Fourth Workshop: Hanukkah!

The first activity in our fourth Diller workshop was Ninja, but with a bit of a twist! Instead of each person having to eliminate the others, we were separated into two teams: The Greeks and the Maccabees. Just like in the story of Chanukah, the Maccabees won! 

Since the workshop was near Chanukah, we ate Chanukah gelt, sufganiot and other delicious Chanukah treats. Yum! In the story of Chanukah, many Jews were assimilated and gave up their traditions and culture. During the workshop, we spoke about the importance of an identity/Jewish identity and applied it to our lives. 

Many of us often wonder what others will say when we voice our opinions and beliefs. Not only does Diller encourage us to speak our mind, but it is a safe zone where we can share our ideas openly and without the fear of being criticized. This is what we discussed during this workshop. A long row of plastic cups covered the floor, each of them labeled with a different topic. The topics varied from silly questions to more serious questions which involved more thought and explanation. We sat around the cups and each Diller teen received a bag of candy with red, green and yellow gummies. Our task was to put a certain coloured candy in the cup, depending on your opinion on the question or statement. This activity was a great way to see the differences and similarities among our cohort's beliefs. Many of us shared contrasting views on issues but everyone was respectful to each other's opinion. There are so many people in the world who do not have freedom of speech and have restrictions on what you are allowed to think, say and read! Living in a country where freedom of speech is permitted makes such way of life hard to comprehend.

Another important activity was "Tzedakah Dragons". During this activity, we were supposed to promote a charity and get the dragons (Alon, Katherine and Maayan) to donate funds to an existing charitable organization. This activity helped us learn how to advocate for a cause. By the end of our Diller journey, we will need to advocate and promote our own social action project and this activity helped us about the techniques we can use to influence others. 

By: Hannah Evans

Third Workshop: The Man In The Mirror!

Walking out of Diller workshops, you always feel different than you did walking in. I always leave having lots to think about, and to reflect on.

This workshop, I left thinking to myself (and I'm sure I speak for many teenagers when I say this) about how I have struggled trying to learn about myself, who I am, and what place I take in this world practically my whole life. Finding out about ourselves won't take a few hours at a workshop- its the steps we take that, when they are put together, will form us as a person. Our staff played the song Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson. In the song, he talks about changing himself, "I'm starting with the man in the mirror, I'm asking him to change his ways."

We completed the workshop with a self-reflection activity. Our staff held a box and told us that we had to pass it around and then peek inside to see something unique. "Take a minute to really look at it, and think about it", they said. We all sat around, anxious to see what was inside. As I opened it, I saw a mirror- something so simple, something we see every day to fix our hair and to adjust our appearance. However, today it was used for a different purpose. We looked through the mirror and talked about what we want to see in that mirror when we finish the Diller program. I think we all really reflected on our past, our present, and our future selves.

You're probably wondering how this all related to Diller.

As Gandhi once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." One of the four pillars of Diller is Tikkun Olam- repairing the world.

We are all here to make a change, and to become not just leaders, but Jewish leaders of our communities. In ordr to be a real leader, you have to truly know who YOU are. It's amazing how, after 15 years, there is so much I have yet to learn about myself.

By: Maya Luks

Our First Shabbaton!

On Friday afternoon, the 25 of us boarded a bus to the Laurentians for what was going to become one unforgettable weekend, which provided us with the opportunity to bond as a group and develop friendships.

Shabbat was special in that we lead the services and were in charge of delivering the Dvar Torah. We all prayed together, and created a meaningful and spiritual Shabbat.

We also made a video presentation of our cohort to our partnership in Beersheba, Israel, so that our future friends will be able to get a glance at who we are.

The backdrop of the big trees, the calm lake water and the beautiful weather helped us create an atmosphere that was conducive to our learning. The weekend was packed with both group activities and individual activities, in order to help us better understand concepts of leadership, community, and Jewish identity.

By: Michael Salpeter

Second Workshop: T-Shirt Fun!

At the beginning of the second workshop, we were a bit more comfortable with each other, so we stepped the icebreakers up a notch, and did some team building activities. One of the activities consisted of two teams with one person blindfolded on each team; the point of the game was to guide the blindfolded team member to one of the many objects placed on the floor and have them bring it back to the team with only verbal instructions. Once an object was collected you had to do it again and again until the time ran out, and the team with the most objects won the match.

The main activity at this workshop was creating t-shirts that represented ourselves and depicted our identities. We filled the t-shirts with our individual attributes including our physical, psychological, religious, and other traits that define us as Jews and as individuals.

By: Jonathan Zlotnik

First Workshop: Where It All Begins...

The first Diller workshop was a bit awkward, coming together for the first time. We started off with icebreakers and other activities so that we would start to get to know each other. Some of the icebreakers included games that would help us remember our names, and others were geared to get us loosened up. I still remember the game, where we stood in a circle, and played funny bunny. The main activity, however, was the creation of the flag of all the values that each one of us decided we were going to bring to the group.

Half way through the workshop, Diller cohort 4 came to join us so that we could talk with them and see how awesome the program was going to be. Near the end of the workshop, Natalie Shtern came to talk to us about the Comfy Cozy fund that she and her son created to help support all child cancer patients in hospitals.

By: Jonathan Zlotnik