Be inspired and inspire others to repair the world! The Diller Teen Fellows is a pluralistic, national, youth leadership fellowship currently available in 16 North America and Israel communities. Twenty Boston area teens, the JCC Diller Teen Fellows, will be selected based on their leadership aptitude, commitment to Jewish learning, interest in exploring their connection to Israel, and passion for serving their community.
The Fellowship year runs from September to December of the following year. Open Houses are held in the spring and the cohort is announced in June each year. The application deadline is June 1.
JCC Diller Teen Fellows Brochure
JCC Diller Teen Fellows Application
JCC Diller Teen Fellows Recommendation Form
JCC Diller Teen Fellows Blog
News
JCC Diller Teen Fellows Talk About the Fellowship Experience (YouTube)
Teens Tell What Surprised Them Visiting Israel, Boston (The Jewish Advocate, May 4, 2012)
JCC Diller Teen Fellows Applications for the 2012-2013 Class Now Being Accepted
Deadline for applications is June 1
Read about the JCC Diller Teen Fellows in Israel: "Boston Youth Help Restore Carmel Forest"
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?
Fellows commit to:
- - Eleven Sunday afternoon workshops - about four hours each
- - Community service project to be run in the 2012-2013 academic year
- - Three weekend retreats
- - Three-week Israel Seminar: an opportunity to both explore Israel and do meaningful community service in Haifa, Boston’s sister city
- - Ten days of hosting Israeli teens
Is the JCC Diller Teen Fellows Program for me?
Diller Fellows come from different backgrounds but are joined together by the desire to:
If you share these desires then the Fellowship may be for you!
What is the Israel part like?
JCC Diller Teen 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 three-week Israel trip, and Mifgash (encounter) and home hospitality with Haifa counterparts Boston.
The Israel trip is unique in that it affords 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 third 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.
How do I apply?
Candidates must submit a written application with two letters of recommendation to be considered for a personal interview. The application period will open in early Spring, and the application deadline for the cohort (beginning September) is June 1.
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 Israel Seminar
- - Be in 10th or 11th grade in September of the cohort year
- - Be a Jewish teen residing in the Greater Boston area
Fee for participation is $3000. Each fellow is subsidized by $7000 from the Helen Diller Family Foundation and the Boston-Haifa Steering Committee of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
For further information please contact teens@jccgb.org or 617-558-6512.
Of Interest
JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood
JCC Youth Literacy Corps
JCC Maccabi Experience/Games
Social Action/Social Justice