Prep Stages for the Self-Management Shabbaton

       Our most recent workshop kept everyone in the cohort busy and engaged, it was never dull for a moment.  We began with an activity focused on communication and the importance of understanding why it’s important to keep good communication with everyone in the cohort, especially leading up to our self-management shabbaton.  Before arriving, we were told to bring a blindfold, if we still had the one from our first shabbaton, for one activity in particular (throwback to the trust walk!).  We quickly found out why.  We split into pairs and awaited instruction.  Next, peanut butter and jelly made an appearance, featuring gluten-free bread.  At this point, we were told to blindfold one person who would be making the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, while the other person acted as eyes, facilitating the sandwich making.  During this activity, we saw some groups communicated well and were successful, while others had a more difficult time.  When everyone had finished, we quickly went around the circle discussing the problems we faced and how we reached our end product.  We saw that although there might be a traditional way of going about things, there is not only one way to accomplish the same goal. 
After that, we did activities led by our very own JCs!  Sam’s activity was focused on looking in at ourselves in order to see what motivated us, specifically regarding Diller.  It consisted of an interesting lesson on things like motivation, mission, and vision.  Then, again we got paired up and were given a guiding question.  After giving a response, our partner listened thoughtfully and came up with a further “why” question.  This was a way of probing ourselves to see where our motivation truly lay, beyond the surface.  It was interesting to see how each answer took shape, becoming more concrete and true of ourselves as we kept going.  We ended the activity by recording our answers on a tree, with the superficial answers in the branches, and each deeper response first on the branches, then the trunk, and then the roots. 
Annabelle’s activity, like Sam’s, was something eye-opening.  In pairs, once more, we began the next activity.  The goal was to practice active listening and see how it differs from how we normally listen.  On four note cards, words like college and Israel and parents were written, all flipped over.  One at a time, someone would pick a card and be given three minutes to say whatever came to mind.  The catch was that for the entire three minutes, the other person could not respond or chime in.  After each sort of round, people were called on to give quick summaries of what their partner discussed to show that they listened to and absorbed what their partner was saying because all they had to do was listen, not think of how to respond or move conversation forward.  During the final discussion post-listening, we brought up how although everyone was given the same four words, our conversations were nothing alike, because we as people have different views and different experiences.  We also touched on how difficult it could be to listen thoroughly to what someone is saying and hold back from responding even when there is something you’ve been waiting to say. 
After all of the wonderfully planned activities, courtesy of Amanda and co., everyone was given time to get into their committees for the self-management shabbaton to solidify ideas and start finalizing plans.  All in all, everyone is getting excited and can’t wait to see how things will fall into place.  One more workshop and then we’ve made it!  Wish us luck!

Sophie Caplan

Diller 8 Super Stars at GMW Super Sunday

 

The Super Sunday workshop was our first meeting after the Shabbaton. Essentially, it was our first meeting as a truly solidified cohort. However, while we waited for the workshop to begin, a slightly uncomfortable silence hung in the air. The connections we made during the Shabbaton were certainly not lost, as we had all been engaging in consistent contact via social media, however the rapid escalation of our relationships in such a short time followed by a drought of human interaction with one another perhaps caused an awkwardness when we reconnected in person. After beginning the workshop, though, we were given an opportunity to rekindle the connections we made over the Shabbaton through guided interaction.

During the workshop, we began the initial planning of our Self-Management Shabbaton. After being assigned to our committees (content, food, morale, logistics and Shabbat spirit), we composed a mission statement, a vision, and a set of goals. This process was challenging as most of us were eager to contribute our ideas and, as a result, there were lots of side conversations and many layers of voices, all trying to be heard. Having twenty strong leaders work together is not always easy. We managed to overcome this, however, and the final product was one that seamlessly combined each of our own hopes for the Shabbaton along with the Diller pillars and values. This strong starting point has personally made me very enthusiastic about the prospect of planning our own Shabbaton, tailored to what our cohort most wants to achieve. I feel that this Shabbaton will be the most rewarding as, if it is successful, we will have provided ourselves with a memorable experience that will benefit each individual as well as the entire group.

After our mini workshop, we began Super Sunday. For those that do not know, Super Sunday is an entire day devoted to raising funds for the Federation. This day is essential to the continuation of all of the amazing programs that the Federation supports, one of which is Diller. For those that do know what Super Sunday is, you have most likely received a phone call requesting a donation for the Federation. However, what goes on behind the scenes of these phone calls is incredible; hundreds of local Jews gathering to make phone calls to urge donations. Intimidating, defeating, frustrating and rewarding are all words that one may use to describe the phone-calling process. Most people do not answer the phone calls, this is the frustrating part. When people do answer the phone, many can be rude or terse, this is the intimidating part. Often times, people decline the request of a donation, or, better yet, hang up the phone mid-sentence, this part is defeating. However, many people are very generous and appreciative of the work being done for the Federation, and this is where the rewarding part comes into play. Knowing that we are giving back to the community that is providing us with so much is an amazing feeling, and it was overall a very rewarding experience.

Alexandra Constantinides