July 15th, Monday During Staff Week: Felicia Tissenbaum (North American)

• On Monday July 15th, the entire international junior staff of Diller had a day full of introductions, Jerusalem, t-shirts, Tisha B'Av, and a candlelit night circle. As the full day of the staff Pre-ISS training seminar, we had a lot to do and get done. First we were introduced to the Israeli coordinators from all the different partnership cities which was a nice way to dive into the day. From there, we broke into our Tribes for Congress and continued planning and going over the programming to better prepare ourselves for the storm ahead. These meetings are probably the most difficult but also the most important because they build the foundation for the conversations and enlightenment that Congress hopefully brings to its participants.
  After piecing together Congress little by little, we boarded a bus to Jerusalem and drove to Ben Yehuda Street. Though a familiar street to any tourist, we found ourselves wandering on a side street into a small t-shirt store named NU. This store was unlike any in Israel or the United States because its mission was to create thought-provoking and unique shirts to represent nonprofit organizations around Israel. The store then sells these shirts as a product, donating 20% of the shirt to its rightful organization. The owner's story was amazing and his work ethic was truly admirably because his company strives to do everything they can to better the organizations they work with by telling stories on such a simple canvas: tshirts. A bunch of staff members ended up buying shirts supporting specific causes that they felt passionate about. With NU as inspiration, we all headed out to the streets to try and create a t-shirt of our own that could represent all that Diller stands for.
  We then traveled to Israel's Jewish Federation campus to have an informative text study with Israeli schlihim about Tisha B'Av and what it commemorates. We talked with various Schlihim and discussed the destruction of the temple and how it effected the Jewish people. Today people now fast in memory of this sad day in the Jewish world and wonder when the next temple will be created.
  Shortly after finishing these meaningful discussions we walked to the nearby "house promenade" of Jerusalem, one of the most remarkable views in Israel. We had a night circle where we lit individual candles and expressed our love for our Junior staff cohort.
  It truly was a wonderful day full of thoughtful and meaningful activities.