked about Israel’s borders. We talked about the West Bank, Golan Heights, and Israel’s neighbors - Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

                Some of us were given different places on a general map of Israel, including Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, The Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and Iraq. We talked about when these countries became independent, and the pieces of land that Israel won and lost from these countries.

                In 67 days, we will be in Israel, and it is extremely important that we know these facts about Israel in the time leading up to this experience. I think that we have to be extremely grateful for this past weekend as we were able to expand our understanding of Israel and truly prepare for college campuses and future discussions with our own friends about Israel.

               

We just wanted to say thank you to Noga Maliniak for allowing us to participate in the program and ending the program with an inspiring way to see Israel, along with the presenters and speakers - David Dranikoff, the Israel and World Affairs Chair, Avi Gordon from StandWithUs, Matthew Ackerman from The David Project, and Jesse Shore from Hasbara Fellowships.

                         Can’t wait to discover even more with Diller,

                                    RB

Check out this awesome "Made in Israel" Video:

Yom HaAtzmaut - April 26, 2012

                 Yom HaAtzmaut is Israel’s Independence Day and begins directly after Yom HaZikaron, thus emphasizing the fact that we remember Israeli fallen soldiers because we directly owe Israel’s independence to their commitments and actions to Israel and its people. Yom HaAtzmaut is a huge deal in Israel as Israelis have off from school and party into the night, only coming home at 7 in the morning! Most of our Israeli friends in Rishon went to a concert that lasted all night long with all their favorite bands sharing the stage and giving special performances. However, here in the U.S., Diller celebrated a little differently.

                On Thursday, Diller came together again to celebrate and attend a David Broza concert! David Broza is an amazing Israeli music artist. Although many of us Americans hadn’t heard of him, many of our friends in Rishon had and seemed extremely excited for us to see him.

                We all met up and piled into a very pact temple to see David Broza’s highly anticipated performance. First of all, David Broza is possibly the best guitarist I have ever seen live. His fingers simply glide into a gorgeous harmony that wraps around his voice which causes the entire crowd to sing and clap along with him.

                Of course, as you all probably know, “shy” is probably not an accurate decision of the MetroWest Diller teens. Once Noga started dancing and singing, (and yelling out directly to David Broza himself,) we immediately began to join in. Not knowing the words, but dancing around like no one was watching caused one of the members of the temple to invite us closer to the stage. Following Max’s lead, we all grabbed onto each other and started a gigantic conga line that extended far beyond just Diller. Before our second trip around the room, nearly everyone was grabbing onto one another in order to join the line! In fact, I’m pretty sure David Broza added in a few more chorus’ in order to let us keep dancing to his music.

                Ultimately, Yom HaAtzmaut was an awesome night filled with music, Diller, and Israel. We truly celebrated Israel by participating in this event and had so much fun being with each other, dancing, and singing along with David Broza.

                But again, this night wouldn’t have been possible without Leah and the extreme enthusiasm and outgoing energy exhibited by Noga, Aliza, and Max.We’d like to thank Leah for organizing and inviting us to this awesome night because we had so much fun and loved every minute. In addition, we’d really like to thank Noga, Aliza, and Max for all their enthusiasm. The conga line and dancing definitely wouldn’t have started without you guys, and that was what made the night so special.

               

The following is a link to one of the songs we heard last Thursday night. The video definitely demonstrates his amazing talent, however seeing him live was an absolutely amazing experience. Enjoy!! (I know us Dillers did!)

Yom HaZikaron - April 24, 2012

                Yom HaZikaron is the memorial day in Israel. This is a day where we remember fallen Israeli soldiers who lost their lives in the fight to establish the State of Israel. By observing Yom HaZikaron, we realize that Israelis and Jews around the world owe the independence we have in Israel, directly to the soldiers who gave up their lives to have the state.

                Overall, Yom HaZikaron is very different from the Memorial Day we have here in the U.S. First, everything on that day, (from sunset to sunset) is closed. Whether it is the movie theater or a night club, it is closed for respect of the holiday. In addition, a siren is sounded twice, where the entire nation has a stand-still for two minutes to remember the soldiers. During the stand-still, traffic is stopped and all daily activities stop to respect the day. Radio and television broadcasts are entirely devoted to music and programs that portray the mood of the day, or specific stories from surviving soldiers. However, similar to our own Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron is not only observed by religious groups, but recognized by the entire nation.

                With that said, last Tuesday, Diller 5 had an amazing opportunity to recognize Yom HaZikaron with our very own community at the Federation in West Orange. The service began with opening remarks from one of our very own Diller parents, Lisa Lisser, and shortly after we watched a short film in Hebrew with English subtitles about a soldier’s story. The short film set the tone of the night. By watching, I started to further understand the struggles Israeli soldiers go through even to this day, which just proves the courage and ruach that Israelis have to fight whole heartedly for their country. Following this, the scouts, (one of which, being our very own Nitay Caspi,) lit the memorial candle, while Cantor Menachem Torem chanted Yizkor and El Male Rachamim. Next, I got my own chance to participate in the service by reciting a poem by Avraham Halfi, entitled First You Cry. 

                This was an extremely special and proud moment for me personally. After the Israelis left, I started to feel an extremely strong tie to Israel, so being able to participate in the service and read the poem in front of my fellow Dillers and Jewish community, was an amazing experience. It’s funny when I compare myself as a Jew to the Jew I was last year at this time, without Diller. Yes I was Jewish and I went to Hebrew School and got confirmed and went to temple, but I had a lacking connection to Israel, which at the time, I’ll admit, didn’t seem like a very important part of Judaism to me. Now, with Israel as a daily part of my conversation with anyone I speak with,  I wonder how I ever felt Jewish without this major part of me that I never knew was missing, until Diller.

                Following this poem, the Golda Och Academy Choir, (including our favorite Diller member, Eric Lederman,) sung When the Heart Cries. Following this, a participant from Peoplehood shared her story of Yom HaZikaron, which brought her to tears. The service continued with much more singing from solo artists and choirs, but was concluded with the Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem.

                After the service, Leah brought us all together to discuss what we had just witnessed, and brought up a very true point; the Israelis we had just met a month ago, would soon be in the army. Although they seemed excited and committed each time the subject came up, Yom HaZikaron reminds us all that the army is a dangerous place, and the soldiers we had just heard about, would soon be the very Israelis we hosted in our homes just last month.

                Overall, Yom HaZikaron was a special time for us, and I know personally I felt honored to be able to be a part of the service. Singing Israeli songs and remembering the fallen soldiers reminded us of the Israelis who were just here and how much we miss them. As the Israelis recognized Yom HaZikaron in Israel, we recognized it here in America, and were able to feel a strong connection to Jews around the world, and especially to our sister group in Israel.

First You Cry by Avraham Halfi

First you cry.

Then the weeping becomes stone.

Then you remember only on thing:

The fall of the son.

And you do not say a thing.

Or you talk about rain and about “how do you do?”

And about something else. And about something more.

And the ear cannot hear anyway.

And you are silent.

And you get up from the chair.

And sit down. And get up, again.

And you know one single thing: He won’t be back.