Shabbat the Diller Teen Fellows way
The Melbourne Diller Teen Fellows have produed their Leadership Shabbaton.
Diller Teen Fellows is a world-renowned leadership development program which creates an international network of Jewish teenagers to serve as effective leaders. It is an initiative that the Zionist Federation of Australia is proud to manage in Australia
The Diller Teen Fellows program includes workshops, retreats and an international program in Israel for the 20 participants from Melbourne who are partnered with contemporaries from our partner community in the Golan. The leadership Shabbaton is a flagship component of the Diller year that requires 
the fellows to create and plan their entire Shabbaton; including all logistics and programming. It is an opportunity for the fellows to put into practice the theory and skills they developed during the program.
Despite being one of the hottest March weekends on record, it did not stop the fellows from giving it their all. Ariella Franks, Year 10, Liebler Yavneh School said: – “There was a mutual understanding that everyone had to pitch in and teamwork was required and the cohort became even more united in the process”.
Junior Counsellors are alumni of the program and they were invaluable in the running of the Shabbaton. Junior Counsellor Ella Benary-Belfer, Year 12, from King David School said: – “Getting to mentor and guide our fellows through their own self-management process and watching them successfully run an incredible Shabbaton made me as a Junior Counsellor very proud and excited for the rest of our Diller experience together”.
Tari Miller, year 10, from Leibler Yavneh College said: – “We bonded with each other while tie dying t-shirts, listening to music and spending every moment of our free time together as we went through the journey of creating and running the Shabbaton ourselves meanwhile incorporating the themes of diversity and controversy into our educational programs.”
The fellows are now in preparations for the visiting Delegation of Golan teens in April.
The Diller Teen Fellows program was established in San Francisco in 1997 by the Helen Diller Family Foundation. Since then, the program has expanded to include 32 participating communities across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia, South America, UK and Israel.
If you are interested in the Diller program for Cohort 5, commencing August 2019, please contact dillertf@zfa.com.au.
We are currently recruiting for the next Diller Coordinator – if you think you would suit this position contact dillertf@zfa.com.au for Job Description.
