Melbourne Diller Teen Fellows

TUESDAY: Good morning Diller parents! Our fellows arrived for  Congress yesterday afternoon and have had a very busy past 36 hours. After arriving at our accommodation in kibbutz Manara (photo of the beautiful view attached), and meeting the other partnership communities located at Manara the fellows attended the opening ceremony for Congress. This was a beautiful evening with food stalls and mingling of all 700 fellows, as well as presentations from Diller, including from Helen Diller's daughter. It was a lovely, but very hot, evening, with beautiful photos to come as Diller had drone photography the event. This morning the fellows went to Tel Hai University campus where the main seminar is located. Throughout the day they explored their origins, noting the major differences between Australians and American heritage, and explored their connection to Israel and Judaism. There was also a Diller Fair, with each partnership presenting their communities and the fellows learning abou

It had been two week and we we hadn’t seen each other at all. After being together all day and night while we were in Israel, it had been extremely eerie not seeing each other for that long. It was an amazing feeling watching everyone walk through the door and reuniting after our Israel trip. After a lengthy reunion and a bit of snacks, we got started on a peer led run by Emily and Matthew. The main focus of the peer led was to recap and remember all the incredible experiences we had in Israel. We started off being split into two teams, where each team had to point out the location of an Israeli Diller cohort on a map of Israel. It was extremely difficult trying to remember 16 different groups spread across Israel, as well as their international partnership community, but we got there in the end. We continued the peer led with an incredible Kahoot created by Emily and Matthew. This trivia challenge asked us many questions about the places we had been to and the people we had met wh

Since arriving at Congress it has been a very busy past 2 days for the fellows.  Following a free Shabbat, where teens experienced life throughout the Golan, on  Sunday the fellows arrived at Congress after a leisurely drive to Tel Hai, especially in comparison to Cohorts such as Eilat which left at 3.30am. After  arriving at our accommodation in kibbutz Manara (photo of the beautiful view attached), and meeting the other partnership communities located at Manara, the fellows attended the Opening Ceremony for Congress.  This was a beautiful evening with food stalls and an opportunity to start mingling with some of the 700 fellows. As well as an evening filled with videos, dances and lots of fun, the fellows were privileged to hear from Helen Diller's daughter, Jacqui Safier. It was a lovely, but very hot, evening, with beautiful photos to come as Diller had drone photography the event. On Monday morning the fellows went to Tel Hai University campus where the main semin

DAY TWO AND THREE Today we started off with the salad trail. We walked around the plantation looking at and eating all the different things within reach. We bumped into some Perth kids and many pairs of Melbourne-Perth friends were reunited. Once we finish this we went to a park dedicated to all Australian soldiers who helped defend Israel in Be''er Sheba.  Once we had taken the time to appreciate this connection to the land we went to at social cafe which was founded to give kids at risk work and bring them off the streets and onto a healthier path. We then moved onto a replica of a Bedouin village where we had a camel ride (we gave our camels names of some of which included the Trude, showers, Billy and Tony). In this village, drinking tea and coffee we had a talk about how the establishment of the state of Israel changed Bedouin lives. We spoke of the integration of the Israeli state into Bedouin lives and the positives and challenges this brought and still brings. 

DAY ONE: Hello there diller fam bams, and welcome to the first instalment of the un named diller checkin letter/journal/update.  Us 20 diller fellows (-kivi who met us in Israel) and the tzevet, took a long and very interesting 2 flights to Israel. Both flights, were very eventful, with interesting meals and seething positions. However the fun and the experience did not stop there. Once through security in Israel, the group came to the realisation that half the flights luggage had been left in the hot(but not as hot as Israel) Bangkok Airport.  Either way the day went on, and the bags are on their way. We began the day with a trip to Yerucham, where we learnt about the history of the town and how it reflects Israel and its diverse population. The group was then visited the very welcoming household of Shula, were we were served an amazing home cooked meal. The group was then driven to Sde boker, where we were greeted by a magnificent view with the company of animals called Ibex (