ISS: July 20 by Matthew Stendel

On July 20, we had our 2nd day of Kennes. So we started our day with breakfast... obviously...

We were then sent to the auditorium for activities on David Ben Gurion. We were all asked to chant D B G to get him (Sam from San Francisco) to come, but because Phil was on stage today, I chanted Phil anyways. 

We were told about the life of David Ben Gurion, and about how he wanted to develop the Negev. We were then put in DBG's shoes in our colour groups to debate if and how a Jewish state should be made. After lunch, we had a lecture on the past and present of Judaism. The fact that I couldn't see the words on the screen (even with my shades) and the lack of jokes made it boring for me, but I did learn a bit. Afterwards was an activity where in our colour groups, we had to guess who the first Jew was. My group's story about Hershel Mendel Rosenberg from Spain who travelled to Santo Domingo with 3 other merchants in 1516 was pretty entertaining given how far it was from the truth. We also had to rank the top 10 largest communities in North America, which we weren't too bad at.

Then we got to see our JCs' how to Diller video, a draw my life style video about the impact projects. We then got to discuss certain possible subjects. If you're wondering, I discussed special needs. After that, we had a comedian, and let's face it, Josh Levine is much funnier. Buddy got to do an improv too and he rocked!! After the comedy, we had our ma'agal laila, and it was about the family that is Diller Mtl. In fact, I wrote it today and I was the first fellow to do one actually. It was a huge honor and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

We then had some amazing snacks and went to the White Tent party, where we hit the whip, cranked that Soulja Boy and did much more. Sadly, it wasn't too hectic. We then went to bed and about a few minutes later, we had to wake up again. If you're wondering about the friends I made, one of those people is Shakira from South Africa. I meant Yakira, my bad... We talked all day and it was so much fun!!!

-Matt

ISS: July 22 by Miriam Abadi

The journey of community week has finally arrived and we are starting with partnership day. A few fellows and I have been preparing this day for a long time and we are so happy to finally turn all the hard work into reality. Since I am leader of the day this was an additional responsibility and i was a little nervous to coordinate the whole schedule but at the same time i viewed it as an opportunity to gain more leadership skills and so i considered it a challenge.

Today was a beautiful, sunny day and the canadians started off the day with a morning circle in Gan Hapaamon where we all shared how our first nights at the israelis were. Also, since the theme of partnership day was “saving the partnership”, we went around the circle and mentioned who your hero is in your life. Afterwards, we walked to Avraham’s well and had a tour there. In this fascinating place we were taught the background of Avraham Avinu and at the end we were shown the actual well of Avraham. 

We then travelled the old city of Be'er Sheva which was also where an activity took place prepared by the canadian leaders of partnership day. This activity consisted of informing everyone about what a bomb shelter is by doing a few tasks and also mentioning the good things there are in Be’er Sheva. Right after, we headed to the Turkish railway station where we explained the history of it to all the fellows. Followed by this historic site, we walked to Altshul and ate delicious lunches and cool ice cream.

After lunch we had an activity prepared by the staff which was about how we feel when being in the position of a host and a guest. We made skits and read a short story from the Torah to illustrate these positions. Then we were driven to Kibbutz Beit Kama. The scene of the kibbutz was a new experience for many of the canadians which made it really exciting. Shimon Shmila, the head of our partnership, came to talk with us about what the canadians as well as the israelis contribute to this partnership between Be’er Sheva Bnei Shimon and Montreal. This gave us a realization of what we do for one another for our partnership. 

Soon after, there was an activity prepared by the israeli leaders of partnership day. During this activity we completed small games combined with learning facts about our partnership. Later, we volunteered in the kibbutz by milking cows. Many enjoyed this activity because it was their first time and it also gave people a sense of generosity and kindness to the community we visited. We ended off the hot and long day with a relaxing pool party where we ate yummy pizza.

In all, this amazing day packed with all sorts of activities was super fun and taught everyone a lot about our partnership. Seeing smiles on everyone’s faces and hearing from the fellows how they now know more about our partnership has made me feel that i accomplished my goals for today and thus making me proud to be the leader of the day. This unforgettable day was just the beginning of an amazing community week to come!

By Miriam Abadi

ISS: July 18 by Shira Cohen

So today, we started out our day doing hand moves to describe the Amidah. The next thing we did was we went on a long nice walk to the park. We played frisbee hung out, we had a lot of fun! Then we went & met a bunch of other diller fellows which was really fun. Then we went to do Havdalah which was really interesting because we got to find our own bessamim! Then we went on our night off. Then we came back had a Maagal Layla. One more special thing was that it was our very own Matthew Stendel's birthday! We celebrated throughout the day and after havdallah with cake and candles. 

By Shira Cohen 

ISS: July 17 by Leah Bessner

Darkness and Light
This day revolved around the theme of darkness and light. We began with memorials for those who lost their lives in our history and brought our country to where it is today. Then we experienced the "light" of the flourishing Jewish life in Israel by being a part of the pre-shabbat rush at the Machane Yehuda shuk, and then kabbalat shabbat at the Kotel. We enjoyed our shabbat dinner with a few other cohorts, then we walked over 7KM back to our hostel, and even though it was exhausting, we felt like we were a part of Jerusalem's culture.

Going to a Modern Orthodox Zionist school for 14 years, I've always been surrounded with Israeli people, culture, education, a love for the land, etc..; but I never actually had a chance to visit the country and nothing compares to actually being here. Getting to actually see and visit all these places in real life that up until now I've only ever dreamed of seeing in person, has been so unreal.

At the kotel, it was amazing to see everyone come together and dance and sing in unison. Everyone has their own stories, a reason that they're here, we're all from different countries, cultures, have different backgrounds, yet we're all connected by a mutual bond, our Jewish faith. We all came together and became one and I've never felt such an overwhelming feeling of unity before especially being in the holiest place in the world for our religion.

Leah Bessner

ISS: July 16 by Maya Shahmoon

July 16th, 2015

Dear Diary,

So today I was leader of the day which was very exciting because it was my first time being able to really take responsibility. We started off the day at 6h30 and by 9h30 we had arrived in Holon at Save a Child's Heart children's home. A nice lady named Chelsea welcomed us and told us about the organization and what it does. In a nutshell, it is an organization that treats children  from developing countries who suffer from congenital heart disease. SACH brings these children to Israel so that they can receive the required treatments/surgeries.

We had bubbles that we could blow and art works that we made with them. It was incredible and inspiring to see the joy, hope and overall positivity in these children's eyes, whether they were before or after their treatment. After seeing these young children whose lives are being saved by SACH almost everyday for the past 20 years, it actually made me want to get involved with this organization in the future (either by volunteering, creating awareness or fundraising).

After that we headed to the Ayalon Institute in the Rehovot area. This is a cool secret underground bullet factory that has been preserved since the 1940's when it was used. The guide showed us the machines that were used as well as the bullet parts made and some other facilities. The most amazing of all was a little room with a UV lamp which the workers used to tan and get vitamin D so that no one would know they were actually working underground all day. This little room is considered as the first tanning salon ever in Israel. It also shows how the Jewish settlers thought of everything and worked extremely hard to ultimately be able to establish a state. After the tour we had lunch outside and then left towards the beach.

We had some time to enjoy the sun and have fun! Unfortunately I got a small jellyfish sting but it was a new experience for me and it's really not as bad as I thought. By the time we got to the children's museum in Holon I didn't even feel the sting anymore. In the museum we had the opportunity to experience the typical day of a visually impaired person by walking around in complete darkness. Even though it was my second time doing this, I still had a hard time using my other senses and getting around. Following the experience we had a short ma'agal where almost everyone mentioned how hard it was to lose your vision and I think this made us all appreciate the fact that we can see. We then got to the hotel, had dinner and then had a ma'agal Laila which was actually a fun ma'agal. Everyone participated and it left us in a light mood. 

As leader of the day, I passed the flag on to the leader of the next day and gave her advice. What I learned as a leader is that you always need to be on top of things and know what's going on. Being leader of the day for the first time also taught me to take responsibility over a group. Whether it is to make sure everyone's there or make sure they all stay hydrated, it takes responsibility and awareness. Overall this day was packed and tiring yet quite amazing! I'm looking forward to being leader of the day again and I'm excited for another full day in Jerusalem tomorrow!

Goodnight, love,

                          Maya 

ISS: The First Day

We are finally here!! After a very, very long journey, we landed on time, got all our bags, and rushed straight into our touring. After meeting with our junior counsellors, we hauled all of our bags to the bus, which is very nice and big. The only complaint I have is that supposedly the bus has a blind spot detector, and every single time it goes off it makes a very loud beep.

First, we made our way to Neot Kdumim, a biblical park in Modi'in. We ate a nice lunch there, and then we did a bunch of activities outside about working together, like getting water out of a cistern while blindfolded and herding goats and sheep (which was actually really fun, even though we were all bad at it). The biblical park is very strange, in that there are many plants that grow there with opposite needs. For example, the tour guide showed us that two trees which require opposite conditions to thrive coexist there. She mentioned how a community needs diversity in order to survive, and that the different groups within it do not need to clash with each other to succeed. 

After that, we took a bit of a drive to Mini Israel, which is a scaled model of the whole country of Israel with little buildings and replicas of the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and other important sites. We only stayed there for a little while, since a lot of us were really tired, but we did play a fun amazing race activity while we were there. We had to run around the park looking for different buildings and complete challenges there. I had a bit of an advantage, because I had already heard of most of the buildings and knew which cities they were located in. My team finished really quickly and won!

Last, we went to a really nice lookout over the city of Jerusalem. We could see the dome of the rock, which was shining really beautifully in the sun. By this point, I was practically dead, so after we said shechecheyanu (with grape juice), I fell to the ground and took a little nap on the grass. 

We got to the hotel around 7 o'clock, put our bags into our rooms and went back to the lobby to eat dinner. After that, we had an hour of free time until our ma'agal Laila (night circle). At our ma'agal laila, we summarize our day and talk about what we want to get out of tomorrow. On top of that, tonight we talked about what we want to get out of the trip and how we're going to do it. The ma'agal (circle) was finished after half an hour, so we are all going to bed. The mattresses are actually pretty comfy and there's air conditioning in the room, so it should be a pretty good sleep. Tomorrow, we're going to volunteer at Save a Child's Heart, the beach, and a blind museum, which is supposed to be really amazing. I can't wait!

Written by Theo Cape

The 2015 Israel Summer Seminar Begins!!

After countless months of impatiently waiting the day has finally arrived! Some of us have been to Israel, some have never before seen the "holy land" and for others it was even their first time in the air! Despite all the that, all of the Montreal fellows were sharing the same excitement, and prepared for the experience of a lifetime. Today we are together, cameras out, ready to capture every moment and treasure incredible memories we are excited and pumped and so far everything has been amazing! Although the flight seemed to be rather endless, we did an amazing scavenger hunt between our flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv where in the end every team returned with treasured pieces of advice of which we will all keep.

Once we arrived in Israel, the day didn't stop there; we went straight into activities. We cannot wait to see what the rest of the trip holds!

By Gabriella Malamud