The Diller Teen Fellows is a pluralistic, national, youth leadership fellowship currently available in 10 U.S. cities. The fellowship is designed to inspire leadership among Jewish youth in our community. Twenty Boston area teens will be selected based on their leadership aptitude, commitment to Jewish learning, interest in exploring their connection to Israel, passion for serving their community, and ability to contribute to a diverse and well balanced group dynamic.
What is the Fellowship program?
Is the Diller Teen Fellows for me?
What is the Israel part like?
How do I apply?
Taste of Diller
Please join us for our last open house
Thursday, May 6, 2010
7:00–8:30pm
Leventhal-Sidman JCC
333 Nahanton Street, Newton
Applications and recommendations for the 2010-11 Diller Teen Fellows are due May 15!
Download the Diller brochure
Download Diller application form
Download Diller recommendations form
Please contact teens@jccgb.org or 617-558-6512 with any questions or for further information.
What is the Fellowship program?
In order to create well-rounded future Jewish leaders, Diller staff and fellows build programming that focuses on four major themes:
- Jewish Identity
- Challenges of Leadership
- Community Service
- Relationship with Israel
Programming around these themes includes group discussions, workshops, text study, connections with community leaders, group work on projects, experiential service learning, encounters with Israeli peers in Boston and in Israel, Shabbat experiences, and more.
What is the time commitment?
The Diller Teen Fellows is a serious commitment. The fellowship year runs September 2010-September 2011.
- Eight Sunday afternoon workshops - about 3 hrs each.
- Two community service projects - to be run in the 2011-2012 academic year - one the group works on together and the other a personal project you will run in your school/synagogue/youth group/community.
- Three weekend retreats - one in the fall, two in the spring.
- Two-week Israel Winter Seminar - an opportunity to both explore Israel and do meaningful community service in Boston’s sister city Haifa.
- One week hosting of Israeli teens in the spring.
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Is the Diller Teen Fellowship Program for me?
Diller Fellows come from different backgrounds but are joined together by the desire to:
- Make friendships that will last a lifetime.
- Question, search and gain insights into Jewish identity and unity.
- Experience a cultural exchange with Israeli teens during a two-week Israel winter seminar and 10-day Boston Mifgash (encounter).
- Create and lead others in service learning projects.
- Learn and grown during a transformative experience that looks amazing on your college resume.
If you share these desires than the fellowship is for you!
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What is the Israel part like?
Diller Fellows are challenged to develop and refine their relationship to Israel through many parts of the programming, included but not limited to electronic correspondence and friendship with Haifa Diller Teen Fellows, a two-week trip to Israel during December break, and Mifgash (encounter) and home hospitality with Haifa counterparts here in Boston.
Our trip to Israel is unique in that it affords Diller Fellows an opportunity to both tour Israel and spend time discovering the land and also have a more intimate experience of the land. Fellows spend their second week in Israel living with their Israeli peers and doing meaningful community service in the Haifa community. Past Fellows have created and run programs for disabled youth at the Ofakim Children’s Center and volunteered at Rambam Hospital.
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How do I apply?
A group of 20 teens from the Greater Boston area will be selected. Interested teens must submit a written application with two letters of recommendation to be considered for a personal interview. Download copies of the forms, or contact 617-558-6512 or teens@jccgb.org.
The next application deadline for the 2010-2011 cohort (beginning September 2010) is May 15, 2010.
- Applications are accepted now until May 15, 2010.
- Personal interviews for selected candidates will take place on a rolling basis in May and June.
- Final decisions will be announced in June.
Applicants to the program must:
- Demonstrate leadership skills.
- Be dedicated to community service.
- Be interested in exploring their Jewish identity.
- Be interested in exploring their relationship to Israel.
- Commit to full participation in workshops, retreats, group projects, and the Boston Mifgash (encounter) and the Israel winter seminar.
- Be in 10th or 11th grade in September 2010.
- Be a Jewish teen residing in the Greater Boston area.
Fee for participation is $2500. Each fellow is subsidized by $7000 from the Helen Diller Family Foundation and the Boston-Haifa Steering Committee of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
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