Philadelphia Teens Participate in Diller Fellowship Israel Seminar

A group of twenty teens from Philadelphia completed yesterday a three-week transformative leadership seminar with the Diller Teen Fellowship, together 700 Jewish teens from 32 communities in seven countries as part of the selective yearlong Diller Teen Fellowship. The Fellowship is an immersive leadership program that empowers teens to explore their Jewish identities and become activated leaders of tikkun olam (repairing the world) to serve as forces for good throughout their lives.

The names of the participants from Philadelphia (all are either Sophomores of Juniors) are: Abigail Bernstein, Ella Hoffman, Nathan Morelli, Raphael Lo, Shira Segman, Amelia Goode, Jack Ufberg, Dina Pedowitz, Margot Englander, Sadie Wade, Harold Mack, Leora Levine, Elliott Loo, Asher Weinstock, Sarah Currie, Klhoe Scalise, Ellie Aronstam, Dylan Spivack, Eve Alimansky and Meredith Seidman.

“Diller Teen Fellows has provided me with an opportunity to talk freely about myself, Judaism, and anything in between to an audience who both shares my experiences and values my voice. Through Mifgah’s and Shabbatons I have gained a more secure sense of self and a loving community, something I view as priceless,” said Dylan Spivak. “Being a member of the Diller Teen Fellow is a once in a lifetime experience to gain leadership skills, social connections and broadened prospective. The opportunity’s present in the Diller Fellowship are ones few and far between, and therefore must be taken advantage of. I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of this program, and hope many others get the same gift I did.”

The Fellows included 350 teens from Israel and 350 teens from communities around the globe. In additional to Philadelphia, those from outside Israel came from San Francisco, Miami, Baltimore, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Boston, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Montreal, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Buenos Aires and the United Kingdom. Each international community had an Israeli partner community, with the two cohorts working together throughout the year. Shortly after arriving in Israel, the international teens joined the Israeli participants for joint programming.

The Israel Summer Seminar consists of Tiyul (Tour) Week, when the Fellows explore Israel; Community Week, when the Fellows spend time in their partnership communities; and Congress, when all 700 Fellows came together for a week of global connection, exploration of Jewish peoplehood and shared community service projects.

The Diller Teen Fellows program is one of the world’s most respected global leadership opportunities for Jewish teenagers. Each year, a group of exceptional Jewish 10th and 11th graders is selected to participate in this immersive leadership experience. Together, they explore pluralism and peoplehood, engage in dialogue, and build understanding across religious and cultural differences.

“People ask me why I decided to be a Diller coordinator. There are many answers, but the main reason is because I remember how important it was for me to have a program, caring adults and a community that expected me to be my authentic self. I did not have this kind of space growing up and it was the greatest gift I received from the Diller Teen Fellows program,” said Darren Rabinowitz, Diller Teen Fellow Philadelphia Program Coordinator at Kaiserman JCC. “I learned that my thoughts were valuable, my words meant something, and my actions made a difference. The role of leading this program is basically the art of passing down the gift I received to young people in the Philly community. Diller positively changes the way young people think about their self-efficacy, resiliency and agency. The world will be a better place because of Diller Fellows decision to make it so.”

The Diller Teen Fellows program has been cultivating new generations of Jewish leaders since 1998. It started when philanthropist Helen Diller z”l observed the effectiveness of existing leadership programs for young professionals in their 20s and 30s and saw the need to reach potential leaders much earlier, in the critical teenage years. Today, there are more-than 7,000 Diller alumni worldwide.

“At a time when our world can feel more divided than ever before, Diller Teen Fellows from across the globe are uniting to build understanding across differences, create connections, and use their leadership actions to help repair the world,” said Jen Smith, Executive Director of the Helen Diller Family Foundation Programs. “Diller serves as a foundational year that can impact the lifetime of a teen, as they explore their Jewish identity and the good they want to do in the world as a leader. Their impact as young changemakers reaches across the globe.”

After arriving in Israel, the international teens traveled and learned about the people, land, and cultures of the country, experienced a Shabbaton retreat, joined together for Global Congress, and participated in Community Week with teens from their Israel-partnership communities, including: Upper Galilee, Ashkelon, Rishon Lezion, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Be’er Sheva/B’nei Shimon, Karmiel/Misgav, Eilat/Eilot, Yerucham, Kiryat Gat/Lachish/Shafir, Beit Shemesh/Mateh Yehudah, Golan, Shoham, Hof Hasharon, Herzliya, and Mate’ Asher.

Throughout the yearlong Fellowship, all 700 teens participate in local-based workshops (mifgashim in Hebrew) to learn about the diversity of their Jewish community and peers; hands-on opportunities for tikkun olam initiatives, where they learn to lead through a Jewish lens; weekend retreats (Shabbatonim ), where they experience Jewish pluralism in action; a weeklong exchange called Jewish Community Mifgash, where Israeli Fellows travel to their partnership communities to deepen their understanding of Jewish life outside of Israel; and the three-week Israel Summer Seminar.