After a
successful community week, the united Diller Kashlash boarded busses and left
the partnership region for their next adventure located in Givat Haviva:
Congress. The opening ceremony included eleven Diller cohorts along with their
Israeli partnership cities, all wearing really fun Diller bucket hats. The room
was a loud cacophony of chanting and singing, each group trying to out-cheer
the rest. The fellows learned all about Helen Diller, heard a great new song
written by a Diller alum, and watched all of the JCs show off their dance
moves. After the opening ceremonies, the fellows were all split up into smaller
groups called tribes. The tribes had one Israeli and one English speaker from
each partnership, so it was a great way to meet people in a smaller setting. In
each tribe meeting, we explored a different lesson that was important to the
Jewish people. We discussed the idea of family on the first day. Each group
decided which aspects of family were most important to them. At the end of our
day, the Chicago group talked about family more by reading letters our parents
had written to us before the trip. After mingling and dancing with everyone
else at a party called the White Tent, we all went to sleep.
Thursday
morning, everyone had the privilege to listen to the famous Avraham Infeld. He
made the peculiar point that “Judaism is not a religion”. He taught all of the
fellows that Judaism is so much more than a religion and stands on a
five-legged table. Our role as Jews is to pick three of these five legs that we
can connect to. Our goal for Congress became to explore each of these legs in
depth in our tribes. We had already discussed memory and family, but we also
talked about Hebrew, Mount Sinai, and Israel. We did this by looking at sources
and quotes and thinking about how what we read could connect to our lives. It
was interesting to have these discussions because each tribe had a huge
diversity of opinions from many different places.
The fellows
also had the opportunity to hear from other speakers like Diller alumni and
modern Jewish leaders. I know that a group of Chicago girls were inspired by a
speaker who advocated for women’s rights within Orthodoxy, even working with a
religious lesbian organization called Bat Kol. Congress was not all discussions,
learning, and speakers though. On Friday, the fellows had the chance to participate
in the Diller Olympics, where many of us did zumba. We also had White Tent
every night where we were able to meet even more people from other cohorts and
partnerships.
Friday
afternoon everyone changed into their white clothes and began getting ready for
Shabbat. We said our goodbyes to Sam, who had to leave for a wedding. All of
the fellows walked together in a parade of white to the tune of the original
song written by Max Kalser, a Diller alum. We all danced and sang together the
songs we had sang with our own cohort, but this time we were joined by over
four hundred other voices. At one point, we all ran into the middle of a large
field and everyone began dancing. It was an amazing experience.
After that,
all of the fellows split up for Kabbalat Shabbat. The Chicago group had planned
a Reform service, and I heard it went great. I went to a Carlebach minyan led
by the South Africans, which was so much fun. By the end dinner I had lost my
voice from singing so much. Our Ma’agal Lilah brought many of the Chicago group
closer together as some of us stayed up until midnight for the start of Grace’s
birthday, when we sang even more.
Shabbat was a
relaxing day spent mostly with our tribes, talking about the legs. In the
morning, there was an option for yoga, which some of the Chicago went to and
really enjoyed. When we started to see stars in the sky, all of the fellows
gathered together in the big field for havdallah.
It was again the crazy experience of singing with over four hundred other
people. The end of Shabbat brought the beginning of the closing ceremony. Each
tribe preformed a skit, song, or cheer that had to do with their tribe. Of
course, Ben’s shirt came off as a part of his tribe’s performance. The junior
staff and the coordinators also had a dance that they performed. Maya, the
Kashlah coordinator, is a great dancer.
The night
ended with an insane dance party. Cotton candy was involved. The party was so
much fun and definitely one of my favorite memories from Congress. In the
morning, we concluded Congress with our tribes, said our goodbyes to everyone,
then boarded the busses once again.
Even though
it was really hot outside and the food was awful, Congress was fantastic. I
know I made friends all over the world who I will remain friends with. We were
able to explore our Jewish identities even further through speakers and
discussions in our tribes, but we were also able to explore what it meant to be
a Diller. It was so cool to feel like a part of the huge Diller community, and
know that I was a part of something bigger. I also had so much fun.
- -- Lizzie Jenssen
