Friday 28 March 2014

Overnight at the Y


On March 22, we had our first overnight at the Y. After some socializing and updating each other on various events of each others’ lives, we were divided into pairs. In these pairs, we were given a sheet of paper with questions to ask each other. During this activity, there was laughter and there were tears, it was a bonding experience.

After this activity, the girls and the boys were separated. The girls went with Maxwell, where he told us all we needed to know about the upcoming North American Seminar and answered all of our questions and concerns. Afterwards, the boys went with Maxwell and the girls went with Sarah, where we watched the episode of the Simpsons where they go to Israel. While watching, we had to take notes on all the stereotypes that we saw during the show. We then discussed stereotypes, how they are created and how there is sometimes some truth in them.

Shortly after, we exchanged gifts for our secret buddy activity. At the previous workshop, everyone picked a name out of a hat and had to buy a gift for the person whose name they had chosen. The rest of the night was full of junk food and fun memories. The following morning, we had breakfast which included bagels, cream cheese, nutella, cereal and obviously lox. We then did an activity about time management. We learned how to effectively manage all that we have to do in the time that is given to us each day. All in all, a good time was had by everyone. 


By: Rebecca Gotteiner

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Workshop #6 By Ben and Steven

Diller Montreal, pretty excited to hear all about the great things that Auberge Shalom does for women
On Sunday March 9th at our Diller workshop, we started off watching all the Cribs videos of all our fellows, which was really fun. These were the videos that we sent to our Israeli partners to introduce them to our homes and tell them more about us.

Next we got into a program where we passed around controversial statements regarding Israel, and we had to put a green sticker on it if we agreed, or a red sticker if we disagreed. For example: You cannot be a Zionist unless you live in Israel or make aliyah. Anti-semitism sustains the Jewish people; without it, Jews assimilate. A Jew who visits Israel is just like any other tourist. And so on. We had a great dialogue afterwards where all the fellows shared their personnel ideas and debated whether they agreed or disagreed with each statement.

We also had a special guest who joined us on behalf of a women’s abuse and violence protection program, called Auberge Shalom. She told us about the services available to women and families in need, and shared some of her experiences there. We donated to her a box of melons in honour of International Women's Day, and Nutrition Month at the YM-YWHA. We posted this to Facebook as our #feedthedeed!

Finally, we deeply discussed the North American Seminar that is coming up from April 3rd-13th 2014. We received a booklet of all the rules and advice that were quite funny. This Saturday is White Night, a very cool evening where we sleep overnight at the Y. The social committee has organized a cool program for Pourim, first we put everyone’s name into a hat then the person’s name you pull out, you have to make them a Mishloach Manot! We'll be exchanging them this weekend.

All the committees and thoughts of each and every Diller member truly make Diller one big family!

Written by Ben and Steven





Thursday 13 March 2014

Baking Hamantashen for Save a Child's Heart

            
Joseph, Rebecca and Matthew rolling and cutting the dough

            As I am sure you must know, an important Jewish holiday, Purim, is coming up this Saturday/Sunday. Purim is the story of Ester and her uncle, Mordecai, saving many Jews from Haman, a royal advisor who sought to eliminate all the Jews in Persia. This is one of the happier holidays that we celebrate because a great tragedy was stopped before it actually happened and we celebrate by making noise with graggers, or noisemakers, when we hear Haman’s name read in synagogue. We also eat hamantashen! Hamantashen are triangle shaped pastries filled with poppy seeds, prunes, chocolate, apricots, etc. and are shaped to resemble the three-cornered hat that Haman wore.

            So, in light of the upcoming holiday, the Montréal Diller Teen Fellows Cohort decided to go to the Shaar Hashomayim to make some hamantashen with Eve Rochman, which she sold to raise money for Save a Child’s Heart , a charity based in Israel that helps children with cardiac imperfections in developing countries get the heart surgery they need to survive. The charity performs over 200 surgeries a year and is truly a worthwhile charity to support. Save a Child’s Heart is motivated by the age-old Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam – repairing the world – which is also one of the five pillars of Diller, and they are dedicated to the idea that every child deserves the best medical treatment available, regardless of the child's nationality, religion, colour, gender or financial situation.

Being somebody who has issues cutting straight lines, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to fare in the crafting of delicate pastries. At first we were asked to construct boxes for the hamantashen, which was easy enough; however, the real challenge was what came next: making the hamantashen. While the dough and fillings (poppy, cinnamon, chocolate and prune) were made before we had arrived, we still had to cut circles of dough, fill them and transform them into triangles before they went into the oven. While my first few turned out lopsided and flimsy, by the end I was actually making decent pastries. I can honestly say I enjoyed the experience and so did all the other fellows who were there with me, and I am happy I got to support Save a Child’s Heart because they do such great things.

Written by Joseph Wiltzer


Joseph admiring his handiwork