Workshop 4: Montreal Jewish Community and Self-Management by Naomi Spiegelman

At every Diller workshop, the teen fellows get to explore different topics that are part of the fundamental principles and objectives of Diller. This workshop was about the Jewish community and working on our self-management (leadership).

During the first part of today’s workshop, Leah Berger, a Senior Planning Associate from Federation CJA came to speak to us and explained a bit more in depth about our Jewish community, and the many agencies affiliated it. We learned how the funds raised by the annual campaign are allocated to the various agencies. Afterwards, we had fifteen minutes to do a mock money allocation with 5 agencies and $3.9 Million. Although there was a time strain, it was very interesting to see how everyone has different thoughts and views on what are the priorities, what is urgent and what is not. There was some discussion about whether it is a Jewish priority to provide services for non-Jews as well, and Leah told us that this is a point of discussion in the allocations meetings as well. Within this, we briefly spoke about a topic that is very important to me: Tikun Olam. Tikun Olam in English means to repair the world, to make it a better place by performing acts of kindness.

Afterwards, we had a lunch break. Following lunch, we worked on the self-management topic. Sarah presented to us the Journey of Bread and Water (also known as Milk and Cookies). We learnt about the importance of creating a mission, a vision, goals and objectives. This session was also an introduction to our next project. We have a Shabbaton coming up relatively soon and different committees in our Diller Group are responsible for planning different sections of the Shabbaton. My committee is in charge of “Rituals”. We brainstormed in the allotted time and will continue planning and working on our self-management as the shabbaton approaches.

By Naomi Spiegelman