Tuesday & Wednesday, August 7-8: The Last Two Days

What can be done in two days? In two days, G-d created light and G-d created sky. In two days, you could fight a third of the Six Day War. In two days, you could finish an entire game of Pokémon, watch Batman 24 times, or play 12 games of monopoly (assuming no one cheats). In two days, we said good-bye to Israel and the Israelis we came to love so much.

It began with a realization: The ISS is almost over. It was time to go home. It was time to go back to New Jersey, back to familiar, back to the real world. For me, it happened on Monday night. It was 11:30 p.m., and Peleg and I arrived home at curfew right when were supposed to. After hanging out on the Rishon beach with our Diller friends, I couldn’t help but to think of what a great time we just had. It was nothing special, just talking, walking on the sand, eating chicken wings, but it was with good friends and it was fun.

“We should do this again tomorrow night”, I thought to myself. Then I remembered we couldn’t, tomorrow was the farewell dinner.

“Well how about the night after?” I thought again. The night after most of us would be in our own beds, in our own homes, with our non-Israeli parents.

What? That’s it? I need more Israel, I need more beach, more chicken wings, more jokes, more time. Even the thought of bringing sand in my suitcase and making a beach on the plane did nothing to cheer me up. (Well, maybe it did cheer me up a little, but that’s beside the point).

I went to Peleg and I told him we were not sleeping tonight. I went upstairs, brushed my teeth, and in a second I was passed out in bed. When I woke up, I discovered that my plan for an all-nighter had failed, miserably. Yet there was a silver lining, for in that moment of complete and utter disappointment, I had an epiphany. Ding. This trip wasn’t about epic halo tournaments and water melon eating contests and late night beach parties, this was about experiencing Israel with your friends, and I didn’t need to push my body to the limits to prove it. I realized that even though there were only two days left, Diller wasn’t over and I was going to make the best of it.

That Tuesday morning we all gathered at the Garden of Leaders for our last day of programming. The plan was to learn about the leaders represented in the garden, Herzl, Rabin, Ben-Gurion, and others, and then come up with leaders of our own whom we thought should be represented.

We dragged through the morning and at noon, we took a walk to the community center for lunch and more activities. Even though the walk was short (about 15 minutes) and we were following a group of 30 people, my friend Eric and I still managed to get lost. After asking 5 different old ladies where the community center was, we managed to find our way back home. It turns out that we over shot the community center by a whopping 30 feet. Perhaps retracing our steps would have worked better in this situation, but asking the old ladies was far more interesting.

Once inside, we had another workshop: the sixth leg of the Jewish table, part B. Avraham Infeld would have been proud of our legginess as we discussed the issues of family, memory, covenant, language, Israel, and our optional sixth leg. After much thought, insight, and extended metaphors involving tables, legs, and bilateral planes, we had worked up quite an appetite. Luckily, the last Diller lunch was falafel and one of the best, even if I was tricked into eating ice cream mixed with hummus. (Thanks Marisa).

Filled with fried chick peas and pita, we split into Israelis and Americans for the Final Ma’agal. The Americans were treated to Meditation with Max, and those of us who stayed awake for it dove into the deep crevices of our subconscious.

Next, Sarah Resnick, as leader of the day, prepared an awesome activity for us. She had Lee-Dubs write notes to our fellow Dillers. Leah would read a prompt, such as “What was the funniest moment you had one this trip” or “What did you appreciate about someone”, and we would write a note directly to that person. When we were finished, we put each note in the corresponding Diller’s envelope, and I’m proud to say that everyone’s envelope became very, very, fat.

By the end of the activities it was 4:30 in the afternoon, time to rest before our big farewell dinner. Rachel Forman, being the incredible caring, compassionate, person that she is, began to tear up at the thought of leaving for a few hours. Nobody could blame her for it; we know in a few hours we would be doing the same.

At the Oscar themed farewell party, everyone was looking great. I was rocking a t-shirt, khakis, and a bright red “South Park” tie which I felt earned me the award for best dressed of the night.

Sarah Resnick and Yuval Dafadi were our hosts for the night, and we got hear from some great speakers such as the head of the municipality of Rishon, Co-Director of the Diller Teen Fellows Program and the head of the Youth Department. Another highlight was listening to Anais, Eric, Dar, Ori, and BenSal sing and play piano for the crowd, and they were so good that I think I cried when they hit the high notes. After a quick montage of the Amazing Diller Race the day before, our hosts commenced awarding Oscars. Some notables: Zach Broder won the funniest Diller, Julian won the most patient, Alex and Marisa won most energetic. (I got the most honest, but I think I deserved the one for longest blog writer). Following the awards, we were given full, fragile, ceramic flower pots to give to our host families, and surprisingly, the only person to break one was our Israeli coordinator Keren.

To end the night, all the Dillers gathered for one final Achim dance. (For those who don’t know, the Achim dance is a Metro-Lezion tradition where we all gather in a circle to dance and chant). Though we had done the dance many, many, many times before, this time there was a palpable difference. We locked arms and we stomped our feet, and the floor shook with each footstep. It became our heartbeat, one heartbeat for one family.

“I said let me see your Achim Dance!”

“What did you say?”

With every verse of the song our voices swelled louder and stronger. When it finally came to the chorus, we could barely contain ourselves. We bounded around the circle, jumping and spinning and yelling and dancing all at once. It was a moment none of us wanted to end.

When the event was concluded, we all agreed to meet back at Cinema City to chill. We ate some burgers at Moishes, went shopping, and Nick and I paid thirty shekels to have fish eat our feet. (It was sooo weird). It wasn’t anything special, but like at the beach, it didn’t have to be; we were together.

I woke up the next morning and it was time for the final goodbyes. Peleg’s dad, Eilan, made me the usual iced coffee and pita, and as usual, it was delicious. I said good-bye to the rest of Peleg’s family, and we were on our way to the bus stop.

I know this may sound a little heartless, but at first the bus stop was kinda funny. Not everyone was there yet, so I decided I wasn’t going to give anyone hugs until everyone was present. That way, I would start crying at the opportune moment so that it didn’t seem weird. I stood there awkwardly debating whether or not it was the right time to begin the hug-process, but in the end, I just wound up hugging everyone anyway, problem solved.

It was sad; there were a lot of tears and a lot of promises to stay in touch. I hope I can keep them all. Once all the bags were on the bus, we were reluctantly herded inside, and we left. That was it. The ISS was officially over.

As I write this Blog 30,000 feet above sea level trapped between a crying baby and a snoring lady from Phoenix, I have the sudden urge to read the fat envelope with my name on it. I pour the notes onto my tray top table and begin to read. Memories come back that were forgotten, and for a moment, I’m not stuck in crowded smelly airplane; I’m back in Rishon Lezion, eating chicken wings with my friends and walking on the beach.

-Noah Lisser

Monday, August 6th-A Race Around Rishon

Hello all! This is Julian, writing to you directly from the Rishon Letzion Museum. As I may have just revealed, today was spent exploring the great city Rishon Letzion, the first settlement in the land of Zion.

Our day started out with the "The Amazing Diller Race," a scavenger hunt throughout downtown Rishon, where we learned about Rishon's history and visited the sites. We got to do so many cool things; we visited the first synagogue in Rishon, and we even sold soda water in the street the way they did 100 years ago! It was amazing to see how a city can be both fully of history and modernity at the same time. Once we were done with our race, we enjoyed free time and lunch in Rishon's beautiful downtown.

After lunch we visited the well that was the heart of Rishon's society 100 years ago. Without water there can be no civilization, and that well was the only water source in 12 miles of Rishon. Heavy stuff.

Our day was concluded with a visit to the local Holocaust survivors home. We enjoyed a light dinner with the survivors, who shared with us their unique and emotional life/survival stories. It was great to see how happy the survivors were to share their stories with the next generation.

-Julian Amkraut

Sunday, August 5 - From Words to Action!

On August 5, I finally had the opportunity to be leader of the day! It was an awesome experience because the day was so meaningful.
As you all probably know, on Wednesday,  Thursday and Friday, we, the Americans and Israelis of Metro LeZion had the chance to take on the madrihim role that is usually held by our JC's, Max, Aliza, Zohar, and Addi. We can proudly declare that we have run a tikun olam themed camp for young Ethopian Israeli teens, grades 7 to 9, however, our work was not over just yet.
On Sunday we got together with our chanichim (campers) one last time; it was time to volunteer and act on everything we discussed and learned at the seminar about tikun olam (repairing the world).
We were all sent to different places in Rishon to begin the volunteering, such as Asaf Harofe, a farm, a home for holocaust survivors, and a home for adults with autism. I was sent to Asaf Harofe, a hospital on the outskirts of Rishon. While there, we played with some of the sick children. Recently, we've been discussing the idea of barriers - whether it be barriers of emotion, or physical, but more common, barriers of language. I thought of this a lot when I was at this hospital. At one point, Yuval Bensal, one of the Israelis, and I started to play with a little girl. We were just playing, trying to make her laugh, when one of the adults pointed out something funny; I speak English, Yuval speaks Hebrew, and this little girl spoke Arabic. It was really funny to see all these languages come together - something we've been discussing a lot in these past three weeks - in nothing more than a simple game with a sick three year old child. The fact that we were able to still play happily with this child showed me how much Diller has impacted me and changed me. Although it was something small, and I could definitely use a much better example on a larger scale, just this little exchange between us and a three year old showed me how Diller has affected me.

Before this trip, the Hebrew language truly intimidated me. It was something extremely complex and hard to understand. But, after spending such a long time in Israel, Hebrew and Israeli culture and everything I had previously been scared or nervous about, doesn't affect me in the same way. I can't describe in words the utter appreciation I have for all the things I've learned and come to know about Israel. I love Israel and everything this country has to offer.
But, before I get into that...
After volunteering, we got back to Ramat Eliyahu and Mai, my co-leader of the day from the Israelis and I, prepared everyone for the rest of the day, as we would be visiting the deaf museum. We continued the conversations about barriers, as the deaf have an obvious barrier with communication - something that also exists between the Americans and the Israelis with the language barrier. Sometimes we have trouble expressing ourselves to each other, and it can prove to be a problem when someone wants something and the other person doesn't understand.
When visiting the museum, I think we were all able to appreciate the barrier of communication a little bit more as we understood how it directly related to our lives. Going through the museum, we put on headphones and were not allowed to talk or make sounds so the idea of being deaf could be more realistic. We were led through by a deaf person and thus able to simulate the life a deaf person faces every single day. We were even given our very own names; Max, for example, was simple "glasses", while I got to be "figure skating". We had so much fun and learned so much through this amazing experience.
To sum up the day, it was an amazing addition to this life changing experience I've been going through for the past three weeks. I loved being the leader of the day, even with all it's challenges and dilemas, I had so much fun and learned a lot.

P.S. Mom, Dad, Adam, and Eric - I had an amazing time and its going to be very hard to leave but I cannot wait to share everything with you.


-Rachel Forman

Saturday, August 4th- A Day With Our Hosts

Today was Saturday, August 4th and it was a free day with our Israelis. Personally, I  caught up on sleep, as Ori and I slept until 3 pm. Once we woke up and ate breakfast, I was on my way to a place called mini Israel, which is near Jerusalem. It was a large outdoor place that was a large model representation of the country of Israel. It was really cool for me to see the places that I already visited and to also lean about new places that I would like to see in the future.  The only disappointing part was that Rishon Lezion was not represented! After spending a couple hours there, we went to Rothschild Street right after Shabbat ended and walked around for a while and I finally ate my first falafel this trip. Needless to say, it was amazing! Next, we walked to the Federation and got on the bus along with all the Dilllers to see the show "Mayumana." It was a really cool and exciting show. the performers encorporated acting, singing, and dancing, and was also very interactive with the audience. I enjoyed the show a lot and it was a good way to cap off the Saturday.

-Coby Levine

Friday, August 3 - The "Aha! Moments"

Today was the last day of our tikkun olam seminar. After spending two rough days with 50 uncooperative adolescents, we finally had a breakthrough. Today, the same 50 Campers made us remember why we were even there in the first place. Leah called it our "aha! Moment," and appropriately so. For example, today one of the kids, let's call him Craig, who had been giving me a particularly hard time showed me that he is not just an annoying 12 year old boy. He say down with me while I was making posters and started trying to sound out the words I was writing in English. He figured out "us," "today," "hope," and a few others while having trouble with words like "welcome" and "remember."  Seeing how hard he was working and how innocently he was exploring new things made me remember that these youngsters are deeper than any of us thought. A few of the counselors gave stories of campers really delving into their lives and inner emotions.

These "aha! Moments" really changed how we thought about the camp experience. We started to get to know the campers are realized how important it is to teach them and be positive role models while keeping them off the streets. All of the late nights and planning, all of the back talk and disrespect were totally worth it. While yes, we had a small impact on their lives this week,  they taught us so much more than we ever could have imagined.

- Rachel Gordon

Thursday, August 2 - We Share...We Learn...

For me, today started out a little hectic. I was on breakfast duty, which meant that I had to be in the dining hall early and I had to stay to clean up after.  Rushing through the morning routine, I came in to a hearty breakfast with plenty of toast and some delicious Israeli cuisine that I cannot even hope to spell. After that, the counselors and the enrichment team helped to lead the campers in a Tiguf; a.k.a. a drumming thing in which a person uses their bodies or some buckets to make music. It was really fun! Later the other Dillers had some Tiguf time as well.

Another highlight of the day was that the Dillers set up an American Day for our Ethiopian campers. With fun stations such as dance, tie-dying, football, s’mores made in a solar oven and trivia, the campers had a good time.  It was a fun way to share typical American culture with our campers, who all asked us if we knew Snooki from Jersey Shore personally.  It was almost like American summer camp, which was a totally different atmosphere than the campers were used to.     

Later in the day, the campers prepared an Erev Tarbut/Cultural Evening for us! Taught by the campers themselves, it was not to be fascinated and inspired by their knowledge of their ancestors’ country and their dedication and preparation in making every station. The Dillers learned about Ethiopian food, dance, traditional garb, hair braiding, and ceremonial coffee. And of course, who could forget the depiction of a traditional Ethiopian wedding re-enacted by the campers in traditional clothes. It was so wonderful to see the campers participate in something so meaningful to them; their faces as they spoke of their background and the pride they felt in being Ethiopian in Israel were alight with excitement as they earnestly explained the how and why of their unique culture as Ethiopian Jews.  As you can tell, all the Dillers and I were thrilled to participate in first running American Day, and then experiencing Erev  Tarbut . It was an evening filled of cultural exchanges and sharing, which, at the end of the day, is why we are here!

Good night! : )

-Sara Rosen

Wednesday, August 1st-Learning From Each Other: Community Week

Today began at around 7:15 for me, waking up to the smell of Omer’s dad cooking eggs. I was promptly given an egg in a pita and sat down to enjoy it while Omer took it to go. After picking up Yuval Moriah and Marisa Parnes, we headed to a youth center where we were briefed on what was to come; we were  working with Ethiopian Israeli youths in a camp setting. We made a big entrance singing and dancing and then we took an hour bus ride to Alexander Muss High School in Hod Hasharon where the fun began. The bus ride was an amazing experience in and of itself the seats reclined, and we all found ourselves in a comfortably reclined daze. I was on the spirit team so most of my efforts went into motivating kids, singing dancing, dressing funny, the sort of stuff the people on my team do every day.

Of all the teams the counselors definitely had the hardest job after being constantly with the kids. We thought the Israelis had energy to spare but these kids obviously had apple juice or something before coming. Luckily for the counselors the schedule for oncoming days has been revised in order to give them more breaks. The enrichment team really found it meaningful to spend quality teams in more personal groups. The camp seems to be off to a good energetic start. Currently there is a "teen zula" going on for the kids. "Teen zula" is pretty much a tent where kids can dance. The thing I found interesting was that they're having a headset party. The basic premise of a headset party is a DJ transmits music to a heap of wireless headsets and the kids dance and hang out with them on. From our point of view not only is it hilarious to watch kids just randomly dancing but they're all quiet!! We still have our night circles and sleepy time left on the schedule.

Overall today had a huge learning curve for me. The main things I learned were how to deal with energetic kids who don't speak the same language as me, how to set up a tent, and how really as a teacher you can learn from your students in ways in which you'd least expect. Most important of what I learned from the kids specifically today is the little things really affect a bigger group. I saw one of our Dillers pick up a piece of trash and a few campers follow. Hopefully tomorrow I will learn even more from this experience. Laila tov, to my mom and family I love you and hope you have a good night.

-Nick Sarano

Tuesday, July 31 - Congress to Community Week

Montreal, San Francisco, Baltimore, Upper Galilee, Ashkelon; Just A few places where I now have friends.
Congress was an amazing experience where we learned to form our own opinions, gained new ideas, and got to argue our position with other teens from around North America and Israel. We finished off congress with a sleepy morning after a big party last night. After giving and getting feedback in our color groups, we said our goodbyes, and made our way to Rishon Letzion! We were welcomed by the youth department (federation) in Rishon and a much needed lunch after a few days of the food at Givat Chaviva.

Now I'm at Mai's house starting off community week. I was welcomed into her house right away with a tour, a snack, music and dancing. After a trip to the mall, we're really ready for a good night sleep

-Alex Reiss