Cohort 1: Day 9 in Israel: North American Kennes

Today we woke up and went straight to breakfast then we split into our color groups and had some nice programming where we talked about our communities. In a group of around 5 kids we created a new ideal community on a piece of graph paper. In the program we had buildings that we could put in our community and each building cost a certain amount of squares on the graph. Also, as an added challenge, we could not have any of the buildings touch one another. It was very interesting to see who thought we needed what and how they justified their opinions. 

After that we had some programing at David Ben Gurion’s grave where we learned about his life and assessed some of his famous quotes as a group. I loved hearing all of the wonderful and unique opinions of the people in my group. Then we headed off to lunch and had a bit of free time. We Chicago kids led the pack in exploring the canyon near Sde Boker. Everyone had a “climbing” buddy as we climbed down the beautiful downward slope of the valley that revealed an excellent view that stretched for miles of what used to be a riverbed. 

Afterwards we had some inter-group programing where our color groups mixed with other color groups and had a program where we talked about the Jewish populations in different communities and as our conversations developed we ended up talking about all of our experiences with anti-Semitism. It was a beautiful thing to see how everyone supported one another even though we all lived hundreds of miles away from each other. We then listened to a wonderful lecture by Avraham Infeld and we learned about all of his views on the Jewish community. He feels that Jews should be connected with one another through identifying with at least three of five categories--memory, family, language, Israel, and Mt. Sinai. 

We ended the night with an extremely powerful night circle where we really bonded as a group and we popped party poppers of the edge of a cliff to celebrate the New Year!

By: Kyle O'Day

Cohort 1: Day 8 in Israel: Education Day

On Tuesday, we got the amazing experience to go to school in another country. The 15 of us split up into three different groups to head to three different schools. I had the opportunity to attend a school with a very welcoming community- and as a small bonus, many of the students had a rich English speaking background! I, along with my Diller counterparts, met the principal and vice principal and many teachers who were amazed to see Chicagoans in their school. We even attended a Biology class. I have to admit, Biology was not my favorite subject in school, but I thought it was truly amazing to watch a lesson on Biology in a different language other than my own, but still have an idea of what was going on and what was being said.

The bus picked us up from the various high schools and took us to Moshav Lachish where we had the chance to spend several hours with fifth and sixth graders. The Americans helped enrich their English speaking by playing various games such as memory and putting together puzzles. In return, the Israeli children taught us some basic Hebrew. We even stayed at the school during their recess time. The Americans and the dozens of children played a large game of dodge ball – which is different than the version we play back home. Here, they use a volleyball and they don’t throw it, they smack and chuck it at each other’s legs and faces. The Chicago cohort now had an idea on how the Israelis in cohort 1 could be so physical. 

After spending time with the kids at the elementary school, we took our bus and traveled to the middle of the Negev, on a large kibbutz in Sde Boker, a place known for the resting place of Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel. Here, we started the Diller North American Kennes, the three-day, two-night journey with the teens from cohorts spanning across North America.

We split off into the color groups from the previous week and slowly moved into strong, meaningful conversations from light, fun-filled ice-breakers. Our goal in these groups was to create a strong bond and a positive, energetic community away from our home Chicago group. Although there is no wifi in the middle of the desert, I wouldn’t want to spend a wifi-less day with anyone else other than my own Chicago group. Throughout our time in Israel, we have become so much closer then what was ever imaginable and I am eternally grateful.

By: Robby Cohn

Cohort 1: Israel Day 7: Tikkun Olam Day

Today, our group experienced one of the most fun days of our trip so far! We met at our main building at 8:00 in the morning (toting many egg sandwiches and chocolate bars from our host families).

We traveled to an farm that was founded to help Ethiopian men adjust to life in Israel. Now, the farm also teaches the children of Ethiopian immigrants about their cultural past. After a quick tour and round of sweet tea (which we all drank two cups of), our Diller Teens rolled up our sleeves and went to work on the farm, helping clear out weeds and sticks from the green house. Several wheelbarrows and crickets later, the group continued on to help build a traditional mud hut, like the ones Ethiopian families lived in before moving to Israel. Since mud is a natural exfoliate, our Diller teens readily got to work on the mud house.

After building our mud house, we learned Amharic and wrote our names onto wooden boards. We also enjoyed a delicious Ethiopian lunch, which included the extreme hot peppers that the farm grows and sells. We got to taste the bread that the Ethiopian Jews use as challah. Several tears and bites of bread later, our sinuses were cleared and we hopped on the bus back to Kiryat Gat.

That evening, we worked on a carnival activity with our Israelis and dozens of children from the area at Potchim Atid, Opening the Future, an organization that runs after school programs for children in the area. We ran activities like bowling and face painting with the kids. We danced, we ate chocolate, and at the end of the night, plenty of hugs were passed out as the kids said their goodbyes and we headed to our own homes, excited for the day ahead!

By: Zoe Zirlin

Cohort 1: Day 6 in Israel: Exploring our Partnership Community

Sunday was the first day that the Israelis and Americans were separated since we arrived. While the Israelis returned to school, our group had many adventures.  We gathered at Potchim Atid, the youth center in Kiryat Gat, to regroup, discuss our first amazing first night with each of our host families, and then prepare for the day.

As we went outside, we were met by our guide, Yair, and his wife, their two jeeps, and the usual street cats. Yair started telling us about the history of Lachish and the caves. We learned about the Jews that built these caves so that they would be protected from the Romans.

We were taken on a jeep ride through Lachish. Just as we were about to leave the car we were driven inside the actual cave. We walked through the beautiful cave and soon heard loud squeaking. The noises just happened to be created by large groups of bats we had woken up with our hiking. Yair showed us a way to see their eyes at the top of the cave by shining a flashlight at just the right angle.

Yair then showed a map of two of the eighty caves he has mapped out since the start of his exploration of Israel’s underground treasures. He took us to the harder of the two caves and told us we were going to climb inside the giant hole in the ground, through the tunnels, and out another hole. Almost the entire group went even though we were nervous about the giant drop we had to surpass. We crawled through tight tunnels, lost our way a couple of times, hoisted ourselves up tall walls, and took some amazing pictures. We learned about the water systems used in the past and strategies incorporated during times of war. We had so much fun that we decided to crawl through the easier cave, too.

Our whole group had the chance to see region from another point of view as we had a wild jeep ride. We even went off the beaten path a couple times and one of the jeeps almost became stuck where the river usually flows. Once we returned, we went to Tel Lachish (a hill made from centuries of cities being built on top of each other), a national park, to eat lunch. We hiked up the side of a mountain to gain another view of Tel Lachish.  Once we got to the bottom, we were met by a resident of Moshav Lachish. We learned about the history of Tel Lachish, the Lachish region, and the grapes the moshav (agricultural village) produces. Although it was an extremely long tour, we were able to see many parts of the town.

Our group went back to Potchim Atid to meet the Israelis. A couple members of the cohort taught us about the culture of Kiryat Gat, Lachish, and Shafir; specifically about the history of immigrants, the oppression they faced, and the potential for assimilation. We finally ended our amazing day by meeting back up with our host families to start our family nights.

By: Emily Bakal

Cohort 1: Day 5 in Israel: Shabbat and Community Week Opening Ceremony

 Saturday was packed with lots of great programs. We started out with a Café Dilemma--whenever we ordered something off the menu, it came with a big problem. We talked and debated about public utilities being open on Shabbat or the refugees of Sudan and what the Israeli government should do about them--should they make the citizens or should they deport them out of country or maybe do nothing at all and leave them the way it is now.

Then after the great breakfast we moved around the room to visualize where we stood on certain topics about Israel, from Zionists living in Israel to non-Israelis joining the IDF. We saw many different points of view on each different topic. After this active program we moved to a calmer debate about living in a country that is based on the religion or that of a secular country. We did this by analyzing to national anthems of both America (Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner) and Israel (Hatikvah).   

After a little break we spread out beads and picked certain colors based on our answers to certain questions. Each color represented a sect of Judaism. Most people were surprised by the results that they got and most people learned a little bit about a couple more sects, for example most people did not know about the Reconstructionist sect of Judaism. Then we split into groups and we began to debate about whether or not people should join the Macabees and possibly die or join the Greek culture and lose their religion forever to the Greeks. With one spectacular debate over we headed off to dinner to continue a smaller debate about the same subject. 

Then came my favorite part of the Shabbat Havdallah, not because it is the end but because it brings everyone together to the beginning of the week. Soon after we boarded the bus and headed to Kiryat Gat for the opening ceremony and to meet the families we would be staying with for community week. We all said our good-byes for the night and headed to see the wonders of staying in an Israeli household.

By: Daniel Balogh